Cardinals keep building strong offensive infrastructure and add high-end piece in the third round
The Arizona Cardinals are full of early picks, and they used their fourth one to select another offensive piece. After taking wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick, the team has added running back Trey Benson, who several draft analysts say is the first running back of the class — according to […]
The Arizona Cardinals are full of early picks, and they used their fourth one to select another offensive piece. After taking wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick, the team has added running back Trey Benson, who several draft analysts say is the first running back of the class — according to the consensus big board, he's the second one, behind Jonathon Brooks, who's coming off an injury.
A to Z Sports’ video analyst James Foster compared him to former Dallas Cowboys’ running back DeMarco Murray and elected him as the best running back of the class.
That's not a short-term decision by general manager Monti Ossenfort. The roster already has a solid starter in James Conner, plus backups Michael Carter, DeeJay Dallas, Emari Demercado, and Tony Jones Jr.
Nevertheless, Benson has an impressive ability as a pass-catcher and to generate explosive plays. He's another piece of a long-term offensive puzzle that now has Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Paris Johnson.
According to A to Z Sports' College Football Managing Editor Travis May, Trey Benson is the best running back of the class. It's not a special year at the position, but Benson is the 44th prospect on May's top 50 board.
"There will be hot debate surrounding the RB1 conversation this year, but Trey Benson should be that guy," May wrote. "Benson has home run hitting ability with great speed and vision, even if he does have a bit of an odd upright running style."
Among the top prospects of this class, Benson is first in missed tackles forced per carry, fourth in yards per route run, and fifth in yards after contact per attempt. He is also first in breakaway percentage — percentage of all designed yards coming from 15+-yard carries. He's not only first in this class, but also second among every running back prospect since 2016, just behind Keaton Mitchell and close to Khalil Herbert.
Lot of draft capital
Besides Harrison and Benson, the Cardinals have already made two other picks on the defensive side of the ball. In the first round, the team had taken defensive lineman Darius Robinson with the 27th pick. On Friday, the team had also selected slot cornerback Max Melton after moving down from 35 to 43, adding more late-round draft capital.
Cardinals wisely stay put to select Marvin Harrison Jr. as the first non-quarterback in the NFL Draft
Arizona gets its alpha receiver to start the 2024 NFL Draft.
