That’s all changing now.
After a second arrest for an alcohol-related incident, Benson was waived by the Bears despite having only played three disappointing seasons for the team. After a Grand Jury failed to indict him on any charges, the Cincinnati Bengals, looking for a backup for their starter at the time, Chris Perry, took a chance on Benson. He was given a small situational role at first, but once injuries hampered Perry, Benson took control of the starting running back job. The Bengals were injury-riddled and undisciplined last year, but that didn’t stop Benson from running as hard as he would for a contender, impressing scouts and personnel people alike along the way. In the final three games of 2008, all Cincy wins, Benson rushed for 355 yards on 84 carries, showing that he could handle a full workload and still be productive.
Personally, this is where I think he got cheated in Chicago. At the University of Texas, Benson showed a burst and piled up huge yardage totals, but a lot of those were due to extensive workloads that showcased his durability and power. By giving him the ball 25-30 times a game, you’re only enhancing his abilities, as opposed to hurting them like some other backs without his stamina. The Bears tried to split his carries with Thomas Jones with an inside/outside combination in mind, but Benson doesn’t operate that way. When you draft a guy 4th overall, you should know his strengths and weaknesses inside and out; and one of Benson’s greatest strengths was consistent, four-quarter running. Not splitting carries and being a situational back. Now that he’s in Cincinnati, they’re milking him for all he’s worth (2 years/$7million according to his extension with the team signed this spring), and he’s thriving. Some might think this is a coincidence or that he’s a Rudi Johnson-esque one hit wonder. I disagree.
Running against his former team last week (talk about extra incentive), Benson toted the rock a whopping 37 times for 189 yards and a touchdown. That, after being the first player in forever to rush for 100 yards on the vaunted Ravens defense (120 yards, TD). After 7 games, he leads the NFL in rushing with 720 yards on a 4.4 yards per carry average. The Bengals are one of the surprise teams of the NFL thus far, and Benson’s production is a huge reason why. Sure, Chad Ochocinco is back to form and Carson Palmer is providing leadership and stability at the quarterback position; but it’s Benson’s breakout year that provides Cincinnati with the balance necessary to allow their passing game to thrive. Instead of dropping 7 on defense to defend Palmer and the pass, teams must respect what Big Ced is doing and play a more straight-up style of defense. This opens holes for Palmer to throw to his receivers, and allows Benson to batter the defense for moderate gain after moderate gain until he catches them in a bad formation and burns them for a big one.
Projections are worthless in the NFL (remember when everyone thought Adrian Peterson was going to rush for 2,000 yards this year after one game?), so I won’t try to show everyone how smart I am by guessing what lies in store for Benson in the Bengals. However, I will say this: Benson is a gifted runner who didn’t flame out in Chicago because of a lack of ability or talent. His attitude was poor and his opportunities were inconsistent. Now that both of those problems appear to have been rectified, Cedric Benson has a great shot to show everyone what he’s capable of; the stuff we saw back in his days as a Longhorn.
Will Cedric Benson lead the NFL in rushing after 17 weeks just as he is after 7? I don’t know, but I’m certainly not betting against it. Raise your hand if you thought that was possible way back at the beginning of the season.
(scanning the interwebs for hands…)
That’s what I thought.
~~ Lank
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