Trey Benson

Rookie year 4.62 YPC behind Conner. 2025 jump to 5.52 YPC in 4 games before going down.

Benson is the Cardinals' 3rd-round pick from 2024 (Florida State) sitting in James Conner's shadow. As a rookie, 63 carries for 291 yards (4.62 YPC) is a respectable change-of-pace floor.

Then 2025 opened with a clear leap: 29 carries, 160 yards, 5.52 YPC across just 4 games. He averaged 7.25 carries per game — still a backup share — but more importantly the receiving role exploded: 13 catches in 4 games vs only 6 in all of his rookie year. Then his season ended (status: RES).

5.52 YPC vs Conner's 2.97 YPC in 2025 — when the Cardinals fed Benson, the ground game worked.

In 2025 before both went down, Benson's per-carry production was 1.86x Conner's. That 2.55 YPC gap is the kind of split that usually triggers a depth-chart conversation by midseason — instead the schedule made the call when Benson hit injured reserve.

Conner's 2024 baseline (1,094 yards on 236 carries, 4.64 YPC, 8 TDs) is the load Benson was being groomed to inherit — and the early 2025 sample suggested he was already operating at a higher per-carry level than Conner ever did.

4 games, 42 total touches, 224 scrimmage yards — Benson was a 10.5-touch/game flex piece before IR.

Week 1 was a single-game spike (8.6 YPC vs NO) that didn't repeat — but the carrying efficiency settled into a solid 4.2–4.4 YPC range in Weeks 3–4, and the receiving usage only grew. By Week 4 vs Seattle, Benson logged 13 touches (8 carries + 5 catches) in a game ARI won.

The real signal isn't the Week 1 blowup — it's the consistency of the touch floor: Weeks 3 and 4 both produced 13 touches, suggesting Petzing had settled into a defined role for him. 42 touches across 4 games (10.5/game) is a flex/handcuff workload with a clear receiving lane attached. That role would be the template if he returns healthy.

Career 92 carries, 4.90 YPC. Conner turned 30 in 2025 and posted his worst YPC (2.97) since 2021.

Benson's career YPC of 4.90 across 92 carries is built on a sample too small to fully trust — but the trajectory matters more than the number itself.

Conner, who turned 30 in May 2025, posted a 2.97 YPC in 3 games — the sharpest single-season dip of his career. His carries per game also dropped from 14.8 in 2024 to 10.7 in 2025. Meanwhile Benson's touch share grew from 5.2 carries/game to 7.25 year-over-year before both went on IR.

Those two curves — Conner declining, Benson's efficiency holding above 4.9 and usage increasing — are the actual evidence that a torch pass is in motion, not just speculation.

13 catches in 4 games — already 2x his entire rookie-year receiving total.

In 2024 across 12 games, Benson caught 6 passes for 59 yards — a thumb-on-the-scale receiving role.

In 2025 across just 4 games before injury, he caught 13 passes for 64 yards — already 2.2x the volume in a third of the games. The catches per game jumped from 0.5 → 3.25, a sixfold increase. Drew Petzing's offense was deliberately handing Benson the third-down and screen package that Conner used to own.

When he's back on the field, the receiving role looks like the leading indicator of a full split-backfield, not a handcuff role.