Cedric Benson: Workload wonder?
So in my effort to keep these blog posts around 200 words, I teased this topic at the bottom of the Jerome Harrison post. I was looking for a player that could post Jamal Lewis in '06-type numbers: Mediocre performance, but a big enough workload to have some value.
A few of you, including Evan "I can drink two Miller Lights in the time you drink one" Silva, nailed it: longtime nemesis Cedric Benson. It's not that I want to own Benson or think he'll be a killer value at his current RB32 ADP.
But he won’t crush you as a RB3/4 if he slips far enough. I'd rather own him than some guys like Lewis, LeRon McClain, and LenDale White, who are going before him. I'd rather take Benson in the eighth than LJ in the fourth because they are similar values. (I'd also rather take Donald Brown and Felix Jones, who are going behind Benson.)
Maybe realizing his career mortality was good for Benson. He looks fairly competent on tape last season. He's still a below average starter who will be useless in tough matchups, but he consistently ran harder last year than in the past.
More importantly, the Bengals have a terribly thin backfield behind him. Perhaps he won't break the team record in carries like he says, but he's a good bet to top 250. And there are only so many of those guys around.
And since I haven't plugged my Twitter account in a column this week, I'll do so here. Thanks for playing.
Comments
I see the point here, but it's hard to ever believe in a guy that came out of a superbowl with a shoulder injury. He doesn't crack into our Top-50 RB list.
Posted by: BeastOrBust | May 29, 2009 12:04 PM
he's a bye week guy. in dynasty he may have more or less value depending on the owner. some people love "starter" rb's, who get the bulk of carries. some just see the standard 5-11pt performance each week.
Posted by: scott c | May 29, 2009 12:20 PM
As long as he's not in jail, Bernard Scott will be starting by mid-season. He dude has insane skills!
Posted by: Chris | May 29, 2009 12:25 PM
The trick with Benson is to draft him at his low ADP, then after either week 1 (vs DEN) or week 4 (at CLE) when his numbers are overinflated due to high carry totals, deal him for a better RB who has underperformed.
Posted by: Couch Potato | May 29, 2009 12:44 PM
Benson = bust always has been and always will be. Bears did the right thing by getting rid of him for all the off the field issues he had.
Posted by: Misfit | May 29, 2009 01:02 PM
Bernard Scott should be okay as long as he lets Chris Henry mentor him. I hear that they're planning to be co-planners for the Bungles' 2009 social events.
Posted by: Juggs | May 29, 2009 01:02 PM
HMMMMMM....a rookie with 5,712 yards, 93 receptions and 73 touchdowns over the last two seasons or Cedric Benson. Come on Gregg, I'd take Bernard Scott over Benson if my draft were today. Even with the lurking probability of suspension, I'd rather have his upside. It's already been established that Cedric Benson sucks. Hell, even I could probably manage to score every 107 times that I touch the ball (214 carries and a mind-blowing 2 touchdowns last year). You can keep Benson's 3.7 YPC, his 3 TD's a year and his 0.9 average receptions per game to yourself. I'm putting my money elsewhere. For instance, LENDALE WHITE! (Whom you chose to rank behind Cedric Benson). Lendale has dropped 20 pounds this off-season, he's in the final year of his contract, and he's a TD vulture. Lendale playing for a contract extension is logically a far better choice than Cedric Benson.
Posted by: Jeremy | May 29, 2009 01:54 PM