TEMPE — The hype train was full steam ahead when it came to running back Trey Benson this offseason.
Whether it be during training camp or preseason action, his name popped up with regularity — unprompted or not.
“He’s going to play a lot this year,” running back James Conner said of his fellow “RB1” in August.
Given the state of Arizona’s run game following Conner’s season-ending foot injury suffered in Sunday’s loss to San Francisco, that statement couldn’t ring more true.
Benson already had more responsibilities thrown on his plate this year as Arizona’s primary third-down back three weeks in. Even before Conner went down, his 2025 snap count was going to obliterate his rookie showing of 137 offensive snaps.
Now, it’s up to him to take things a step further for an offense and run game that is in need of a serious jolt while he can use Conner’s premature exit as motivation to grind that much harder.
“I’m fully confident in Trey, I really am,” coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday. “I think the more he plays, the more comfortable you see him getting and the better he’s going to be.”
“The more he plays, the more comfortable you see him get.”
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is fully confident in RB Trey Benson taking on a bigger workload with James Conner out for the year. pic.twitter.com/KFDBP5XvwX
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 22, 2025
Already up to a third (21) of his carries from a year prior (63) and setting a career mark in receptions (eight), Benson has churned out 125 yards on the ground and 45 through the air.
Those totals may not jump off the page, but his six yards per carry sure do. Among NFL players with at least 19 rushing attempts through three games, Benson trails only Detroit’s David Montgomery (6.9). He’s reached at least 15 mph, too, on five of his 21 rushes to further display the type of speed the second-year pro portrays.
There’s a reason why the Cardinals didn’t draft another young back in April, much to the chagrin of plenty of Arizona State fans. They believe in Benson’s trajectory.
The same (sort of) goes for the thousands of fantasy football managers trying to add Benson to their squads this waiver wire period or the ones grinning ear to ear with him already rostered.
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray has the “ultimate confidence” in RB Trey Benson and the guys behind him making up for the loss of James Conner. pic.twitter.com/2rrFlBI5R6
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 23, 2025
“Ultimate confidence in Trey and each and every guy behind him that has to play,” quarterback Kyler Murray said Tuesday. “I know we struggled last weekend as a unit, but my confidence never wavers in those guys, and I know they’ll make the play next time.”
As for Benson’s first 2025 test as Arizona’s RB1? It couldn’t be much tougher.
Limiting opponents to just 90 rushing yards per game (fourth in the NFL), allowing just two runs of at least 10 yards (tied for first) with a 19% stuff rate (11th) and 3.2 yards given up per carry (3rd) in three weeks of work, the Seattle Seahawks defense ranks right near the top against the run.
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And that’s before noting the zero rushing scores allowed by Seattle, another top mark in the NFL.
A strong performance against this caliber of a run defense by Benson would do a lot in helping remedy the awful taste this Cardinals run game (and offense as a whole) has left in the mouths of many.
Who fills in behind Cardinals RB Trey Benson?
When it comes to the next men up behind Benson, Emari Demercado, Bam Knight and Michael Carter are the in-house options to consider.
Demercado figures to slide back into a third-down role he once commanded the past two seasons before Benson’s emergence in training camp. His pass protection was a talking point among coaches and teammates and was a massive reason why he earned a 53-man roster spot as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2023.
Then there’s Knight and Carter.
Knight flashed in the preseason with some explosives that very much earned him a spot on the 53-man roster.
But given Carter’s role in the past, the practice squad running back could leapfrog Knight and be another option to carry more of the early-down workload if need be.
In nine games (one start) with Arizona across the past two seasons, Carter averaged 4.9 yards per carry on his way to 280 yards on 57 attempts and one touchdown. He caught all 11 of his passing targets for 57 yards.
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