Name: Trey Benson

School: Florida State

Year: Junior

Position: Running Back

Measurables: 6’0 ⅕”, 216 lbs. (Combine Measurements)

Combine: ARM: 31.5”. HAND: 9.25”. VERTICAL: 33.5”. BROAD: 10’2”. BENCH: 23 Reps. 40-YD DASH: 4.39. 10-YD SPLIT: 1.55.

Stats:

Courtesy of Sports-Reference.com

General Info:

Benson was born in Greenville, Mississippi and attended O’Bannon High School and St. Joseph Catholic High School. Across his final two seasons in high school, he had over 3,600 yards and 48 touchdowns.

He was ranked as a four-star prospect by 247Sports and a three-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals, and committed to Oregon over a huge number of offers, including Arizona State, Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Washington State.

As a freshman, Benson missed the entire 2020 season after tearing his ACL, MCL, lateral meniscus, medial meniscus, as well as his hamstring. He had only six carries the following season, before transferring to Florida State in 2022.

Benson enjoyed a breakout season in his first year with the Seminoles, averaging 6.4 yards per carry and running for just under 1,000 yards. He followed that up with a 900-yard, 14-touchdown campaign in his final college season.

The 21-year-old was named second-team All-ACC in 2022 and 2023.

Positional Skills:

Strengths

Benson is a supreme athlete, which is evident both on his tape from Florida State and in his athletic testing. He registered a 9.76 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) on a 0-10 scale compared to his positional peers, which featured an ‘elite’ speed score and a ‘good’ explosion score.

The speed Benson possesses is eye-opening at his size. He has the ability to erase angles and is a threat to take it the distance. He ran a 4.39 at the combine.

He is well built with a sturdy lower half, which gives him the contact balance to take hits and stay up. Benson rides tackles and shakes them off. Defenders can frequently be seen slipping off him when trying to bring him down.

Benson’s size also allows him to push or burrow forward to squeeze extra yards out of runs.

There is skill to his running style as well. Benson has a feel for daylight and can burst through it, and has the ability to make defenders miss in space.

In the passing game, Benson is able to easily catch passes in stride, and has upside to grow into a stronger receiver. From a protection standpoint, he has the frame and the ‘want-to’ to get the job done. He scans well to find work when asked to protect his quarterback.

Weaknesses

The biggest concern with Benson will undoubtedly be the serious injury on his resume. He did not miss significant time other than in 2020, but the sheer severity of that horror injury has to give some teams pause.

On the field, there are times where Benson will be too quick to bounce a run outside and then not see a potential cut back lane. When he has to break down to try to dart through a gap, there is some wasted movement.

Benson is not the kind of back who will turn nothing into something. If he is met in the backfield, he does not possess the real short area quickness and reactions to create.

As a pass catcher, he has not run advanced routes to this point, and can be guilty of concentration drops, turning his head upfield before securing the ball.

Fit with the Packers:

Overall, Benson is a fun back with a great combination of size and speed, and an ability to find holes. He projects as a more than capable pass protector, but still needs development as more than a basic pass catcher.

He meets the general athletic preferences Green Bay has at the position, and would add a completely different dynamic to the running back room, with Josh Jacobs and A.J. Dillon both power-based runners.

Benson is still a young back with plenty of tread left on the tires, and also plenty to learn. He would not be rushed into the Packers’ starting lineup as a rookie and could instead learn from the veterans in front of him, before taking on a bigger role in 2025.

Likely a day two pick, it would not be a surprise to hear Benson’s name called by Green Bay on draft weekend.

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