Cedric Benson

you definitely don't want to talk to me then
meanwhile, I think there's a pretty big chasm between where various people feel Barron is. I'm still baffled there's a guy who reported on the internet (forget where, was a fairly decent internet source) that Barron was considered one team's best player in the draft. I pray that Dom has a big mouth.

 

Gary Horton or Dan Pompei - The War Room reported it.

 

It was the Cadillac, not the bigger Brown who was our goal line line back.

 

barron is going to be good. fsu's offensive staff (ie: jeff and bobby) is enough to demotivate anyone. i wouldn't be disappointed with him.

...but i really like willis in round 3...

 

I would be happy with Baas or Clayton. I just do not want us to spend a pick on a guy who has shot up the board due to combine numbers and has never proven he can get it done. To me Williamson fits that description.

I have never seen Benson play but based on all the mocks I have seen and all the bios I have read about him he seems pretty solid. All we really need is a guy who can hit the hole hard and break a tackle or two. We do not need a Barry Sanders in this offense. The problem with Dayne is that he is a big man who runs like a little man. He tries to juke and dodge instead of bowling over people. I have never heard that as a problem with Benson.

 

scouts, inc. latest mock

14. Carolina Panthers (7-9)

Cedric Benson | RB | Texas
This pick may come as a surprise but don't rule out the possibility. For starters, the Panthers running back situation has deteriorated in a hurry. DeShaun Foster should return from a shoulder injury but hasn't been able to stay healthy as a pro, and Stephen Davis is 31 and coming off knee surgery. The team doesn't have many glaring needs and it won't want to reach for a right tackle with this pick. As far as Benson's freefall is concerned, Benson could be the odd-man-out of the "Big Three" running back equation if the Cardinals fill their void in a trade for Henry, because Benson has the least amount of versatility and the most amount of baggage. Benson doesn't have great speed or elusiveness, but he's a north-south runner with great vision, size and power. He isn't a great fit for many NFL teams but he'd be perfect in Carolina as a younger up-and-coming Davis-type runne

 

i don't know -- i see some comparisons to benson here. big back, lots of mileage in college, not a pass-catcher, gained half of their yards after contact. benson is 15 pounds lighter and an inch taller -- he's not the bruising back he's made out to be (though that could be in comparison to the auburn backs).

i'm not against benson -- i just don't know a lot about him. i figured he'd be gone by 14, so i never looked. i've read that the bears are secretly high on him -- that a lot of teams are (they've downplayed his workouts as a smokescreen). me? i love productivity in college. give me the playmakers. that's why i really like clayton, too.

i'd like to see the #1 pick get on the field as a rookie. if davis comes back, foster is healthy and goings is a proven backup -- i don't see that happening a whole lot with a RB at #14.



pre-draft sporting news dan pompei story on ron dayne...

What makes Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne a nightmare for cornerbacks in the open field also could be what makes him a nightmare for the NFL team that selects him in the draft next month--his size.


Dayne's measurement at the scouting combine last week was 5-10 3/4, 259 pounds. His thighs looked like they have a greater circumference than most steering wheels. His rear end appeared capable of causing a lunar eclipse.


Size is what enabled Dayne to run for 7,125 yards (including bowl games), more than any college player ever. Size is what will make him a first-round pick in the April draft (despite my regrettable omission of Dayne in a previous mock draft).


Some NFL men who are trolling for running backs, such as Gunther Cunningham of the Chiefs and Bobby Ross of the Lions, like their ball carrier bigger than trailer homes. But many others prefer a more compact back. In fact, Thomas Jones of Virginia, at 5-10, 216, is the consensus choice as the highest-rated running back. There's also a chance Shaun Alexander of Alabama, at 5-11 3/4, 218, could be selected before Dayne.


Based strictly on production, Dayne unquestionably would be the highest-rated back and probably the highest-rated player overall. But NFL teams know a fine line exists between being able to buckle a linebacker and being able to buckle a pair of pants. Dayne's weight is a potential problem. Backs Dayne can be compared to include Jerome Bettis, Natrone Means, Bam Morris and Ironhead Heyward. All have gained weight at the expense of gaining yards at some points in their NFL careers. Other big backs who also have gotten too big include Ricky Williams, Curtis Enis and Rodney Hampton.


Dayne did little to quell concerns at the combine. Several NFL talent evaluators said he looked "real flabby" and had a spare tire. Dayne might have the type of body that always will make him look as if he were born to be a Sumo wrestler. Wisconsin coaches say he is most effective between 245 and 250 pounds, well below his combine weight. Dayne, who got as high as 270 at Wisconsin, also refused to work out at the combine, saying he only started getting in shape a week and a half ago.


"The biggest concern with him is he'll get too big," says one NFC personnel director. "Then he'll lose stamina. If he loses a step in quickness, he can't get the corner, and he becomes just a pounder. Every big back who runs well has to get the corner, otherwise he's not effective."


When big backs gain weight, they also lose elusiveness. Dayne doesn't have much wiggle to begin with, but one of his best qualities is his "great little cutback move inside," according to Lions vice president of player personnel Ron Hughes. With less ability to elude, Dayne would be subject to taking more hits and harder hits, and that could affect his durability and even his aggression. The most notable big backs in the last two drafts, Enis and Williams, gained weight and subsequently struggled with injuries as rookies. There was a direct correlation between their weight and their lack of production.


Even if Dayne is in shape, he almost certainly won't be able to break as many long runs as he did at Wisconsin. Last season he had 19 runs of more than 19 yards. Over the course of his college career he had 65 such runs. Most of those runs were enhanced by yards gained after contact. According to Wisconsin's sports information department, 54 percent of Dayne's yards last year came after contact. On one typical 19-yard run against Michigan, Dayne brushed off safety Tommy Hendricks like a coffee cake crumb on his jersey, and then did not go down until he was hit by a fourth defender. Dayne rarely was tackled by one man in college.


It wasn't that Dayne was just beating up the weak sisters on Wisconsin's schedule, either. He played well against the best defenses he faced, averaging 6.3 yards per rush against Michigan State, 5.0 yards against Ohio State and 4.0 against Michigan. Against opponents who were ranked in the Top 25, Dayne averaged 120.3 yards per game over his career.


But in the NFL, he'll consistently find bigger defenders. And more significantly, Dayne will find faster defenders. "The big back who was quick enough and strong enough to nm over one linebacker in college finds that on this level he's surrounded by three linebackers and a safety," Titans general manager Floyd Reese says. "Fifteen-yard gains in college are 2-yard gains in our league. Unless he has great, great feet and balance like Bettis, he's not going to be quite as effective."


Dayne has the great feet and balance of Bettis--as long he doesn't get too big. There are times you'd like to see Dayne get his legs up higher to get through congestion, but he has "the feet of a much smaller guy," according to Chargers G.M. Bobby Beathard. He also has the vision and instinct to find the cracks. Hughes puts it this way: "He's an efficient runner. His body is not all over the field."


Power is what makes Dayne special, though. He goes backward about as often as running water. He gets stronger as the game progresses.


Scouts are anxious to see Dayne do something he rarely did at Wisconsin--catch the ball. He had only one reception his senior season, just 31 in his career. Which says a lot about the offense Wisconsin runs but also may be an indictment of Dayne's hands.


But as long as those hands can wave off second helpings, Dayne should be an outstanding pro back.

 

Been mainly a lurker on this board but I felt impelled to make this post after so many guys mentioned they haven't seen much of Benson.

I found this link to videos while checking out KFFL's draft forum:

http://www.jaguars.com/mb/default.aspx?f=17&m=366002&p=1

It includes two links to Benson videos:
1. http://www.jcdenton40.com/CedricBenson-2004(DivX).avi (right-click and save, file is big and requires DivX)

2. http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com//videoclips/2004_05/benson_111104.mov

 

I said Tomlinson was a "third round RB," and I've owned up to that mistake many times since then. As for Vick, I said San Diego wouldn't draft him first overall, which they didn't. I never said he wouldn't leave early, so your memory is bad. But while you're mentioning the time I was most wrong, why not mention how many times I've been exactly right? For that matter, where are your predictions?


LarryD:
I'll take a longer look at your post later, but I honestly can't even agree that a comparison between Dayne and Benson is even reasonable. I can respect Mags' opinion that Benson isn't a franchise back, but I just can't even entertain the idea that he's even similar to Dayne. It seems so absurd to me that I question how you came to it, but I'll take a look at your argument after class.

 

upshoot is that i haven't seen benson play, so i'm going on what i've heard -- that he's a big back -- without doing any research. he's not as big as i thought. but he does have some similarities to dayne -- maybe more to emmitt smith? i'd have to look at those numbers...

the conclusion i came to is that the talent in this draft is more and more uncertain the more you look at it. hard to see any "can miss" prospects in here -- in the first round, that is.