James Conner's season-ending injury thrust Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson into the spotlight ahead of Thursday night's divisional showdown with the Seattle Seahawks.
"Ultimate confidence in Trey and each and every guy behind him that has to play," quarterback Kyler Murray said Tuesday, via Arizona Sports. "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."
Conner suffered a foot injury in the third quarter of Sunday's 16-15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Following the injury, Benson touched the rock seven times, one catch for 3 yards and six carries. He popped his first run after Conner's exit for 29 yards, then was slowed, rushing for 3 yards, -1, 0, 5 and 0, respectively. For the game, he rushed 10 times for 42 yards and added three catches on four targets for 9 yards.
Benson was expected to eat into Conner's touches coming into the season, offering more explosiveness than the veteran workhorse. Now, the second year back is in line to shoulder a massive workload.
"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."
Conner is the only Cardinals player with multiple scrimmage TDs in 2025 (2) -- 32 carries, 95 rushing yds, one rushing TD, eight receptions, 38 receiving yards, one TD catch. Since joining the Cardinals in 2021, Conner is seventh in the NFL (fifth among RBs) with 46 scrimmage TDs.
Since becoming teammates in 2021, Murray has averaged 250.3 passing YPG and 51.0 rushing YPG (11 pass TD, three INTs) in six career games played without Conner (3-3 W-L). That stat line includes 100 rushing yards (second-most in his career) in Week 6, 2022, at Seattle without Conner.
When given a chance, Benson has shown some pop, averaging 6.0 YPC this season. He and Lions RB David Montgomery (6.9) are the only qualified rushers to average 6.0-plus YPC through three weeks.
The question is whether Benson can continue to be explosive in the full-time role. Last year in one start, he carried 11 times for only 10 rushing yards (Week 2, 2024). In football terms, for a young player, that was eons ago.
One thing to watch for is whether the Cardinals try to use Murray's legs more with Conner on the shelf.
