Arizona Cardinals running backs James Conner and Benson present fascinating fantasy football storylines heading into the 2025 season. Conner’s surprising RB11 finish in 2024 has fantasy managers questioning whether the 30-year-old veteran can repeat his career-best performance.
Meanwhile, Benson enters his second year looking to prove his third-round draft pedigree after a disappointing rookie campaign. These Cardinals backfield dynamics could significantly impact your fantasy football draft strategy this season.
James Conner Fantasy Outlook
Perennially overlooked Cardinals running back Conner produced an RB11 overall finish in 2024, his best fantasy finish since 2021. The former Steeler played in 16 games, the most of his career, and proved a great value on his RB18 ADP.
Despite his impressive 2024 campaign, Conner is going later in drafts this year, leaving boards as the RB19. While now 30 years old, the Cardinals’ back has outproduced that ADP in three of the last four seasons, albeit barely in 2023.
Age is obviously a factor, as is Conner’s branding as a sensible, yet unremarkable fantasy asset. Given that Conner has topped 13 appearances just three times over his eight-year career, regression should be expected this coming season.
He did receive a two-year, $19 million contract extension in November, solidifying his starting role for at least another year. Conner should be able to make good on his ADP, while ensuring the aging back costs very little later in drafts.
Unfortunately, Benson suffered injuries of his own when Conner went down late in the season, preventing him from making an impact. Nevertheless, the 2024 third-round pick is the clear RB2 in Arizona and can be picked up around the 12th round of drafts. Conner is as reliable as fantasy assets come when on the field, pairing him with Benson late on could get you low-end RB1 to high-end RB2 numbers throughout the year.
— Cameron Sheath, Fantasy Football Analyst
Trey Benson Fantasy Outlook
It’s hard to get excited about Benson after a rough rookie year. Typically, we want to see instant impact from the position when they’re drafted early, which Benson was. Instead, he rode the pine most of the season in favor of Conner, who happened to have his healthiest season yet.
Benson finished with 69 touches, 350 yards, and one touchdown, on 17% of offensive snaps. While many Conner managers likely held onto him for most of the season, he did not end up being a useful asset. That’s tough production, but the Cardinals are hyping him up a lot in camp. He’ll inevitably see reasonable work. Conner is 30 and entering year nine and has historically missed multiple games per season to injury until last year.
Even if he’s healthy again, they’ll want to limit his workload for a playoff push. Yet, the trust in Conner is so high that it would require an injury for Benson to get usable production.
That makes Benson a handcuff at best until circumstances change. He’s worth a late draft pick, especially for Conner managers, but don’t expect much and hope for the best. Breakouts come from unlikely places all the time, and every player develops differently, so I’m not out on Benson at all, but I’m not enthused either.
— Mason LeBeau, Fantasy Football Analyst