{"id":129394,"date":"2025-06-14T13:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/129394\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T13:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:55:10","slug":"cardinals-trey-benson-is-bigger-and-better-just-like-his-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/129394\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ Trey Benson is bigger and better, just like his confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cardinals\u2019 primary backup to veteran James Conner, Benson has spent this offseason training and working out relentlessly to improve his worth to the team and expand his future role.<\/p>\n

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Jonathan Gannon speaks as Cardinals wrap up 2025 minicamp<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon talks about minicamp at the Cardinals training center in Tempe, on Jun 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> wrapped up mandatory minicamp and now the players have five weeks to themselves before returning for the start of training camp on July 22.<\/p>\n

Before they began going their separate ways, coach Jonathan Gannon discharged them with one simple challenge:<\/p>\n

\u201cBecome better football players,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can say, \u2018Well, they\u2019re not with you,\u2019 but there\u2019s a lot they can work on when it relates to their development as players on and off the field. That\u2019s the expectation. I don\u2019t want these guys to show up the same that they are now. If you do, you\u2019re going to be behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know that, and they all have plans to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take second-year running back Trey Benson, for instance. The Cardinals\u2019 primary backup to veteran James Conner, Benson has spent this offseason training and working out relentlessly to improve his worth to the team and expand his future role.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s added seven pounds, bulking up to 223, and thanks to his work with Kyle Sammons, the Cardinals\u2019 sports science coordinator in the strength and conditioning department, has increased his speed, power and explosiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in a mode right now,\u201d Benson said, \u201cso I wish we could keep going. But I\u2019m going to stay over here next week doing my same routines. \u2026 I\u2019m not excited it\u2019s over with.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Benson, Arizona\u2019s third-round pick out of Florida State a year ago, the hard work is only beginning. When you have designs on pushing a stalwart such as Conner for more carries and a larger share of the workload, you better make sure you\u2019re up to the task.<\/p>\n

Conner is coming off back-to-back, 1,000-yard rushing seasons for Arizona. Only one other Cardinals\u2019 running back has been able to accomplish that in the past 40 years \u2013 Edgerrin James in 2007-2008. Benson, who gained 291 yards on 63 carries as a rookie, seems convinced he\u2019s ready for a breakout season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ll get more opportunities and help James out more,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like we can have two RB1\u2019s on this team, and that\u2019s my mindset this year is two RB1\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

That might be wishful thinking, but what if it isn\u2019t? Dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray is expected to run more this year, and if the situation warrants it, it\u2019s plausible that Benson can split more time with Conner as the Cardinals\u2019 featured back.<\/p>\n

Conner basically predicted it at the start of organized team activities when he told reporters to watch out for Trey Benson in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cFocus. Just everything. His approach to it,\u201d Conner said when asked why Benson could shine in Year 2. \u201cHe\u2019s worked unbelievably this offseason. Showed up every single day, working out together and yeah, he wants it. He wants it bad. That\u2019s because he knows the type of player he can be. We all know that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been working his butt off, and it\u2019s been awesome to see. He\u2019s super, super dedicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conner went on to note how Benson has reshaped his body and improved his strength and conditioning under the guidance of Sammons, saying, \u201cHe was already a freak athlete before, but now \u2026 He\u2019s a grown man out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arizona sports: 5 things we learned from Cardinals offseason workouts<\/a><\/p>\n

Benson acknowledged that he\u2019s come a long way in a short period. Last year at this point, he was mostly a bundle of nerves with no sense of direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was (having) anxiety and panicking and stuff, but now you can see the difference between this year and last year,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m more confident and just ready to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why was he so stressed?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my rookie year and the defenses, the whole NFL, is just way quicker than college,\u201d Benson explained. \u201cI think that\u2019s what it was, and my mind was just racing. I only played two years of college, so that was basically my third year of playing for real.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just needed to be more decisive. I was thinking too much at the beginning of the season trying to hit the home run every time. It helped with James being in my ear telling me, \u2018Just take what I can get,\u2019 take what they give me and just be a better runner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that he\u2019s bigger, faster and stronger, Benson hopes to add a punishing style to his game, something that has become Conner\u2019s trademark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ask him about it all the time,\u201d Benson said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best runners I\u2019ve ever seen, and I feel like the people in the media don\u2019t give him credit. He\u2019s one of the top running backs in the league \u2013 he\u2019s top five to me \u2013 and I\u2019m always telling him that. He proves it each and every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though he\u2019s what, 30 years old now? He\u2019s still running like he\u2019s 22. I\u2019m 22, so he\u2019s still running like he\u2019s my age. \u2026 He\u2019s a bruiser back, and I want to be a bruiser back this year for sure. But also with the speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benson has five weeks to continue his quest before the start of training camp, when progress and evaluations get serious.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00cd really can\u2019t wait,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m itching for it. I can\u2019t wait to show everybody what I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic<\/a>. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cardinals\u2019 primary backup to veteran James Conner, Benson has spent this offseason training and working out relentlessly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[247,265,375,390,2604,807,15439,1327,2622,321,7,469,757,4826,4827,2488,248,267,206,823,88,6,320,333,245,537,530,9,266,2340,25211,806],"class_list":{"0":"post-129394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-american-football","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-arizona-cardinals","12":"tag-arizonacardinals","13":"tag-az","14":"tag-benson","15":"tag-cardinals","16":"tag-conner","17":"tag-content","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-james","20":"tag-james-conner","21":"tag-kyler","22":"tag-kyler-murray","23":"tag-murray","24":"tag-national","25":"tag-national-sports","26":"tag-new","27":"tag-new-visitors-az","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-nfl","30":"tag-opinion","31":"tag-opinion-content","32":"tag-overall","33":"tag-overall-positive","34":"tag-positive","35":"tag-sports","36":"tag-sports-news","37":"tag-trey","38":"tag-trey-benson","39":"tag-visitors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114682064213397669","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}