One player has consistently come up this offseason as a player on the Arizona Cardinals who has improved and could break out this season. That would be running back Eno Benjamin, who received specific public praise on multiple occasions from head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
While James Conner is going to be the starter for the Cardinals at running back, Kingsbury has even said that Benjamin, now in his third NFL season, “looks like he could be a starting running back.”
Not only is Kingsbury praising Benjamin, but the former Arizona State standout has caught the eyes of his teammates.
Starting left guard Justin Pugh appeared on the Dave Pasch Podcast and, when asked about the running back room, said Benjamin stood out this offseason.
“I think a guy to look for is Eno Benjamin,” Pugh said. “He looked great in minicamp. He’s probably been our best outside zone running back that we’ve had on the roster, even last year.”
Pugh said he made great strides in the one area that kept him off the field.
“He had to learn how to pass protect,” Pugh said. “And that was really the only thing. You can’t trust a guy to be in the game if you can’t trust him to pick up pass protection and he’s gone night and day from last year to this year, so I think he’s going to have a big jump.”
Benjamin is vying for the No. 2 role on the team behind Conner. If he wins that job, the question is whether he gets the amount of playing time that Chase Edmonds had in 2020 when Kenyan Drake was the No. 1 guy or if he can fill Edmonds’ 2021 role.
Benjamin is definitely a player to pay attention to in training camp and the preseason next month.
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