Chicago Running Backs

[Guru13]

I'm assuming cedric benson will get the majority of the carries, but as I'm going through my rankings, I had a bit of a hangup as to where to put him because of peterson, we all know that he has talent and could take away some carries, but do you guys think that will happen? or is the job solely cedric's?

[moonhead]

the job is ced's. peterson will get the carries when benson is gassed. and then when he gets injured, peterson will come in and do well. and then it will be a split. that's my guess.

[GreatestShowOnEarth]

Benson's a bit of an unknown because hes never really gotten a chance to be "the guy" in Chicago. Attitude problems, contract holdouts, and injuries have really set him back. After watching him run last year though I really like his chances this year. Whenever i watched a bears game Benson was always running hard... just running people over. There seemed to me to be a big difference when Benson entered the game and TJ came out. I have CB ranked right behind Thomas Jones and Willis McGahee.

[mrblitz]

I believe it's Benson's job to lose. He should get all but maybe 6 or 7 touches a game. I do recommend handcuffing Peterson though.

[VHawk15]

I'm not quite as optimistic. This guy has not ran incredibly well over the course of two seasons, and clearly has an attitude that both the coaching staff and his teammates have noticed. The job was supposed to be his last August, but he simply played too poorly to garner more touches. There's a reason that even as a #4 pick in the draft, he couldn't manage to beat out Thomas Jones, who is not one of the league's premier backs talent-wise.

Additionally, Adrian Peterson was quite impressive in 2005, boasting a 5.1 YPC average. He's not just going to fade away into special teams. The coaching staff showed their lack of satisfaction with Benson by drafting Garrett Wolfe in the draft this year, who should factor in as a legitimate 3rd down option. Additionally, Chicago was involved heavily in trade talks for Chris Brown, which also reveals their confidence in Benson.

And lastly, Rex Grossman is still one of the worse QB's in the league, and as long as that continues, defenses will put 8 or 9 in the box and beg Grossman to throw.