Wow, that article is full of interesting reasoning.
Quote:
Last year, the Texans weren’t interested in Benson when he was waived by the Bears. They became interested after watching him play for the Bengals and stay out of trouble off the field.
Benson’s legal issues have been cleared up.
“I have matured a little more,” he said. “A young man changes after he turns 21.”
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Of course, his most recent arrests came in the past year when he was 25. And I somehow don't find it all that impressive that he's "stay[ed] out of trouble off the field" for only about six months now.
Quote:
The Bengals are trying to re-sign Benson, who had three 100-yard games for them. He closed the season with 171 and 111 yards in victories over Cleveland and Kansas City. The Bengals finished with a three-game winning streak in which Benson averaged 118.3 yards rushing.
“I think I proved that I’m the player everybody thought I could be,” Benson said. “I think it showed that I can get the job done, being a full-time back and carry the load.”
“Chicago fans asked me what was the difference? I told them it was simple: They gave me the football.”
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Yes, Cedric, the difference was literally that they gave you the football. They gave the ball to Cedric so much that his sheer yardage numbers looked decent. His yards-per-carry numbers, on the other hand, were awful. He averaged a woeful 3.5 YPC, which was the worst average last year for a back with significant carries. And the flourish against Cleveland and KC - well, those were two of weakest run defenses in the NFL which he was allowed to grind out 63 carries against. That'll certainly pad your stats. He proved he could carry the rock - just not very far from the line of scrimmage.