20/20: Eno Benjamin

Matthew Griffith Posted On February 7, 2020

Welcome to the 20/20 series. As part of our continued Dynasty Scouts coverage and in preparation for the NFL Combine, we profile 20 of the top incoming rookies of the class of 2020 by giving you 20 facts you must know.

1.) Player Name – Eno Benjamin

2.) College – Arizona State University

3.) Height/ Weight – 5’10”, 201 pounds

4.) Birthdate – 04/13/1999 (20 years old)

5.) Class – Junior

6.) Basic college stats

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Stats courtesy of sports-reference.com

7.) NFL draft round projection – Benjamin is the seventh ranked running back at DLF. He should benefit from Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, and Chuba Hubbard deciding to stay in school. I’ve seen Benjamin projected anywhere from the second round to a mid day-three pick. He could go as high as round three, but I think it’s more likely we see him come off the board in round four.

8.) Current NFL comp – Benjamin reminds me of a more physical Chase Edmonds. Both are quick on their feet and in decision making, as well as sharing similar size and choppy feet movement.

9.) Best possible destination – Benjamin carried the load in college, showing he could be a work horse. At the NFL level, however, I see him more as a 1B or committee back. With that, some of the best landing spots in my opinion would be the Browns, Lions, Atlanta or Buffalo. Each of those teams could use a valuable RB2 with pass catching upside.

10.) Worst possible destination – His skill set can work in different run schemes, so there aren’t offenses that scare me off of him too much. The worst landing spots are teams where he could be buried or mixed into a committee diluting his value, such as New England, Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Carolina.

11.) Best current skill – Vision and decision making. He has the vision to see the plays and blocking develop, and the quickness and burst to hit his lane.

12.) Skill that needs to be improved – Speed, which is a tough skill to develop at age 20. He doesn’t appear to have the long speed you’d hope for in a 201 pound back, but it’s not a deal breaker either.

13.) Past/ current rookie ADP – Benjamin’s current ADP on DLF is 21st overall (2.09). See 2020 Rookie Rankings here.

14.) Projected dynasty value – I don’t foresee Benjamin breaking into the top-12 running backs at any point in his career. He may not even crack to top-24, but he will still provide value to an NFL organization, and in turn, our dynasty rosters. We all got really excited over Darwin Thompson last pre-season. We all want to know which back we need to cuff Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey, and we all want the next Matt Breida, or Phillip Lindsay.

Benjamin is a talented running back and can ultimately make his way to the second spot on an NFL roster, and that holds value.

15.) Recruiting profile – Coming out of Wylie East High School in Texas, Benjamin was a four-star running back and was the 6th ranked running back in the country in a loaded running back class.

16.) Yards Per Carry – His career yards per carry stands at 5.0, and it was 5.5 throughout his break out sophomore season. Playing in the PAC-12, you’d hope for this to be more in the 5.8-6.0 range.

17.) Workload – We want to hate that Jonathan Taylor averaged over 300 carries per year for three years. In Benjamin’s case, it’s actually not a bad thing to see a smaller back get 300 carries his sophomore season to give us some verification that if he needed to carry a workhorse type load, it wouldn’t be something new for him.

18.) NFL coaching – Playing for Herm Edwards holds weight with me. Along with the other former NFL players on that staff, Edwards’ insight and the preparation he gives his athletes needs to be accounted for.

19.) Big play ability – One of my favorite stats during his breakout sophomore year was that he had 47 rushes of ten yards or more. Only Jonathan Taylor had more that year. Every six plays he was breaking a run for more than ten yards. We’ve talked about his decision making and vision, but this kind of stat is a good reminder of his toughness and his ability to wear on defenses.

20.) Character – DLF’s own Ray Garvin lives near where Benjamin went to high school and has checked him out a handful of times. Ray told me that Benjamin was always hanging after games, signing autographs, and speaking to the youth. I love this. Being a four-star running back in the state of Texas makes you a low key celebrity, and he maintained his humbleness throughout the spot light.