BUI w/ extra PEPPER SPRAY
College to the Pros
He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th-round coming out of high school, but once he realized how hard it was to compete to make it in baseball, he shifted focus full-time to his football prospects. Benson was compared most often to Ricky Williams before the 2005 NFL draft. There's your first red flag. They had similar running styles, both played some minor league baseball, both were Longhorns, and both were the silent, aloof types that seemed to be doing a lot of their living inside their own heads. Ricky Williams' problems transitioning to the NFL were well-documented between his social anxiety disorder (helmeted interviews) and love for pulling tubes (which led to his "retirement" in 2004), but they served as no warning to the Chicago Bears as they made Benson (a higher draft pick than Ricky was) the 4th overall pick in 2005. The collective cringe that was let out in the city was epic. Only Jerry Angelo was not aware that this guy was going to make a bunk pro.
Benson rolled into Halas Hall with the prediction that he would be starting by week three (despite missing all of training camp) over veteran RB Thomas Jones. Upon hearing this, the entire roster basically revolted against him, and a few of the guys on defense even took to tackling him "at knee level". As could be expected, Benson didn't appreciate the fact that his own team was trying to hurt him in practice, even though he was the one piping his mouth off as a rookie. Well, douche, maybe you should analyze the situation just a little bit further next time and shut your pie-hole before you get pepper sprayed again...
Benson looked like he was having a good time before being arrested and pepper sprayed on suspicion of "BUI" (who gets a BUI anyway?). We love boats. We love drinking on boats. We love a vast array of co-eds. Benson's hitting on all fronts as far as this shot goes. And who knew he and Whoopi were such close pals?
The problem with Benson is not that he likes to be captain on booze cruises with his white bitches in the off-season. The problem is that his "free-spirit" is not conducive to being a killer in the NFL; and managing to be accused of a BUI and a DUI within one month (in 2008) basically paints Benson's life-portrait in a nutshell. He was born with insane talent, and has thus far squandered it away. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, and while many people might aspire to achieve that level of self-confidence and inner-peace, as a NFL GM or fantasy owner, it's a big problem.
2008
Most NFL players playing for multi-million dollar contracts would be motivated that their team spent a 1st-rounder on their position in the draft. Not this tool. Cedric just kept rocking out in the summer of 2008 and managed to attract the law by sea and land. Has anyone ever been arrested for FUI?
Benson had embarrassed the Bears since the day he was drafted, so the Bears decided to cut their losses. No, that's not the right way to phrase it... The Bears decided there was nothing more to lose with this 'tard, so they wised up and cut his ass at the beginning of the summer in 2008. That's better. However, in a shocking twist of fate, the laughing stock of the league (Bengals) swooped in and snatched him up at a bargain price for the rest of the season. Benson would then do his best to contribute to the 4th worst NFL team rushing effort on a way to a 4-11-1 Bengal record. Shocker! In fairness to Benson, there wasn't much he or anyone could do on that team last season. Ryan Fitzpatrick under center meant facing a lot of eight in the boxes, and that won't be the case this year.
2009 Fantasy Outlook
Cincinnati recently paid Benson like a starter and there isn't much on the depth chart threatening to infringe on his carries. Brian Leonard is listed as competing with Kenny Watson for backup RB detail at this point. Palmer returns healthy and has a stable of talented WRs three deep with Coles, Ochocinco, and Chris Henry. The offensive line is a big x-factor given that they turned over three starters who are charged with letting up many of the 51 sacks in 2008. Those sacks just couldn't have had anything to do with Ryan Fitzpatrick, though. It's interesting to note that this same unit only let up 17 sacks total the year prior with Carson Palmer. More proof of just how poorly the Bengals are run. Ceddy has never played in a full 16-game NFL season, which has as much to do with the fact that he is a dickhead as anything else. As much as it pains us to say, Benson is in store for the best statistical output of his career in '09. The line could struggle, but Palmer will force defenses to account for three stud receivers on every play, and Benson should put up numbers that earn him either a starting spot or top backup honors on a fantasy squad this year. He is the unquestioned starter on that team. Make him the 10th RB off of draft boards this summer.
