Cincinnati Bengals: Best running backs in team history, No. 5
By Kenn Korb
After viewing at some interesting names from the past, we now start to look at the best running backs in Cincinnati Bengals history, beginning with No. 5.
The Cincinnati Bengals are most certainly looking for a type of redemption when it comes to the 2018 season. After missing out on the playoffs by a wide margin a year ago, they are looking for a return to the postseason. Of course, there is still a month until training camp begins, which means their plans will have to wait.
And until then, we’ve been looking back at the history of the Bengals. We started by looking at the greatest quarterbacks in Cincinnati’s history, and now we’ve turned our attention to the greatest running backs to have ever donned the stripes.
As a warm-up, we recently looked at some of the interesting running backs Cincinnati has had in the past. Now, we begin to look at the players who made the main list.
5. Cedric Benson
This is a surprise, even to me. The book on Benson’s career seemed to be more about his failings rather than his successes. His pro career began with a prolonged holdout after being selected #4 overall in the 2005 draft by the Chicago Bears. That holdout, injuries, and the presence of Thomas Jones prevented him from becoming the main starter on that team until his third season with them — a season which would prove to be his last with them.
Then-general manager Jerry Angelo made it clear he wanted to add new talent to awaken the league-worst run game that Benson led, and due to that and other reasons Benson would end up cut that offseason. Between Benson’s inability to stay healthy, his inconsistent production, a prickly demeanor, and a growing history off-field problems (arrested for marijuana possession and trespassing in college; two alcohol-related arrests in a five-week span at the end of his Chicago tenure), he was the deluxe “draft bust” package.
Then comes Cincinnati. During much of Marvin Lewis’ time in charge of Cincinnati, the team has made a habit of being the new home for the discarded and unwanted castoffs of the NFL; while it probably wasn’t initially expected of him, Benson would go on to be one of the more astounding career resuscitations of Lewis’ tenure.
Benson quickly found himself in a big role with the team, starting 10 games for the Bengals while producing the best season of his career to that point (2008 stats: 214 carries, 747 rushing yards, two touchdowns). He would only get better from there: in each of the next three seasons, he would rush for at least 1,067 yards while picking up 20 total touchdowns. With his steady rushing efforts he would help the team reach the playoffs in 2009 and 2011 — and in the 2009 run he did more than enough to give Cincinnati a chance to win their matchup (21 carries, 169 yards, one touchdown).
Though his Cincinnati career would be just four seasons long, he was so productive in them that he was able to quickly leap up the leaderboards in team history. He has three of Cincinnati’s 21 1,000+ rushing yard seasons, including the seventh-highest single-season total in franchise history (1,251 in 2009). He’s one of just ten Bengals players with 20+ rushing touchdowns (21).
If he were able to last with the team as long as the rest of the top five (each of them was a Bengal for seven seasons), he’d be much higher on this list. Take the average from his four seasons and prorate it over seven years instead, and he would’ve been No. 1 in carries, No. 2 in yardage and tied for No. 4 in touchdown runs — and probably right there in the mix for consideration atop this list.
Alas, that’s not how things went. Benson’s character, while no longer a headline in his Cincinnati days, was still a consideration to worry about behind the scenes; his displeasure was made clear all too often when things didn’t go his way, and Lewis grew so tired of it that he wasn’t willing to have Benson return when his contract ran out after 2011. Rather than continuing as a big contributor in Cincinnati’s backfield, Benson would instead have an injury-shortened 2012 stint with Green Bay that would be the end of his professional career.
Next: NFL 2018: 20 RBs with best chance at 2,000 yards
Benson’s career acts as a reminder on many things in the league: how second chances can work out well, the external damage injuries can have, that playing situations can make a massive difference, the pitfalls of poor character. Still, Benson’s career with Cincinnati, while short, was a high-level display of production which proved his talent worthy of his high draft selection and helped place him among the best runner to ever play for the franchise.