by Rickhouse on August 17 at 1:49PM
With training camp coming to an end, we'll be looking at each position for the 2007 Bears. Now up, the running backs.Let's get one thing straight first, the only reason Thomas Jones isn't on this team is because he didn't want to be. Every Bears fan grew to love TJ over the last two years, but that doesn't change the fact that he forced his way out of Chicago and into New York. It's not that I fault him- if I were him I wouldn't want to be splitting carries with the #4 pick in the 2005 draft either- but I feel like Jerry Angelo is taking an unfair beating for trading him. Do you think Angelo actually wanted to trade his best offensive player the last two seasons, especially when he had a cap friendly contract and wasn't getting back anything close to equal value back in return? Of course not, but Jones forced his way out of town, and now it's now Cedric Benson's turn to prove if he's for real.
Fans and teammates are going to have a tough time warming up to Benson after all the crap he has pulled in his Bears career so far. The Sun Times article that appeared about a month ago made him seem like a total fruitcake, and he really has done nothing to endear himself to Chicago since he's come here. There are two problems, really. The first is that his rookie holdout really got him off to a bad start. It pissed off fans and teammates and he really hasn't recovered from it since. If Benson was in camp from day one in 2005, I'm almost positive he would have been the starting running back for the last two years. He probably would have beat out Jones, because he is far more talented and it tells you exactly what the management thought of Jones at the time that they used the fourth pick in the draft to select a running back. The second problem is the way Benson carries himself, especially when juxtaposed with Jones. Jones' attitude, work ethic, and production makes Benson look bad, and Cedric does himself no favors in the PR department. Whether it's true or not, Benson comes off as looking like a bit of a nut job. Part of that is because he is so often compared to one of the most famous nut jobs in NFL history, Ricky Williams. Ricky Williams is crazy, and Cedric Benson might be too.
But you know what people forget about Ricky Williams? He was awesome at football. There was a two or three year period where Williams was arguably the best running back in the NFL, climaxing in 2002 when he rushed for over 1,800 yards and scored 16 touchdowns. Benson might be able to be just as productive. People forget that Cedric Benson was not a good college football player, he's one of the best running backs in the history of the sport. He dominated for four years at Texas, finishing his career as the sixth all time leading rusher in NCAA history. It's not like this was just another football player in college; if he isn't great in the NFL it should be shocking.
Now the question becomes can Cedric Benson be counted on to lead the Bears to the Super Bowl. Honestly, I think he can, but he is more "boom-or-bust" potential than anyone on the roster, including Grossman. I really don't see any middle ground for Benson, either he's going to awesome or he'll be awful. I think the Bears are going to be great this year, and because of that, I tend to think that Benson will dominate. He better, because behind him is only Adrian Peterson and rookie Garret Wolfe. Look for Wolfe to make a big impact, but he's not an every down back. This is Benson's job, and he has to step up.
While I'm going to wait to the end to give you my prediction on how the Bears season will end up, I'm going to try to give you statistical projections for every major player. Here's what I got for Benson this year:
1,255 yards rushing, 4.3 average, 9 touchdowns
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Comments
Come one Cedric, you know you need a backup, and Peterson is solid in that role. I think Wolfe is going to become of peoples new favorite player because he's gonna make things happen as a rookie. Maybe not as dramatically as Maurice Jones Drew did last year, but something similar.
There is nothing wrong with a crazy running back. i had a chance to have a night on the town with ricky williams during his american football days (before that shitty candian league crap). after a night on the town that end in each of us downing a bottle of everclear and williams punching a stripper in the face for shitting on his new bear skin rug, he went on to have the greatest game of his career. maybe this is just what chicago needs.
Lets hope their offensive line doesn't die of old age this year. I really like Adrian Peterson (not Vikings') as a backup. Him and Benson hopefully can become a great one-two punch.