Eno
Benjamin.
Eno
Benjamin.
Arizona St.· 5'9"· 207 lb· 4.57s 40
"Arizona drafted the Sun Devils' single-season rushing record holder at No. 222, and his vision flashed in a 2022 fill-in stretch before an Achilles tear ended his NFL run."Pre-draft read
Benjamin was the featured back in Arizona State's zone-based run game, a compact 5-9, 207-pounder who handled 553 carries over his final two seasons. His primary trait was elusiveness: he pressed the line patiently, set up blockers and made the first defender miss with quick feet and a sudden jump cut, which fueled his 1,642-yard 2018 season.
His secondary trait was receiving value, with 77 catches over two years as a check-down and screen option. He was a willing but undersized pass protector. His athletic ceiling was capped by a 4.57 40, though a 39-inch vertical showed his burst, and his signature was the vision to create yards when the blocking broke down.
Outside or inside zone scheme that lets a patient one-cut runner press the line and use his vision to find cutback lanes.
Year 1: rotational back and kick returner. Ceiling: change-of-pace starter with third-down responsibilities.
Power-gap scheme built on downhill runs between the tackles that asks a 207-pound back to carry the load against stacked boxes.
His receiving work gave him more paths to a roster than his running alone.
Highlights: Manny Wilkins, Eno Benjamin and N'Keal Harry lead Arizona State football over USC
Arizona State's 2018 win over USC with Benjamin in the featured role.
Eno Benjamin "Lockjaw" II Official 2018-2019 Highlights II
Cut-up of his record-setting sophomore and junior seasons.
Eno Benjamin || Arizona State Sun Devils Running Back || 2019 Highlights
His 2019 first-team All-Pac-12 season as a runner and receiver.
Benjamin projected as a productive, instinctive runner whose average size and long speed limited his value to the middle of Day 3. Evaluators liked his vision, balance and lateral quickness, and saw a back who could create on his own behind an inconsistent offensive line.
He broke out as a sophomore in 2018 with a school-record 1,642 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, including a 312-yard game against Oregon State. In 2019 he ran for 1,083 yards and 10 scores and caught 42 passes, earning first-team All-Pac-12 again. The flags were a dip to 4.3 yards per carry, six fumbles as a junior, no breakaway speed, a smaller frame for between-the-tackles work and some tendency to bounce runs outside when the first lane closed.
His 2018 tape had him in the Day 2 conversation, but a middling workout and his drop in 2019 efficiency pushed him down most boards. Arizona took him at No. 222 as a local third-down and rotational back who could compete for touches behind Kenyan Drake.
- 01
Vision and patience
Pressed the line of scrimmage, read the flow of zone blocks and found the cutback lane before defenders could close it.
- 02
Elusiveness
Made the first tackler miss with quick feet and a sudden jump cut, creating yards on his own when the blocking broke down.
- 03
Workhorse production
Ran for a school-record 1,642 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2018, including a school-record 312-yard game against Oregon State.
- 04
Receiving value
Caught 77 passes over his final two seasons, giving him a clear path to a third-down role as a check-down and screen option.
- 05
Explosive lower body
Posted a 39-inch vertical at the combine, showing the burst to accelerate through the hole in a compact frame.
- 01
Average long speed
Ran a 4.57 40, which limited his ability to turn big runs into touchdowns and separate from NFL defensive backs.
- 02
Ball security
Fumbled six times in 2019, losing four, a concerning trend for a back who needed to earn trust as a rotational player.
- 03
Declining efficiency
His yards per carry fell from 5.5 in 2018 to 4.3 in 2019, raising questions about how much he created on his own.
- 04
Pass protection
Willing but undersized in blitz pickup, and could be pushed back by linebackers when asked to anchor in the pocket.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.57sp50
- Vertical
- 39inp50
- Broad jump
- 122inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.97sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.25sp50
- Bench
- 12repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | RecYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Arizona State | 10 | 23 | 142 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| 2018 | Arizona State | 13 | 300 | 1642 | 16 | 35 | 263 |
| 2019 | Arizona State | 12 | 253 | 1083 | 10 | 42 | 347 |
| Career | — | 35 | 576 | 2867 | 27 | 82 | 625 |
Season lines from Sports-Reference, cross-checked against TeamRankings, Wikipedia and his Calgary Stampeders bio: the three years sum exactly to 576 carries, 2,867 yards, 27 rushing touchdowns, 82 receptions, 625 yards and four receiving scores across 35 games.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The realized outcome: a rotational back who flashed as a fill-in before injuries.
Compact, explosive back who found a long career as a receiving and rotational option.
Late-round runner who bounced between rosters and never held a steady role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Benjamin spent his 2020 rookie season inactive, then appeared in nine games for Arizona in 2021 as a reserve back and kick returner. He earned a bigger role in 2022 when James Conner was hurt, running for 299 yards and two touchdowns and catching 24 passes in 10 games, before being waived in November. He finished 2022 with brief stints in Houston and New Orleans, then tore his Achilles in Saints training camp in 2023 and missed the season. He resurfaced in the CFL with Calgary and Montreal in 2025.
In hindsight the pick was a fair Day 3 swing that produced a usable fill-in back. His vision and receiving skill translated when he got carries, but the lack of long speed limited his big-play upside, and the Achilles injury closed the window just as he had a chance to compete for a role. He finished his NFL career with 24 games, 431 rushing yards, three touchdowns and 31 receptions. He ended as a capable backup who never found a steady home.