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Will Trey Benson start for the Arizona Cardinals when he returns? John Johnson breaks down the Week 11 Trey Benson return timeline and fantasy football outlook.
Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson (knee) took over the starting RB position for his team when the guy ahead of him, RB James Conner (ankle), dislocated his ankle in Week 3 and was placed on season-ending injured reserve shortly after.
Benson's initial stint as the RB1 was short-lived, though. He picked up a knee injury in that game, was pulled from the game, and eventually ruled out. He was later also placed on injured reserve, though he has a return designation, meaning he's not ruled out for the season.
In the meantime, we've seen the rotation of Michael Carter, Bam Knight, and Emari Demercado, the team's three healthy and active RBs during that span, handle the workload. So will one of them take the starting job and keep it when Benson returns?
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Will Trey Benson Start For The Cardinals When He Returns?
There's little doubt he will remain the starter. Looking at the performance of the team's other RBs, it's hard to find much inspiring from their play. The only one that's been consistently impressive, in a sense, is Demercado. He has a level of explosiveness that the others don't possess.
But size and speed are some of Benson's best qualities. Demercado has been the team's passing down back for some time now, and he'll likely maintain that role. He's a good pass-blocker and is quite effective at running after the catch.
Emari Demercado breaks free for the big gain
AZvsSEA on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/ucwONuRhuo
— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2025
In the run game, Benson has also made a fair number of explosive plays. In fact, as an RB, he's quite ineffective on plays that aren't explosive -- in other words, his rushing averages are boosted by a high rate of big gains, but he doesn't consistently churn out yards.
Still, in the only game he played without Conner, he handled every running back carry before he got hurt. There's not much reason for that to change.
Trey Benson Fantasy Football Outlook
It seems like it will be basically the same as it was before he got hurt. Benson will handle the vast majority of the backfield carries, and may get spelled by Knight for a handful of rushes. He'll play on the non-obvious passing downs and get a decent amount of receiving work, too.
On the clear passing downs, like second down and third down with long yardage to go, it should be Demercado that's on the field, helping to protect the quarterback and providing an explosive outlet for dump-off passes if needed.
2nd year RB Trey Benson for 52 yards
AZvsNO on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/0kWYCp0G2e
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
RBs with roles like this are simply must-starts in fantasy football leagues. He might not be on the most exciting offense, but it helps that struggling quarterback Kyler Murray (foot) was finally benched for his backup, Jacoby Brissett.
Murray has quietly been one of the NFL's worst starting quarterbacks the past few seasons, and his poor play was finally exposed by him simply being outplayed by Brissett. The offense has looked much better with their starting QB, who happens to be a backup journeyman.
Jacoby Brissett : 22/44 for 258 yards, 2 TD's, 2 lost fumbles & a 83.3 QB Rating; 4 carries for 31 yards (Sacked 5 times. Hit a season-high 10 times) pic.twitter.com/Z2haHjZHIp
— Lee Harvey (@Sayian_Warrior) November 10, 2025
He had to play the brutally tough Seattle Seahawks run defense last week, but he won't have such tough matchups every game moving forward. Even if he's just a modest upgrade from Murray, that should help Benson be more productive moving forward.
When he returns, he projects as a flex with RB2 upside based on volume in both the run and pass game.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 11 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Bam Knight, David Montgomery, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker, Kyle Monangai, Emari Demercado, Sean Tucker. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 11. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 11 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 11 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Bam Knight, David Montgomery, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker, Kyle Monangai, Emari Demercado, Sean Tucker. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 11.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
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Popular Week 11 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 11 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 11 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 11 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Bam Knight, David Montgomery, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Walker, Kyle Monangai, Emari Demercado, Sean Tucker compared to others:
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