Cedric
Benson from the University of Texas
enters his fourth and final season of Longhorn football.
Undoubtedly, he's a top NFL prospect at the running back
position and in all of NCAA Division I football.
Cedric
has career totals of 3,743 rushing yards on 786 carries,
and 442 receiving yards on 47 receptions. He is 3rd
all-time in rushing yards in the history of University of
Texas.
Since
being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001, they’ve
been paying his freight; but that all ends this year.
Deciding to make football his only focus, the University
of Texas will now pick up the tab so to speak on his
athletic scholarship. With this change, Benson will be
looking to improve on both rushing attempts and receptions
during the 2004 football season.
A knock
on Benson has always been he lacked dedication and
passion; but with baseball now out of the way, Benson has
given every indication that this should be a less
worrisome concern for head coach Mack Brown and the
Longhorns.
"I want
to put everything into preparing myself for my final
football season, for myself, my teammates, my coaches, the
fans and the University of Texas," said Benson, "I want
2004 to be my best year ever, and that's why I've decided
to give up Baseball and concentrate solely on football."
Benson
should be able to succeed at his mission with a healthy
offensive line returning and anchored by a strong
contender for the
Rimington Trophy
in center Jason Glynn along with tackles Justin Blalock
and Jonathan Scott, and the play from his quarterbacks,
Chance Mock and Vince Young.
Needless
to say, it looks like Cedric Benson is positioned to
improve upon last season’s solid performance of 1,360
yards rushing. Look for him to break 1,600 yards in 2004.
The schedule is a bit softer in 2004 compared to last
season. He will still have to face a stifling OU defense,
but with defenses of the likes of Texas Tech, Baylor,
North Texas, and Texas A&M on the schedule, Cedric could
possibly have people in Austin wondering who Ricky
Williams was!
