Obsession is a young man’s game.
– Cutter, The Prestige (2006)
Every under-the-radar player-turned-stud’s journey consists of three parts or acts. The first part is known as ‘The Recruitment’. Some coach recruits them, a seemingly ordinary player: a prospect among many, a name on a list. They present to them the scheme, asses the culture fit, and evaluate their athleticism and abilities.
The second act is called ‘The Emergence’. This player does something extraordinary— they make All-VP selection in week 11 after a gnarly 157-yard and two-score performance vs. Tulane; or, they follow up a stellar performance with a pig-tacular 16-target game against a bunch of third-rate magicians at North Texas. Now, everyone is watching, trying to uncover the secret… but they won’t find it because, of course, they’re not really looking. They don’t really want to know. They want to be surprised.
But you wouldn’t be celebrated yet. Making an impact isn’t enough; you have to sustain it. One big performance every now and then gets you on a best ball squad, but as a mainstay player on a standard redraft roster? That’s another ball game entirely. That’s why every under-the-radar player turned CFF stud has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call ‘The Prestige‘.
An Opportunity to be Tulsa’s Unquestioned WR1
Kamdyn Benjamin (5’8″, 175) — 2023 STATS: 47 (75) – 727 – 6 (13.1 PPG)
The Kam Man flashed big time at the end of last season, finishing his last three games with 13, 16, and 8 targets vs. Tulane, North Texas, and ECU, respectively. With those targets, he produced 157, 93, and 143 yards, plus four TDs in three games.
Poor quarterback play and injuries at that position limited the scope of the entire offense, but definitely the WR production in 2023. Benjamin, despite being a fourth-year player last year, had not caught a pass until 2022 (his third year), when he appeared in seven games, catching three passes on four targets for 18 yards.
His 2023 campaign was more fruitful, but a lot of that production came in the final quarter of the year. The late-season flash is encouraging, and even more so when you look at who’s leaving the room. Pictured below are Tulsa’s leading receivers last year.
Both Williams and Shoulders recently announced they were hitting the transfer portal. One of the other top six receivers, Malachi Jones, is converting to DB.
Sure, the departing receivers’ overall production levels aren’t overwhelmingly high, but every little bit counts, especially for a guy who was already the target leader a year ago.
Coaching & System
WR1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 16.19 — OC: 11.11 (half ppr)
Deep within the bowels of the C2C head office, a heated debate could be heard from one of the meeting rooms:
“He’s progressive, he’s predictable, he’s boring. I mean, he’s got success, whatever that means, and now he’s scared, he won’t take any risks at all. I mean, he’s squandering the goodwill of the audience with these tired, second-rate tricks…”
One of the C2C interns voices his trepidation about Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson, suggesting that he has become complacent from his time at Ohio State. He insinuates that Wilson has become ‘predictable’ and ‘boring’.
Yet, cooler heads prevailed. Proponents of Tulsa’s offensive potential cited problematic QB play in 2023, highlighting the rash of injuries that befell the position group. Indeed, starting QB Braylen Braxton was wounded in the first half of the first game of the season. Redshirt freshman Cardell Williams took over before he himself also fell to injury. That left third-stringer Kirk Francis as the designated distributor in November.
However, historically speaking, Wilson’s WR1 is a hot commodity. Take a look at the target share for his WR1s between 2018 and 2023:
In three of the last five seasons (excluding the COVID year), Wilson’s WR1 has seen over 22% target share, with one almost exceeding 30%(!). That’s gold. As in… Gold…en Hurricane *Ba dum tss*.
The OC—Steve Spurrier Jr., has only spent one season as a playcaller since 2015. He was the co-OC of the Gamecocks in the early/mid-2010s. The only season of the four spent there produced a 1,000+ yard receiver.
The appeal here is really all about Wilson. Even though detractors will tell you he’s not the same anymore, I retain an optimistic outlook. Year one was rough for Tulsa, but good things usually take time. Wilson will have gotten more of his guys in the fold now, and presumably, the existing players will be more familiar with what is expected.
Quotes from Benjamin himself would indicate as much:
I think the biggest difference is, last year everybody is out here trying to know each other. Now we know what’s expected of us and what we want, and how to build. So now we’re out here. Just trying to work together for year two.
Wilson echoed that sentiment:
A year ago, you don’t know anybody and you’re trying to set an overall culture of what you want to do.
This year, I thought, just looking at us, we had to get stronger. We’ve done a lot more things in the team. There’s a good vibe in the team.
The key concern is the quarterback’s play. Sources indicate that Cardell Williams and Kirk Francis are the two top contenders, with Williams nursing a shoulder injury this offseason. Both showed flashes of good football last season but were wildly inconsistent in typical 2023-Tulsa fashion. Francis was the one who was starting when Benjamin popped off, so maybe there is chemistry there. Then you add in Cooper Legas from Utah State, and it’s hard to make out how the room will shake out.
One of the key hires this offseason was Corey Dennis, who will serve as the passing game coordinator and QBs coach for the Hurricanes in 2024. He was hired away from Ole Miss, where he had served as an analyst for a few months. He previously served at Ohio State as the QBs coach from 2020-2023.
Here’s what Wilson said about Dennis:
We are fortunate to add Corey Dennis to our coaching staff. I had the opportunity to work with Corey for six years at Ohio State and know him very well, personally and professionally. Corey is the guy I pursued as the best coach to join our staff. I focused our search on him knowing that our offensive staff had flexibility to move to their natural positions they’ve coached previously. Corey’s strength coaching quarterbacks will be a huge asset to our team.
So that’s certainly encouraging regarding the prospects of improved QB play this upcoming season.
Closing
Despite my best efforts, Benjamin’s overall ADP is currently 235.4, but his April ADP of 178.5 suggests he’s climbing up the ranks rapidly. Certainly, there’s a lot to like here. For starters, there’s hardly anyone left in the WR room. Secondly, the system in place has a good track record; and thirdly, the QB play will hopefully be improved.
Potential concerns would be related to the uncertainty of the QB position. We hope it’ll be improved, but who the hell knows? Life isn’t like a magic trick where you bring in some character named ‘Dennis’ and all of a sudden everything becomes copacetic.
Personally, I think Benjamin is a huge steal right now at current ADP.
You can find more articles like this over here.
