Paul Gutierrez of CSN Sports is wondering if the Oakland Raiders, who have cleared up some cap space by signing Tyvon Branch to a long term extention, should resume talks with free agent running back Cedric Benson.
Fantasy Analysis:
Answering Paul Gutierrez's question about whether the Raiders should consider Cedric Benson now that they have cleared some cap space with the signing of Tyvon Branch to a long term deal is easy: yes they should. The Raiders have decent backfield with potential super star Darren McFadden 
, newly acquired Mike Goodson , and second year speedster Taiwan Jones , but with McFadden's injury history and Goodson's and Jones' relative inexperience (Goodson has been in the league for 3 years, but only has 125 carries) the Raiders would be doing themselves a favor by signing a very qualified veteran like Benson. Benson has rushed for over 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns in the past 3 years for the Cincinnatti Bengals. I think it's safe to say that Benson has put most of his past off-field issues behind him, and has proven that he is capable of being the leader he was drafted to be. Although it seems, at the moment, that if Benson does get picked up it will be as a back-up, but since Oakland may have to rely on their back-ups at some point in 2012 due to an injury I think Benson would be a better option than Goodson or Jones. If Oakland does roll the dice on Benson, it would no doubt hurt McFadden's fantasy value, but I don't think it will impact him enough to push him out of the first three rounds of any standard league.
, newly acquired Mike Goodson , and second year speedster Taiwan Jones , but with McFadden's injury history and Goodson's and Jones' relative inexperience (Goodson has been in the league for 3 years, but only has 125 carries) the Raiders would be doing themselves a favor by signing a very qualified veteran like Benson. Benson has rushed for over 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns in the past 3 years for the Cincinnatti Bengals. I think it's safe to say that Benson has put most of his past off-field issues behind him, and has proven that he is capable of being the leader he was drafted to be. Although it seems, at the moment, that if Benson does get picked up it will be as a back-up, but since Oakland may have to rely on their back-ups at some point in 2012 due to an injury I think Benson would be a better option than Goodson or Jones. If Oakland does roll the dice on Benson, it would no doubt hurt McFadden's fantasy value, but I don't think it will impact him enough to push him out of the first three rounds of any standard league.
