ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals made no changes to their offensive arsenal of weapons moving into 2025.
That's not an exaggeration - the Cardinals have the same exact corps of weapons from Kyler Murray down to make plays from last season.
Time will tell if continuity will help the Cardinals in offensive coordinator Drew Petzing's third season calling the plays in the desert, though one thing is for certain: Arizona will run the ball, and often at that.
The Cardinals were just outside of the top ten in rushing attempts per game last season but ranked highly in stats such as average yards per carry (2nd with 5.3) and rushing yards per game (7th in 144.2).
It's a major building block for Arizona's success and can open up plenty more for Murray in the passing game, as the Cardinals operate best when mixing in their rushing and play-action concepts to keep defenses honest.
Veteran James Conner - who just hit a career-high 1,094 rushing yards - re-signed with the Cardinals to stick around on a two-year extension. When healthy, there's no denying who the lead back is for Arizona.
Yet the presence of second-year rusher Trey Benson also looms, and though the Florida State product was a bit slow to begin his career, he quickly found his footing and displayed some great tape to build off of entering 2025.
With a full offseason to catch himself up to speed, many believe the Cardinals' backfield could be in flux for the coming year - which includes The Athletic.
"Trey Benson was one of the hottest backup-RB names last year, and then Conner went and played 16 games for the first time in his career. Conner has never played a full season, but he’s been pretty great while on the field," wrote Jake Ciely.
"The odds of Benson overtaking Conner outright are slim, but so are the odds Conner doesn’t miss time. Conner and Benson are here merely on the injury risk, and while it would take Conner missing half the season or more for the first time, it’s more likely than his playing 16+ games again."
Could the Cardinals limit Conner's workload to keep him healthy while also wanting to involve Benson more?
Both are possibilities.
Of Arizona's 463 rushing attempts last year, Conner clearly led the way with 236 attempts - which accounts for just over 50% of carries for the Cardinals.
The next closest was actually Murray with 78 followed by Benson (63), Michael Carter (35) and Emari Demercado (24) as other top rushers.
Conner played 56.4% of snaps in 2024 while Benson, Carter and Demercado all floated around the 12-14% range.
Case in point: Conner, when healthy, was very much the lead back for the Cardinals.
Could that change moving into next season?
It feels like some sort of balance will be coming to Arizona's backfield if Benson indeed can take the next step in his game. The Cardinals would love to give the second-year runner some more work and obviously try to keep Conner as healthy as possible in the process.
However, it's not expected for the scales to massively tip in Benson's favor. Conner is still very much the Cardinals' workhorse moving into 2025. If the vet can indeed continue his current pace, Arizona will happily allow keep the load high for Conner.
We're primed to see more Benson - but it doesn't feel as if the Cardinals' backfield is in flux. The crown will belong to Conner until further notice.