Arrelious Benn A Name To Remember | 2010 NFL Draft Prospects

The Fighting Illini were competitive at the end of the 2009 season by playing in close games but they still finished the season with a horrible three and nine record. While the teams’ season was in the dumps it was easy to forget just how good of a receiver Arrelious Benn can be.

In Benn’s freshman season in 2007 he won for Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year. The next season Benn produced over 1,000 yards receiving and seemed headed for a great junior year. For such a promising first two seasons Benn ended his final campaign with only 38 receptions for 490 yards and two touchdowns.

Even though Benn had a bad year NFL scouts and teams aren’t putting the blame on him as his team was horrible. Benn might have stayed if it wasn’t for the fact the Fighting Illini are going to have their third offensive coordinator in three straight years this up coming season.

Since Benn is still regarded as a late first to second round pick this year, it only made sense for him to leave for the pro game.

Strong Performance At The Combine

For Benn to have a chance at begin a first round pick he needed to have a solid combine and that is exactly what he did. In the 40 yard dash, he ran a very nice 4.48, and he also benched 20 reps at the bench press.

Maybe these numbers won’t make Benn a first rounder, but they definitely make him a player to draft in the first two rounds.

At this time, it’s hard to say if Benn will make a solid impact in this rookie year as we don’t know where he’s going and how he will perform at OTA’s and throughout the summer. Since he is coming out in his junior year from a bad team it might take him a year to two to get his footing down at the NFL level.

Still, Benn is a receiver that is worth remembering for fantasy football in the coming years and maybe even for Dynasty leagues this year.

NFL fantasy football player rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com