Unusual depth at running back coming in handy for Arizona Cardinals

Running backs Eno Benjamin and Keaontay Ingram filled in admirably for the Arizona Cardinals during Thursday night’s victory. 

Arizona Cardinals fans rejoiced back in March when the club signed free agent James Conner to a well-deserved, three-year contract. Unfortunately, the Cards’ workhorse is looking more and more like an injury-prone piece of the offense who’s becoming increasingly difficult to depend on.

That may very well be the reason for the fact that the club kept a highly-unusual five running backs on this season’s roster. Thankfully, every member of that group has the tools to be a vital contributor to the Arizona scoring attack.

The abilities of a pair of those individuals were on full display during Thursday night’s 42-34 victory over the New Orleans Saints. With both Conner and veteran Darrel Williams sidelined with injuries, two young runners came through for the Redbirds in a game that the franchise had to win.

Young backs excelled for the Arizona Cardinals Thursday night victory

When the matchup with the Saints had reached it’s conclusion, the Cardinals had amassed an impressive 137 yards on the ground. Second-year pro Eno Benjamin led the way, rumbling for 92 yards on just 12 carries. The highlight of the night for the 23-year old was a 45-yard scamper in the first quarter that set up a Rodrigo Blankenship field goal.

Benjamin also found the end zone from five yards out with 6:22 left in the contest. It was the second score in three weeks for the 5 foot 9, 207 pounder, and the third of Benjamin’s pro career.

Also getting in on the fun against New Orleans was Keaontay Ingram, a rookie who was making just his second NFL appearance. The 22-year old was credited with 37 yards from scrimmage, and also notched his first professional touchdown in the second quarter.

Conner is nursing bruised ribs that he suffered during the Cards’ Week 5 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Williams is dealing with a sprained knee that occurred during the same matchup. Jonathan Ward, a fifth back, is currently on the organization’s injured-reserve list with a pulled hamstring.

Many teams would be alarmed by those setbacks, but Arizona appears to be dealing with the situation just fine. Eventually, the walking wounded will return. Kudos to Benjamin and Ingram for holding down the fort while the other members of the squad’s running backs room are unable to play.

(Statistics provided by ESPN’s NFL Scores)