Michael Benefield

Former running back at Kennesaw State. 2024: 542 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 5 catches.

RB · Kennesaw State · Sr.

5′7″ · 205 lb · Atlanta, GA

CFB Index 31 · #291 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceKennesaw State 2024 — college career complete

The story

Former running back at Kennesaw State. 2024: 542 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 5 catches.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

One season at Kennesaw State, 542 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Kennesaw State

2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2024Kennesaw State2-10HC: Chandler Burks · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

31Below cohort / limited sample #291 of 310?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: fumbles lost (87th percentile). Concern: success rate (8th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#282 / 442 · 36th pct

3.8%

Explosive rate#366 / 442 · 17th pct

3.8%

EPA / carry#394 / 442 · 11th pct

-0.03

Success rate#407 / 442 · 8th pct

33.8%

Yards / carry#407 / 442 · 8th pct

3.9

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 204 · 87th pct

Carries#97 / 335 · 71st pct

138

Long run#105 / 335 · 68th pct

Rush TDs#128 / 335 · 59th pct

Rush yards#151 / 335 · 55th pct

542

Receptions#257 / 330 · 20th pct

Yards / carry#296 / 335 · 11th pct

3.9

Rec yards#295 / 330 · 10th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

133 carries

22%

Stuffed (≤0)

41%

Grind (1–3)

29%

Chunk (4–9)

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	48.3	3.9	0.5
Road6g	42.0	3.4	0.3

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	38.8	3.4	0.2
Weeks 8+7g	49.7	3.9	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jerry Mack

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #291 of 310 RBs

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Kennesaw State	138	542	3.9	5	--
Career		138	542	3.9	5	--

Season	Team
2024	Kennesaw State	5	15	3.0	0	--
Career		5	15	3.0	0	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 9 · 2024

W 27–24

vs Liberty

54 rush yds (16 car) · 1 TD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With D. Bryson — 189 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 63.8 · 20 rush yds (8 car) · J. Ulrich — 45 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 51 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 10 · Western Kentucky · 3&3 · Q1 · EPA +3.86Michael Benefield run for 37 yds for a TD (Austin Welch KICK)
Week 6 · Jacksonville State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.10Michael Benefield run for 59 yds to the JVST 9 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · UT Martin · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA -2.67Michael Benefield run for no gain to the UTM 32
Week 6 · Jacksonville State · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Michael Benefield run for 12 yds to the JVST 35 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Jacksonville State · 3&1 · Q4 · EPA +2.45Michael Benefield run for 1 yd for a TD (Austin Welch KICK)
Week 10 · Western Kentucky · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.11Michael Benefield run for 16 yds to the WKU 46 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · San José State · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.09Davis Bryson pass complete to Michael Benefield for 9 yds to the SJSU 31 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Sam Houston · 2&1 · Q3 · EPA +1.90Michael Benefield run for 1 yd for a TD (Austin Welch KICK)
Week 11 · UTEP · 1&5 · Q3 · EPA +1.88Michael Benefield 5 Yd Run (Davis Bryson Pass to Carson Kent for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 9 · Liberty · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA -1.80Michael Benefield run for a loss of 3 yards to the KENN 46

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 16-28@ UTSA	3	6	2.0	0	5
Wk 2	L 10-34vs Louisiana	9	31	3.4	0	10
Wk 3	L 10-31@ San José State	12	33	2.8	0	9
Wk 5	L 13-24vs UT Martin	6	12	2.0	0	7
Wk 6	L 24-63vs Jacksonville State	17	112	6.6	1	59	Season-high 112 yds
Wk 8	L 5-14@ Middle Tennessee	12	48	4.0	0	14
Wk 9	W 27-24vs Liberty	16	54	3.4	1	22
Wk 10	L 14-31@ Western Kentucky	16	98	6.1	1	37
Wk 11	L 35-43@ UTEP	17	31	1.8	1	8
Wk 12	L 17-23vs Sam Houston	13	43	3.3	1	18
Wk 13	W 27-26vs Florida International	8	38	4.8	0	27
Wk 14	L 0-33@ Louisiana Tech	9	36	4.0	0	12
Total		138	542	3.7	5	59

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

133Carries

513Yards

29.6%Top-5 share

21.8%Stuffed rate

Just 29.6% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 21.8% of his carries. 3 carries for 6 yds vs UTSA; 16 for 109 vs Jacksonville State.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

6/15Inside-5 share

6 of the team's 15 inside-the-5 carries (40.0%).