Jun 30th 2008 12:37PM by Stephanie Stradley (author feed)
Filed under: Bears, Texans, AFC South, NFL Rumors, HoustonA rumor recently surfaced on the TexansTalk message board that former Bears running back Cedric Benson was in the Houston area and that he was telling people that he was closest in his talks with the Texans. I’ve heard similar gossip from other places, and as fans are interested in this, I think it is worth discussing.

(UPDATE: Adam Schefter from NFL Network is reporting that the Texans have no interest in Cedric Benson. No surprise given their emphasis on acquiring high character players, see below).

Clearly the Texans situation would be appealing to Benson. He would be close to home and playing in front of a crowd that includes Longhorn fans who may be inclined to give him another chance. Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for the Texans played (!) on the same University of Texas team as Benson.

And most importantly, the Texans have a need for better running back play. Their group of backs is still not where you want it to be for a team that aspires to dominate in the running game. Here’s their current lineup:

Ahman Green - Oldish and oft injured
Chris Brown - Oft injured
Steve Slaton - Inexperienced smallish rookie
Chris Taylor - Undrafted inexperienced RB coming off of injury
Darius Walker - Undrafted inexperienced RB

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. The best analysis of the Texans running back situation as it relates to Benson is from Keith Weiland of InTheBullseye.com (formerly of now-shuttered HoustonProFootball.com):Continue Reading