Ty Benefield

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The Worst Show on Ice

In the 1999 NFL season, the Rams went 13-3, then won a dramatic Super Bowl over the Titans, ushering in the Greatest Show on Turf era in one of the most memorable seasons in NFL history. What happened in the CFL later that same year? Crickets. What, you don't watch Canadian football? There isn't a poster of Doug Flutie on your wall? No sweat. Even for actual CFL fans, it was considered to be one of the more forgettable seasons in CFL history.

Ty Benefield's dad was a legendary CFL linebacker, Daved Benefield. His 2000 BC Lions team had a losing record, going 8-10 in the regular season. One of his teammates that year was Doug Nussmeier, who later became a QB coach for the Rams. BC won 3 playoff games to become an unlikely Grey Cup champion, knocking off both the 1st place team in the West (Calgary) and the 1st place team from the East (Montreal). That BC team is considered to be one of the worst teams ever to win the Grey Cup.

Ty Benefield was one of the easiest prospects to grade. When I started watching him, I immediately knew who I was going to pick as his NFL comp and what his grade would be. The Bama safety, Bray Hubbard, is technical and consistent but runs slow. Benefield is a different type of player. He's a more dynamic athlete than Hubbard but can be a roller coaster ride with exciting highs and cringe worthy lows.

Nevertheless, I believe that Ty Benefield will be highly coveted in next year's draft. I think he will be a long-term NFL starter and that in the end he will have a better NFL career than either Kamren Kinchens or Kamren Curl.

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, Age: Ty Benefield. Nicknamed "Buck". Turns 22 in September of 2027. LSU for 2026, Boise State 2023 to 2025. Pre-Business at BSU, academic all-conference 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Size, estimated speed: LSU lists him as 6'3'' tall and 208 pounds. BSU had him as 6'2'' tall and 205 pounds in 2025, 204 pounds in 2024 and 201 pounds in 2023. Draftscout 6'2 5/8'' tall, 208 pounds, 4.54 seconds in 40. Draftbuzz 4.48 seconds in 40. Brian Bosarge 4.44 to 4.45 seconds in 40.

3-star recruit from CA. His dad is from Los Angeles and played football at Cal State Northridge. Raised in Vancouver, BC. Moved to CA as JR in HS, played for 2 different HS in SoCal, finishing at Crean Lutheran in Irvine. Initially was an offensive player, then played WR and DB his SR season. The family's home was destroyed in the Eaton fire in January of 2025.

As SR in HS, had 91 tackles (52 solo), 4 INTs, 7 PBU and as WR had 90-1,404-20 receiving.

2023 (13 games, 5 starts): 46 tackles (33 solo) 4.5 TFLs, 1 INT, 5 PBU, 3 sacks, 151 special teams snaps
2024 (14 starts): 82 tackles (59 solo) 5 TFLs, 2 INTs, 3 PBU, 1 FF, 2 FR, 171 special teams snaps
2025 (14 starts): 107 tackles (70 solo), 8.5 TFLs, 2 INTs, 4 PBU, 1 FF, 1 FR, 201 special teams snaps

Brian Bosarge: (+) High end 3-down top tier safety prospect. Prototypical frame, elite downhill trigger, lockdown man coverage, reads routes and QB to undercut passes. (-) Overly aggressive, susceptible to play action and wheel routes, click and close angles, vertical trail technique.
Shane Hallam mock 1st round, 21 overall
Dane Brugler mock draft 1st round, 26
PFF big board 39
Drafttek 40
NFLdraftHQ mock 54 overall, 2nd round
Tankathon mock 2nd round projection, 67
FirstandTen board 75. (+) Size and speed, versatile in alignment, competitive run defender, fearless vs run. (-) Tight hips in coverage, COD vs dynamic WRs, undisciplined coverage lapses, high missed tackle rate.
NFLMDD sim 112
DraftBuzz 4th round, 128. A zone slot, nickel safety. (+) Volume tackler, ball hawk, attacks downhill vs run. (-) 26 missed tackles, below average coverage vs quick WRs, low level competition.
PFN big board 161, PFSN simulator 163
Draftscout 7th round to priority UDFA
Travis May not selected in 3-round mock
Sam Teets not yet evaluated

 

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Part 2: Strengths

Intangibles, football DNA. Benefield's game is rough around the edges. He makes mistakes and can be unreliable at times. With other prospects I might be concerned about this, but I'm okay with him being a Top Gun Maverick at this point of his career, because he has 3 key traits. He's very intelligent, he has a tremendous work ethic and he's very physical and aggressive. You can work with that as a coach. He'll get better with more experience.

Boise State's coach said that many NFL scouts who have come to watch BSU practice told him that Benefield is one of the best practice players they have ever seen. Benefield hasn't even played a single game for LSU but he's already made a huge impression on his LSU coaches and teammates. He's been showing up every single day early in the morning, before training or meetings start, doing individual work. Whit Weeks, the star LSU linebacker, says that Benefield calls out routes before they happen and predicts that Benefield is going to be a 1st round pick. Benefield's dad was a very successful pro football player and coaches football. In interviews, Benefield comes across as intelligent. He's done well academically in the classroom. Pre-snap, Benefield helps line up the rest of the defense. Prospects who are athletic, very smart and work their tails off, they normally don't fail in the NFL. So, don't worry if his positioning or technique is wrong sometimes. The coach can help him fix those things.

On the very first play of the Notre Dame game, Benefield goes "savage beast mode" on Jeremiyah Love. That's all I needed to see. If you can tackle the number 3 overall pick in the draft like that, one of the best RB prospects in the last 20 years, you can defend the run in the NFL. A couple plays later, his physical hit causes Love to fumble the ball. He's a tone setter. Leads by example. Knows how to "turn it up" to an intensity and violence level required for NFL games. We want that from the safety position. Benefied doesn't grab the RB, he drives through the RB. His stopping power is better than normal relative to his size. Physical and aggressive setting the edge vs TEs.

Hot motor, flies all over the field. Tremendous range sideline-to-sideline. Very aggressive downhill attacker. Heavy hitter. A balls to the wall competitor. Playmaking instincts.

Awareness to routes, gains depth against verticals. Quick feet in his pedal.

Great hands for INTs. BSU experimented with using him at WR in spring practices. Was an outstanding WR in HS. I bet he could have played WR in college if he had preferred that position, but he likes to hit people instead of getting hit. Aggressively attacks the catch point.

Despite being a true senior in 2026, he's almost a year younger than an average prospect. Doesn't have a long injury history.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

Crazy wild angles. Overly aggressive and risky angles in run support. Bad angles can result in him missing tackles or getting pulled out of position.

Not fluid flipping his hips. Not sticky in man coverage. Can be beaten badly by quick COD moves or when he's in trail position.

Gambles and tries to jump routes, completely vacating the deep field for huge bombs if he guesses wrong. Sometimes late reacting to vertical routes then has to scramble to try to recover.

Hot head traits. Bad idea to taunt opponent after key 4th down stop.

Average body mass, doesn't have a thick build or powerful lower body. Struggles to anchor in the box vs strong WRs. Can get jacked off his feet and knocked back.

Playmaking is double edged sword, because he also can be at fault for giving up big plays. Kamren Kinchens at Miami had similar swings between hero and zero, where at his best he was a 1st round safety and at his worst he was a Day 3 prospect.

 

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Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

2nd round grade. Justin Reid (Early 3rd round 2018, Houston Texans, Stanford).

Reid was one of my favorite S prospects in that draft. In games, he'd come flying in from out of nowhere to put a big hit on the runner near the sideline. He was projected as a 1st to 2nd round pick in his draft but unexpectedly slipped into the 3rd round. He's the brother of Eric Reid. Experts said he had Pro Bowl potential, was a ball hawk, football IQ, speed and range, but was beaten by quicker WRs, had a slow backpedal, grabby in coverage, baited by play fakes, inconsistent downhill angles, came in hot on tackles and was an inconsistent tackler.

Reid has been a starter every season of his NFL career. He's been up and down. Some years, he's been a "bad" player. Other years he's been good. He's gotten 2 lucrative FA contracts. After playing for the Texans, he's played for the Chiefs and the Saints. Never been a Pro Bowler but has been a very productive veteran.