Benny Snell

Benjamin Snell Jr. (born February 26, 1998) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Kentucky. Snell is the great-nephew of former New York Jets running back Matt Snell. His father, Benjamin Snell Sr. is an alumnus of Ohio Northern University, played in the NFL Europe and the XFL.[1]

Benny Snell Jr.
refer to caption
Snell with the Steelers in 2021
Personal information
Born: (1998-02-26) February 26, 1998
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:224 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Westerville Central (Westerville, Ohio)
College:Kentucky (2016–2018)
Position:Running back
NFL Draft:2019 / Round: 4 / Pick: 122
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2022
Rushing yards:982
Rushing average:3.6
Rushing touchdowns:7
Receptions:17
Receiving yards:114
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years

Snell Jr. attended Westerville Central High School.[2] During his time there, he won two Ohio Capital Conference titles. During his junior season, Snell Jr. rushed for 2,077 yards while scoring 26 touchdowns on the ground, he also had two receiving touchdowns that year. As a senior, he totaled 1,826 rushing yards, 264 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns. Snell Jr. was rated as a three-star recruit.[2] He chose Kentucky over Iowa, Cincinnati, Boston College, Toledo and West Virginia.

College career

Freshman

As a freshman in 2016, Snell rushed for 1,091 rushing yards, breaking the Kentucky freshman rushing record which was held by Moe Williams.[3] Snell Jr. managed to score 13 rushing touchdowns. During his freshman season, Snell Jr set six UK freshman records, including most rushing touchdowns in a game (4), most rushing yards by a freshman (1,091), most rushing touchdowns by a freshman (13), most total touchdowns by a freshman (13), most 100-yard rushing games (5) and most rushing yards by a freshman in a single game (192). At the end of his freshman season Snell Jr, was selected as a True Freshman All-American by ESPN and 247Sports, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American, Freshman All-SEC and a Second-team All-SEC pick by Pro Football Focus.

Sophomore

As a sophomore in 2017, Snell rushed for 1,333 rushing yards and scored 19 rushing touchdowns. Snell Jr. became the first Kentucky player with 10 or more career 100-yard rushing games prior to his junior season. He became the only SEC player since 2000 to have at least 116 rushing yards and at least three rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games. Snell Jr. became the ninth player in school history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in his career and the 19th player in SEC history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards prior to his junior season. He became the only player in school history to have back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard seasons. Snell Jr. was selected as a preseason Associated Press All-SEC First-team[4] and All-SEC Second-team. In addition, Snell Jr. was put on the Doak Walker Award Watch List and the Maxwell Award Watch List.

Junior

As a junior in 2018, Snell rushed for 1,449 rushing yards and scored 16 rushing touchdowns. Snell Jr. became one of four running backs in SEC history to have three consecutive 1,000 rushing yard seasons, the others being Herschel Walker, Darren McFadden, and Alex Collins. Snell Jr. would also become the school's career rushing yards leader after scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2019 Citrus Bowl. This 43-year-old record, previously held by Sonny Collins, was broken in just three seasons by Snell.[5] Snell was voted First-team All-SEC by SEC Coaches.[6] He would announce on December 14, 2018, that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2019 NFL Draft.[7]

Career statistics
Kentucky Wildcats
RushingReceiving
YearTeamAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsTD
2016Kentucky1861,0915.948132390
2017Kentucky2621,3335.171199720
2018Kentucky2891,4495.05216171050
Career7373,8735.37148282160

[8]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
5 ft 10+3⁄8 in
(1.79 m)		 224 lb
(102 kg)		 31 in
(0.79 m)		 9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		4.66 s1.65 s2.73 s4.33 s7.07 s29.5 in
(0.75 m)		9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)		16 reps
All values from NFL Combine[9][10]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Snell was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round with the 122nd overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.[11]

In Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns, Snell rushed 16 times for 63 yards and his first career rushing touchdown in the 20–13 win.[12] In Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens, Snell rushed 18 times for 91 yards and a touchdown during the 28–10 loss.[13] As a rookie, Snell finished with 108 carries for 426 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.[14]

Snell's first big breakthrough came on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants in Week 1 of the 2020 season after starter James Conner suffered an injury. He finished with 19 carries for 113 rushing yards as the Steelers won 26–16.[15] In Week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football, Snell recorded 107 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown during the 27–17 loss.[16]

Detroit Lions

On August 10, 2023, Snell signed with the Detroit Lions.[17] He was released on August 29, 2023.[18]

NFL career statistics
Year Team Games Rushing Receiving Fumbles
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2019PIT 1321084263.92323237.714011
2020PIT 1631113683.330410616.114021
2021PIT 17036982.7902136.57000
2022PIT 14020904.51612178.511000
Career6052759823.6307171147.214032

References
  1. Greenawalt, Tyler (March 1, 2019). "Kentucky's Benny Snell Jr. wants to follow in great uncle's footsteps with Jets". Jets Wire. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  2. The Washington Post
  3. "KSR Timeline: Benny Snell's Rise to Fame". Kentucky Sports Radio. September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  4. "Tennessee's Trey Smith Named to Coaches Preseason All-SEC First Team". www.chattanoogan.com. August 23, 2018.
  5. Terry, Derek (January 1, 2019). "Benny Snell becomes Kentucky's all-time leading rusher". CatsPause. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  6. "2018 All-SEC Football Team announced". www.secsports.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  7. Hale, John (December 14, 2018). "Benny Snell headed to NFL draft but will play for UK in Citrus Bowl". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  8. "Benny Snell Jr. Statistics". TheWashingtonPost.com. April 28, 2018.
  9. "Benny Snell Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  10. "2019 Draft Scout Benny Snell Jr., Kentucky NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  11. "Steelers select Snell Jr. in fourth round". Steelers.com. April 27, 2019.
  12. "Duck's Dynasty? Backup Hodges leads Steelers by Browns 20-13". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 1, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  13. "Despite lacking star power, Ravens beat Steelers 28-10". www.espn.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  14. "Benny Snell 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  15. "Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants - September 14th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  16. "Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals - December 21st, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  17. @Lions (August 10, 2023). "#Lions announce roster moves: Sign QB Teddy Bridgewater and RB Benny Snell Waive G Logan Stenberg Place RB Justin Jackson on Reserve/Retired list" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. "Lions announce roster moves". DetroitLions.com. August 29, 2023.
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