my take...
I think you have got contrasting styles. Both are very good athletes in their own right and likely have some pros and cons. I view Sams as a great "street ball" type athlete who doesn't necessarily test that well (I'll get to that in a minute). Bender is a great "testing athlete" that might not bring that to the "street". I believe arm strength is likely very similar...perhaps Sams might have a little more gun to him. Bender strikes me as a kid who might have more polish in the sense he'll probably be very disciplined both on and off the field and do everything right. The spectacular is there but more in a Collin Klein type of organized fashion. Sams' spectacular might be more of the Bishop variety. Sams' seems to be more of the risk taking type who gets us inside the opponent's 40 and goes for broke...either a phenomenal TD or gut wrenching game changing turnover might occur. Bender goes for the short put...pulls the ball down and tucks it turning a 3rd & 15 from the 38 into a 4th & 3 from the 26 after a very nice run where he bulls over a safety to put us in good FG position.
Both styles are good and both may have hints of either's game (for instance, Bender really can run and could turn a QB scramble into a 60 yard gain).
In essence, with Bender you get more of a taller, faster, and slimmer Jonathan Beasley...perhaps somewhere between Beasley and Klein. In Sams you get more of a Michael Bishop, Ell Roberson type though not quite equipped with a gun as strong as Bishop.
tale of the tape (combine style)
height
Bender - 6'3 (w/o shoes)
Sams - 6'1 (w/o shoes...I've seen 3 different combines and he's no taller than 6'1)
weight
Sams - 204
Bender - 196
both will be bigger while at KSU but it might surprise people to know that while Bender has a strong build...Sams has a more compact and powerful build than you think. Sams has great legs on him...dare I say RGIII ish type legs.
40
Bender - 4.47
Sams - 4.58
these were the fastest combine times I could find on either.
vertical
Bender - 36"
Sams - 29.5"
you're starting to see a trend here in the testing part of it. It's sort of like Josh Scobey and Daniel Thomas...but we know who the better runner was...though, keep in mind when choosing between Team Bender and Team Sams that running will only be part of the equation.
Remember, Snyder won big with both styles....Team Bender might resemble more of the Klein/Beasley which won Snyder 10-11 games in seasons and Team Sams resembling more of Roberson/Bishop won 10-11 games.
good luck in choosing your teams.
