RB James Conner, ARZ (2 Viewers)

Theres video of the Steelers RB Coach praising this guy at all facets..  I trust PFF but everyone makes mistakes..  I've seen some weird stuff but here's a RB who played on the defensive line who doesn't block well..  Did ya by chance read stats on his freshman yr pre injury ?    Okay yeah I'm concerned because I just assumed blocking would be a strong attribute.  Right up there w knowing the playbook to see the field type deal

I watched two of his games from 2014 briefly this morning full speed

Vs Miami he has a really nice catch as the defense left him wide open on the right side. He cuts inside the safeties tackle giving him a bad angle and it able to break the tackle attempt that touches his waist but not enough grip to bring him down. So a nice cut, good balance and power. The tackle attempt and cut slows him down enough that the LB in pursuit is able to get him down after the broken tackle. I have mixed feelings about this play as he does some good things. I also think a lot of RB in similar situation would have scored off of this play. We get 3 different views of this early on in the clip.

He has a nice run following this where a hole opens up on the right side. The safety takes himself out of this play with pre snap motion inside otherwise the hole would not have been there. He shows good vision to identify the hole and alright quickness hitting it. I mostly think the defenders messed up on this play though.

He has another nice run to the right side following this that is really well blocked.

He misses a blitz pick up on the safety who times his rush well moving towards the LOS pre snap after the wing back motion to the right. Conner needs to get to this gap a bit quicker than he did. The dive at the defenders ankles was already too late as he is pouncing on the QB by then. Difficult block to make, but clearly his assignment after the motion, he needs to be more aggressive and get to the gap sooner to make this play, he also needs to square up on the guy not try to tackle him.

There are several cloud of dust like runs here. One of them goes for a first down, but nothing much to talk about, he hits the hole with some power and can move the pile a bit.

On another run seeing no gap inside he tries to bounce it outside running laterally to the LOS. He does not look quick doing this and the defender meets him at the line and tackles him around the legs for a short loss. I did not like how he looked on this play.

On an inside run he finds a gap and the defender closing on him goes to low allowing Conner to leap over him and gain extra yards and the first down. I mostly think this is poor tackling technique on the defender who should have him if he doesn't go so low. But nice to see Conner react to this and make something happen.

Several more runs where he isn't geting much yardage. He does have a spin move that he uses when met in the backfield by two defenders who kind of bounce off of him. Nice balance and some power with that spin move, but mostly poor tackling technique where they are trying to bring him down with their hands instead of striking through, this makes the spin move work. He is able to get back to the LOS because of this instead of taking a loss. There are a couple of these runs where I see a wide open gap if he would bounce outside, but Conner does not see this.

You see him running out of some big and bunch sets abd the defense keeps winning on these. 

Overall I was not too impressed with him in this game, I mentioned the main positives I saw already.

Vs Iowa the first run is well blocked and Conner hits this with good timing with his his blocking and gets to the outside following his lead block. He is running kind of strait linish following the play design, but this play is effective. On the next couple plays you see him break some tackles with power but not gain much yardage after doing so. He has a run to the right side where he times his lead block well again and is able to cut outside it for a good gain.

He has an effective block for his QB on a designed run to the right side. He still goes too low against the defender taking his legs out, but it works this time. I think a lot f NFL defenders may be able to avoid blocking technique like this in the NFL.

A couple more runs where he isn't able to find much space. He does get a gap to the right side again that he is able to turn into a nice gain. I would like to see him be more creative when he gets to the second level.

On 3rd and 1 he gets a good gap up the middle, then the defender crashing down goes too low and Conner is able to step out of the poor tackle attempt. Kind of reminds me of the play from the Miami game where the defender goes too low. Conner has some good footwork and balance to not go down to these diving tackles when he is facing the defender straight on. He doesn't gain much yardage after the missed tackle attempt as another defender is there to wrap him up.

Iowa is a pretty decent defense is why I chose to watch this game. There are several runs up the middle where the defense is winning for the most part. Conner is able to find a gap on one of these however and runs with good pad level to gain yards with his legs churning and several defenders tackling him, but also helping his forward momentum. He ends up scoring after these four scrum like runs through using good body lean and power along with some blocking.

At 4:33 he has a nice run inside where he presses to the left side before cutting inside to his gap up the middle. This causes the defender to miss him behind the LOS. From the backside angle you can see this a bit better. He has a nice cut against the safeties low tackle attempt, giving the defender a bad angle and he is able to gain extra yards off of this run. This is one of the more impressive plays from Conner I have seen thus far, although again assisted by poor tackling technique.

They try the right side a few times (one on a reception) and on one Conner is able to beat the defender to the outside, He does have some speed/quickness that seems to surprise defenders on this play although he doesn't gain all that much yardage on these plays.

He misses his pass blocking assignment on the backside of the play. But the QB is able to connect with his reciever downfield anyways as he was rolling away from that defender in the play design.

Several runs after this where he doesn't do much. Iowa is playing pretty well.

He gets some blocking and bounces the play outside but he loses his one on one with the defensive back who tackles him around the legs after a failed juke move.

He gets stuffed a few more times.

Not too much to say about this game aside from the nice run at the 4:33 mark. He can generate decent power with leg drive and good pad level against a pretty good defense but it isn't really very impressive.

So the sentiment by many here seems to be that the Steelers blew a 3rd rd pick on some kind a stiff? Given what we know and what the Steelers know I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Ive grabbed him wherever I could based on where he was drafted and potential premo situation; i would be surprised if he was nearly as bad as some are predicting but we shall see.

The Steelers offered Bell a lot of money and Bell didn't sign because he thinks he can make more than that.

Conner drafted to be a back up RB. Feel good story and local guy which is obviously winning over the fan base. I would say they have accomplished what they set out to do. Its not like every late 3rd round pick is drafted to become a future starter.

I think Samajae Perine is a much better RB than Conner based on what I have seen so far. So in that context, yes I think that was a mistake on their part.

I have been told to watch 2014 games of Conner (this was 3 years ago) and I have watched two of them so far. Details above. Perhaps there is some better games from 2014 than the two I chose to watch. I did pick the teams that I thought might have the best defenses of the DBD options.

Fair enuf, u watched him, I didn't and I wouldn't argue that perine isn't the better back. Fwiw i think bell is making a mistake and steelers would be crazy to giv in to his demands.

I am probably over valuing waldmans take (not the first time) and the steelers fo take since that is primarily (all) what my opinion is based on. Im really only considering the ff situation situation for conner to help me this yr and where I can get him in the draft. In that respect I am pretty high on him.

I could be wrong. I certainly haven't watched him enough to draw any conclusions, just observations from two games against decent defenses. There are some things to like about Conner from these games, just not a lot.

Most of the positives for Conner seem to be unrelated to demonstrated on field abilities. I would like to hear people point out stuff that I may have missed that he does well from those two games or others.

I'm gonna try to see what I can find..   Duke?  On video it notes least missed tackles n most yds after contact..  Watch that stiff arm.. https://youtu.be/1Yt-lhMsOK4

Hoping to find articles that state examples such as in this play...  But, right from the start we have the TD record (24 TD's)..  I heard enough about Dorsett to know he was pretty good.  I knew Dallas was gonna draft him too..  Think its kinda huge really.  Tony is HOF special, and this kid topped his TD's.  The SI story does make mention of endurance issues for his FR yr..  Scary as it sounds, Think its possible that James wasn't yet rdy for 110% every play in his Soph yr. 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/our-no-1-graded-rb-from-2014-james-conner-is-done-for-the-year  Conner ranked No. 1 in our running back grades last season, with a comfortable margin over second-place Ezekiel Elliott  It will be interesting to see whether Conner, a junior, opts to enter the 2016 NFL draft. While the 6-foot-2, 240-pound back obviously has posted impressive rushing numbers, he’s relatively unproven in the passing game, with just seven catches last year and barely adequate numbers in our pass-protection metric.

https://www.si.com/college-football/2014/09/16/james-conner-pittsburgh-panthers His 177-yard, three-touchdown effort in a 42-25 win at FIU last week broke Tony Dorsett’s 41-year-old school record for the most prolific three-game rushing stretch to open a season.  When Conner was a junior at McDowell High in Erie, Pa., the star was four-star prospect Greg Garmon. Conner served as a blocking back in a triple option, and, fearing he would go unnoticed, asked to play defensive end as well.  As a freshman, Conner was mercurial, with 623 of his 799 rushing yards coming in four games. Moreover, he felt he physically softened as the fall wore on, posting just one 100-yard outing between September and the bowl.  “‘J’ is the one who has the personality for success,” says Michael, who now works as an Air Force maintenance crew chief.

Knowing the history of fighting through adversity ie. Big Brother(s)  I could see James turning this whole questionable blocking mess, into an outright strength..  I don't wanna sound stupid, but if he wants to be noticed?  He needs the ball in his hands.. Steelers probably unloading on the kid about How To Block!  Seriously aside from being at 100%? They've already said hes the real deal!

NE_REVIVAL said:

So the sentiment by many here seems to be that the Steelers blew a 3rd rd pick on some kind a stiff? Given what we know and what the Steelers know I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Ive grabbed him wherever I could based on where he was drafted and potential premo situation; i would be surprised if he was nearly as bad as some are predicting but we shall see.

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Possibly a valid argument. Go look at the first few pages of the Le'Veon Bell thread.

Biabreakable said:

I could be wrong. I certainly haven't watched him enough to draw any conclusions, just observations from two games against decent defenses. There are some things to like about Conner from these games, just not a lot.

Most of the positives for Conner seem to be unrelated to demonstrated on field abilities. I would like to hear people point out stuff that I may have missed that he does well from those two games or others.

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Watch the Penn State game from last year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=byxgC3Hmlfk

I see him out run DB's a few times in that reel. I would say that Pitt went a bit out of their way in the draft to get him (considering the other backs/players on the board). When they do that, they usually aren't wrong. 

The hype is getting strong with Conner, I won Bell in one league, owner offered me Conner for a 18 1st rounder...

Bojang0301 said:

Watch the Penn State game from last year.

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I watched this and he had some good runs in this game.

I was somewhat under the impression that he may have looked better in 2014 than 2016. But his game against Penn State was more impressive than either of the 2014 games I watched.

He does get the ball stripped out in this game. Generally though I have noticed he has two hands on the ball when he needs to, and he needs to running inside as much as he does. I imagine this is something NFL teams like. He can use the stiff arm to good effect also but knows when to protect the ball while fighting for extra yards.

A few of these plays you can tell Penn State has called a bad defense against the offensive play. The screen seems well timed for example and there was another coulple runs they did not fit well to. Some great blocking at times in all of these games.

I watched the game against Duke linked above, and man they are getting knocked back 5 yards on a lot of those plays. Gets worse as the game goes on. Conner has a lot of options when that happens. Duke not a very good defense. Penn State is actually top 50ish and similar against the run as Iowa.

He looks impressive in the Penn State game. Shows some burst and great power and seems a bit more comfortable as a receiver also.

Matt's Eagles said:

The hype is getting strong with Conner, I won Bell in one league, owner offered me Conner for a 18 1st rounder...

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Think its best to limit examples of value too actual accepted trades..  Its hard enough to factor in League variances, impossible too account for pipe dreams too

btw,  Biabreakable You okay w/ me deleting this post?  I did post earlier, theres an actual original thread, which I missed. 

Speaking of Duke, think some of the video I watched included the announcers commenting how good James OLine actually performed.. So its worth reminding folks that the Steelers have a pretty good OLine too..

Biabreakable said:

I watched this and he had some good runs in this game.

I was somewhat under the impression that he may have looked better in 2014 than 2016. But his game against Penn State was more impressive than either of the 2014 games I watched.

He does get the ball stripped out in this game. Generally though I have noticed he has two hands on the ball when he needs to, and he needs to running inside as much as he does. I imagine this is something NFL teams like. He can use the stiff arm to good effect also but knows when to protect the ball while fighting for extra yards.

A few of these plays you can tell Penn State has called a bad defense against the offensive play. The screen seems well timed for example and there was another coulple runs they did not fit well to. Some great blocking at times in all of these games.

I watched the game against Duke linked above, and man they are getting knocked back 5 yards on a lot of those plays. Gets worse as the game goes on. Conner has a lot of options when that happens. Duke not a very good defense. Penn State is actually top 50ish and similar against the run as Iowa.

He looks impressive in the Penn State game. Shows some burst and great power and seems a bit more comfortable as a receiver also.

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I took this from a different thread..  I need to delete the other thread, and this is the current, most relevant post.. 

Worth nothing he was just months recovered from fighting cancer.  You should check out his 2014 film too.

Matt's Eagles said:

The hype is getting strong with Conner, I won Bell in one league, owner offered me Conner for a 18 1st rounder...

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That's not about hype, that's about delusion

Dismattle said:

Think its best to limit examples of value too actual accepted trades..  Its hard enough to factor in League variances, impossible too account for pipe dreams too

btw,  Biabreakable You okay w/ me deleting this post?  I did post earlier, theres an actual original thread, which I missed. 

Speaking of Duke, think some of the video I watched included the announcers commenting how good James OLine actually performed.. So its worth reminding folks that the Steelers have a pretty good OLine too..

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The threads could be merged or else just drop a link of this thread in the other one and let this one die. I don't see why you delete this thread that has some information and opinion in it.

The Steelers do have a good offensive line. But there are huge differences in the levels of competition between college teams, then even greater differences between college teams and pro teams.

Duke is not a good college defense. When their whole front is getting pushed back 5 yards off of the line of scrimmage Conner could take the run outside to either side or just follow the blocking. That is what I mean by he has every option available to him with this blocking and that is not the case for him against Iowa for example.

The reason why I focus on the games against better run defenses is because I think that is going to be closer to the kind of blocking and looks he will see at the NFL level where pro teams are not going to get consistently blown off the ball like you see in the game against Duke. Aside from the blocking you have worse talent in the defense to pursue and tackle that also will not be the case in the NFL where every team is full of defenders who are the cream of the crop selected from all of the college teams.

So saying that the Steelers are a good offensive line, while true still does not make up for the disparity in levels of competition between Penn State and Duke.

Here is a link to the other thread if folks would prefer to discuss Conner in this one instead.

I would suggest the threads are merged if a moderator would be so kind to do so.

Hankmoody said:

Worth nothing he was just months recovered from fighting cancer.  You should check out his 2014 film too.

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That is what I started with as per Dans suggestion. I thought he looked better in the Penn State game than he did in the two 2014 games I watched.

So I take that as a positive, that he is still getting better over time. That is what you want to see from a college player.

The comments about him having just recovered from cancer gives me the impression that he perhaps wasn't recovered to his previous performance level. Based on my observations that does not seem to be the case. He looks better in 2016 than 2014.

Biabreakable said:

Here is a link to the other thread if folks would prefer to discuss Conner in this one instead.

I would suggest the threads are merged if a moderator would be so kind to do so.

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Thanks @Biabreakable  I merged these. It's been a while so sorry if I screwed them up. BTW, the way you asked it is perfect - report the thread and give us the link to the other thread so we don't have to run it down. Good job. 

Thanks Joe.

I had not thought of using the report function for this purpose, but now that you mention it I will try doing that when appropriate in the future. I wasn't sure who to contact about that specifically and I know who is moderating is always somewhat in flux. This seems like a good catch all solution. Cheers.

Biabreakable said:

He has the same name as the savior of Sarah Conner. Another pretty useless reason to like the guy.

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when do we start calling him 'the terminator'?

grateful zed said:

when do we start calling him 'the terminator'?

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He is a terminator killer.

I think it was John Conner not James Conner in the movie, but no need to let facts get in the way of a funny nickname.

yeah, Biabreakable  my apologies for poor wording on The OLines   lol   But some touted backs have good OLines like Zeke @ OSU, while they hit the Pro's, and its like a whole new game (meeting LB's at the line)  I was trying to say, we shouldn't see that total loss of game effect.. 

 
thanx for getting the thread fixed.. 

Im planning to watch some more of Cooper today.

That is always a tough thing Dismattle about watching college games. There is a huge difference in specific match ups that can make a player look better or worse than they actually are.

To give an example, the Iowa game was an interesting one for me as I recall watching David Johnson against the same defense. I do think James Conner looked better than David Johnson against the same defense. They make Conner fight for every inch but he is getting positive yardage at times. Johnson on the other hand was only effective as a receiver (he is such a great receiver) and maybe a run where they were able to get him to the outside.

In that context that is more apples to apples, being the same year and same defense, Conner is showing better ability to run between the tackles than David Johnson. Conner gets what he can and becomes his own blocker at times. Good power when he lowers his pads and drives.

The flip side of this is that David Johnson played for a lower level College team than Conner, and the Iowa defense was outmatching the blocking much of the time, making running inside much more difficult for Johnson than it was for Conner. The match ups work both ways. Conner is getting some ok  blocking while Johnson was not.

Strangely outside of the Iowa game I have seen him running more upright. I would like to see him lower his pads before contact more consistently like I was seeing in the Iowa game (when he was forced to do that).

Joe Bryant said:

Thanks @Biabreakable  I merged these. It's been a while so sorry if I screwed them up. BTW, the way you asked it is perfect - report the thread and give us the link to the other thread so we don't have to run it down. Good job. 

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Biabreakable said:

Thanks Joe.

I had not thought of using the report function for this purpose, but now that you mention it I will try doing that when appropriate in the future. I wasn't sure who to contact about that specifically and I know who is moderating is always somewhat in flux. This seems like a good catch all solution. Cheers.

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I used the report function

Why James Conner to the Steelers is the most perfect NFL draft pick ever

I read in another article stating that he had fully recovered from the cancer in May 2016 I am not sure about the risk of it recurring or not, but its seems like something that should not have been effecting his play in 2016.

yeah Biabreakable   I think its safe to say that some games will be tougher because of the atmosphere (couldn't think of right word)  But Coach's /Teams can have several things which effect play /attitude..  For example Duke had its first semi winning yr earlier..  Think Teams wernt fired up to play them in yrs prior  Smell that W!  (Maybe the Coach's took the foot off the gas too)   Dunno,,   But, I'm saying if guys are putting out 110%, it has more bearing, than what just the RB is going at himself..  The RB might get the MLB fired up, whose had to wrangle him a few times..  But again that MLB needs to get in that huddle, and fire it UP!

fwiw I was thinking I could spend a minute too look for stuff to copy paste here..  Its just, I can do enough stuff, to get English majors bent etc.  I made a mistake, and really just wanted to move on..  My apology's to you, and all posters   But really!  Thank-you JoeSteeler for getting it fixed. 

Biabreakable said:

Why James Conner to the Steelers is the most perfect NFL draft pick ever

I read in another article stating that he had fully recovered from the cancer in May 2016 I am not sure about the risk of it recurring or not, but its seems like something that should not have been effecting his play in 2016.

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That's not how it works. He may have been cancer free but his body would need a long time to recover. The chemotherapy is crushing. So, he could be cancer free but in the worst shape he's been in at the end (from a physical performance standpoint). 

Every case is different obviously and I'm not sure his exact physical status but I think I read that Eric Berry was in contact with him during the process though. And if you read Eric Berry's WiKi his battle with cancer was similar. 

Borden said:

That's not how it works. He may have been cancer free but his body would need a long time to recover. The chemotherapy is crushing. So, he could be cancer free but in the worst shape he's been in at the end (from a physical performance standpoint).

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Well I suppose that could be I dont know what the effects of the chemo are on a persons health or how long after such treatments it takes for those effects to dissipate.

As far as what I have read he continued training throughout the process of the treatment (once recovered from the knee injury obviously). There is a vine of him doing drills with a mask on. I assume the mark was part of his rehabilitation unless he was wearing that for some other reason.

The way I have interpreted this (likely incorrectly) is that he may not have been at full strength in 2016 because of this.

He looks pretty damn good in the Penn State game, so if he isn't full strength there, that suggests he has further untapped potential. I am skeptical about this line of reasoning as he looks very good in this game as it is.

Think the mask is precaution (immune system damaged)  It looks like six months too regain energy  So maybe what 3 months to get into football shape?  Nine months minimum (imho)

Biabreakable said:

Well I suppose that could be I dont know what the effects of the chemo are on a persons health or how long after such treatments it takes for those effects to dissipate.

As far as what I have read he continued training throughout the process of the treatment (once recovered from the knee injury obviously). There is a vine of him doing drills with a mask on. I assume the mark was part of his rehabilitation unless he was wearing that for some other reason.

The way I have interpreted this (likely incorrectly) is that he may not have been at full strength in 2016 because of this.

He looks pretty damn good in the Penn State game, so if he isn't full strength there, that suggests he has further untapped potential. I am skeptical about this line of reasoning as he looks very good in this game as it is.

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My post came across wrong because someone at work was trying to tell me a story while I was writing that and linking Wikipedia. ***It was a terrible story and I was trying to be "too busy" to listen. I know you were wondering about that.  

I wasn't trying to say that you're thoughts on his recovery were wrong, only that once the cancer is gone it doesn't mean he is "healed" or just about back to 100%. In Eric Berry's case he had the same type of cancer at roughly the same time and went on to put up a Pro Bowl season the next year. 

Watching James Conner vs Virginia Tech who ranked 32nd last year in total rushing yards allowed according to this

I wrote these in chronological order in case anyone wants to follow along. Maybe makes it more clear which play I am talking about.

The first play he is met at the LOS by a defensive lineman. He tries to spin out of the tackle and he is able to get some forward lean after the move but the defender wraps up and brings him down for a minimal gain.

Second run they are backed up to their own end zone.  The blocking looks like this is a play designed to run to the right side. Conner uses a spin move to get to the left side where there is a hole after pressing to the inside. He breaks the tackle of the first defender by getting low and driving forward. Two more defenders get ahold of him but he keeps driving forward dragging both defenders with him before one of them wraps up his leg thus bringing him down that way, somewhat hanging on for dear life. When Conner gets low like this he is obviously hard to bring down.

He comes off the field after this play, so perhaps they are using him on some sort of a snap count? Or maybe he is just tired from the effort.

From the backside view of this play on replay you can see him press to the right guard before using the spin move to help him change direction to the left. Looks like inside zone to the right side that the defense has defended well. Good vision and creativity for him to use the spin move to get outside the left tackle where there are fewer defenders as they are all flowing to the right because of the design of the play.  He breaks the first tackle and then jolts the second defensive back off of him, showing another angle of how powerful he is. The LB has a hold of him from behind as he is driving forward, giving the jolted defender another chance to bring him down.

3rd run he finds a crease up the middle (lots of traffic) and gets to the second level where he runs into the back of his lead blocker. He then bounces this to the left before being brought down.

4th play he helps in pass protection after a fake handoff and does an alright job with this assignment.

5th play they are doing some misdirection with 10 coming across in motion and then back to the right before the snap. A large gap opens up on the middle left but Conner doesn’t see this and runs into the back of his blockers up the middle for a short gain.

6th play is a pass protection assignment where he helps out his left tackle who is losing to the defender coming all the way around. Bad throw by the QB that likely should have been intercepted.

7th play he is again helping out the left tackle. I don’t like that he doesn’t square up on the defender, instead giving him a shove with his shoulder somewhat sideways. This is effective, just saying he could have better technique by keeping his base when blocking.

8th play is a run inside left. He is met near the LOS but is able to drive forward with good pad level and leg drive to turn this into 3 or 4 yards.

9th play he releases to the flat but the QB doesn’t go to him.

10th play pass protection helping the left tackle again and he does a pretty good job.

11th play is a run up the middle. There is motion to the right before and after the snap but a nice crease opens up right up the middle that Conner follows for a TD.

12th and 13th plays Conner releases to the left flat. The QB does look at him but too early and tries to the extend the play before throwing a not very catchable pass to the end zone. Similar play follows this where the QB decides to run himself (perhaps because of the space he saw previous play. He gets some yards but then fumbles the ball which goes backwards. Lucky that it is recovered by Pitt but yards are lost overall do the the bounce and roll of the ball to behind the LOS.

14th play is pass pro again. He releases into a route after seeing the defender is blocked, the ball is out by then though.

15th play is a goal line run attempt. There must have been a penalty or something setting this up. He gets a yard or two due to good power again, but doesn’t quite get into the end zone.

16th play they try again and Conner scores off the left side pretty easily as the gap was there.

17th play pass protection on the right side while the QB rolls to the right before finding his man on the left side.

18th play run up the middle from a pretty deep I set. A defender meets him in the backfield but he makes him miss with his spin move. He then runs outside to the left and uses a stiff arm on the defender who has tried to tackle him low pushing him off. He steps out of the weak ankle tackle attempt (due to the stiff arm for the most part) and keeps running outside where he is met by 3 other defenders. He gives 31 a jolt before going down to these guys.

19th play is a pass protection assignment on the right where he does a good job blocking the defensive end who has come free. The QB decides to scramble up the middle and Conners block was important as far as allowing the QB to be able to do that.

20th play is 3rd and 1 yard to go. There is pre snap motion to the right and the left guard pulls to the right side. Conner sees the gap on the left backside of the play and hits this well. He gets outside of 31 who is the only guy to stop him and outruns the defense for a TD. On the replay you can see him preparing to stiff arm the corner behind him in pursuit, but he outruns him so doesn’t need to. He switches the ball to his left arm after beating 31 outside. Showing good ball protection and some awareness of where defenders are on this run.

21st play 2nd and goal run up the middle where he is stopped. He doesn’t just go down though and keeps his feet while trying to drive forward. At one point there are 3 defenders all pushing him back as he tries to push forward and he still isn’t being driven back at first until the momentum shifts to their favor and they get him down.

22nd  play 3rd and goal run middle right. He is met by a LB in the hole but uses good pad level and power to drive the defender into the end zone for a TD. He is about 5 yards into the end zone before going down.

23rd play pass pro on the right side where he isn’t really needed but in position if he was.

24th play helps in pass pro up the middle where the guard is getting beat and likely should get called for a hold. The QB pass is off target again.

25th play looks like inside zone left this time. Conner finds a crease on the left side and hits it with some good burst to the second level. 49 looks like he should have an angle to get to him, but Conner blows right by this guy as the burst seems to have surprised him. I have seen 49 be kind of shy to tackle Conner and that may be part of this as well. On the TD run earlier for example 49 is hiding behind the LB Conner steam rolls and doesn’t get his hat n there to help his team mate stop him. There was another one earlier in the game where 49 gets hit pretty good by Conner. On this play it seems like 49 just doesn’t want any part in tackling him. Looking at this closer 49 is held a bit by the blocker he is getting off and Conner gives him a little shove on the shoulder as he goes past him. The corner is able to catch him and run Conner out of bounds preventing a TD, but not until Conner has already gained a lot of yards on this play. One criticism is that if he had veered back inside on this play, he may have been able to get more as the corner would then have to actually bring him down running full speed instead of knocking him out of bounds. The shifts the ball to the outside again on this run, he seems to have good awareness of protecting the ball on all of his runs.

26th play is a run to the right side. Conner stiff arms the first defender but kind of pushes himself backwards in the process of that. Then there is a crowd to tackle him for a loss.

27th play run to the right side. He cuts this one backside seeing the crease there. The defensive lineman is too slow in getting there as Conner blows past. The LB tries to tackle him at the shoulders but he keeps going. He gets tripped up by a second attempt after the LB falls off him. Another really nice gain and some good vision to cut this one back inside I think.

28th play run outside to the right. Not much to talk about here as he is met by two defenders at the LOS. He gives one a stiff arm but he goes down soon after this for no gain.

29th play inside zone left. He takes this back to the left side and makes 31 miss with a nice cut back inside before being tackled by another defender for a short but decent gain.

We get some replays of a couple of his better runs from earlier at this point and also the TD run again. They are behind by 10 points late in the game and the final two plays he releases over the middle on pass routes but isn’t targeted.

While this is perhaps not quite as impressive as the Penn State game Conner has some very good runs in this one as well. He shows good power, pad level as well as some burst to hit creases when he sees it.

I'm warming up to this guy now.

Borden said:

My post came across wrong because someone at work was trying to tell me a story while I was writing that and linking Wikipedia. ***It was a terrible story and I was trying to be "too busy" to listen. I know you were wondering about that.  

I wasn't trying to say that you're thoughts on his recovery were wrong, only that once the cancer is gone it doesn't mean he is "healed" or just about back to 100%. In Eric Berry's case he had the same type of cancer at roughly the same time and went on to put up a Pro Bowl season the next year. 

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Yeah I wasn't referring to just you in regards to this. I have gotten the impression that people are suggesting he isn't fully recovered in 2016 (maybe he wasn't) and that is what I mean about that sounding a bit like an excuse for if he doesn't look good (maybe he doesn't in some 2016 games I haven't seen yet?) or as another upside factor in regards to him possibly becoming better once he puts the cancer treatment a bit further in the past than he was at this point. 

I really don't know enough about the treatment and recovery to say one way or the other, I do find it interesting though.

I hope your being busy was successful. I mean this is serious business and all. 

eta - He does look a bit leaner to me in the 2016 games than the 2014 games. This seems like a good thing for the most part. He looks quicker, better burst and still generates good power.

While waiting on Le'Veon Bell, Steelers get close look at James Conner 

Rookie James Conner turning heads at Steelers camp

James Conner passes Pittsburgh Steelers' endurance test, struggles elsewhere vs. Falcons 

After watching his NFL preseason carries, I'm not convinced he would be the primary backup. Too slow and too many bad cuts.

Any chance the Steelers rest Bell if they sew things up to avoid a 'Wentz-type' injury on the brink of the playoffs?

I'd like to see what Conner can do with more than just a handful of carries.

Bracie Smathers said:

Any chance the Steelers rest Bell if they sew things up to avoid a 'Wentz-type' injury on the brink of the playoffs?

I'd like to see what Conner can do with more than just a handful of carries.

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Maybe week 17 if they wrap up #1 or #2, but that might be too late for most leagues.

This guy still the clear back up to Bell? Seems like it even though he's coming off MCL repair. It appears that Pitt is going to run Le'Veon silly this year.

kwille said:

This guy still the clear back up to Bell? Seems like it even though he's coming off MCL repair. It appears that Pitt is going to run Le'Veon silly this year.

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They're going to give him the ball as much as they can until he can't handle anymore. Especially if they don't sign him to a long term deal.

Conner might have some competition with Jaylen Samuel, unsure how exactly they're going to use him.

Steelers bet big on James Conner after humbling rookie year

ARTICLEWatch: James Conner Looks Shredded In New Workout Video

LeVeon's deadline has passed.  I don't see him caving in anytime soon so it looks like he'll skip TC and preseason and could hold out longer.

I never saw a long term deal for Bell and that means someone else benefits.

Short term outlook is good for Conner as he gets more TC and preseason touches.  Long term he 'could' play well enough to take over the lead back role or he could get injured and/or disappoint.

Right now Conner's value is up and it could stay up because once the season begins Bell might play it smart by not subjecting his body to injury so he may not show up until later in the season.

This 'could' be a buy low with legit upside opportunity.

James Conner developing into Le'Veon Bell's possible replacement

Steelers' James Conner states case to succeed Bell

 What are the chances that Bell holds out and Conner produces something this year? At least for a few games where he's a bell cow.

He is being picked up in a lot of leagues, I'm guessing with deep benches where he can be stashed?