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RB James Conner, ARZ (4 Viewers)

Boston said:
It is amazing just how little there is besides him in the Arizona backfield…in todays NFL where RBs are a dime a dozen the Cards could not have less.
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I agree. I think he’s a great mid round target. They won’t score much. But he’ll get all the work.
 
I got him 3.5 (#37th) in a 16 team Standard league w/ Double Flex (WR/TE and WR/RB/TE) as my 2nd RB; initially wanted Aaron Jones or joe Mixon but they were already gone. He's an unsexy RB but his guaranteed volume through the ground/air/goalline is attractive as Hell, very few backs have his guaranteed workshare. Plus Keontay Ingram hasn't really made inroads with taking more work from him yet.
 
James Conner rushed 14 times for 62 yards in the Cardinals’ Week 1 loss to the Commanders, adding five receptions for eight additional yards.

Conner was probably the best offensive player on the field for the Cardinals, churning out tough yards on the ground as Josh Dobbs presented zero passing threat. There’s a reason Conner’s five receptions generated all of eight yards. Keaontay Ingram did mix in behind Conner, but in pure “breather” fashion. The Cardinals’ offensive environment is going to make Conner difficult to trust as an RB2, but he will remain a touches-based FLEX for Week 2 vs. the Giants.
- Rotoworld
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NFL RB Index, Week 4: One running back I promise to stop underestimating

Excerpt:

The biggest upset so far this season came courtesy of the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3. They absolutely stunned America and America's Team, beating the Dallas Cowboys 28-16 in the desert.

It was a team effort, no doubt, but running back James Conner was a huge part of the winning performance. He finished with 98 rush yards, including a 5-yard first-quarter touchdown, on 14 totes for an impressive 7.0 yards per carry against a Dallas defense that was ranked No. 1 overall entering Sunday's game.
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I have to admit that I have overlooked Conner for quite some time. Despite posting 1,000 scrimmage yards in each of the last two seasons, I ranked him dead last in my preseason RB1 rankings. In my defense, Arizona's offense was a huge wild card coming into 2023 after making a late quarterback change ahead of Week 1. But after watching Conner through the early going this season, I need to right my wrong this week. As of today, I will no longer underestimate him. It stops now.
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Conner has been the centerpiece of a Cardinals offense that's improved each week, averaging 5.2 yards per carry through three games (ranks sixth in the league among RBs with 30+ carries). He's produced even when defenses load up to stop him, which is a common occurrence. With the Joshua Dobbs-led passing attack not instilling fear in defenses (Arizona ranks 27th in pass yards), Conner is tied for the second-most carries against stacked boxes (17), per Next Gen Stats. He's averaging 5.3 yards per carry in those instances, third-most among players with a minimum of 10 such carries this season. He's also tied for the fifth-most rushing first downs (14) among all players.
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Furthermore, Conner accounts for 28.7 percent of his team's scrimmage yards this season, tied with Tony Pollard for fourth-highest among running backs -- behind Christian McCaffrey (34.6), Bijan Robinson (33.6) and Joe Mixon (30.9) -- and 10th-highest among all players.
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Conner is making the most of his opportunities and helped the Cardinals enter Week 4 with the sixth-best rushing offense in the NFL. I'm hopeful that he'll continue to be a bright spot for this rebuilding squad, and I certainly won't make the mistake of underestimating him again.
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number 32 RB was a crazy low ranking considering that the Cards did nothing to improve their RB situation in the offseason. Seemed clear that Conner was going to have all he could eat, even though he is not really an elite talent.
 
James Conner had six rushes for 46 yards before leaving the game with an injury (knee) in the second quarter of the Week 5 loss to Cincinnati. He did not return.

Conner didn’t have a lot of running room early, but he looked explosive on a 35 yard run. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in the second quarter when his plant leg was hit after hurdling over a tackle attempt. As of now, there is no indication of how serious the injury is; however, with the Cardinals sitting at 1-4 and without their star quarterback as well, there is no reason for Arizona to push Conner onto the field if he’s not 100 percent healthy. Make sure to check back early in the week for injury updates, but we’d consider Conner a longshot in Week 6 against the Rams.

Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon said James Conner is “feeling OK” after suffering a knee injury in the Cardinals’ Week 5 loss to the Bengals.

Gannon believes Conner may have injured his leg when his cleat got caught in the turf on a 35-yard run in the second quarter. The veteran running back left the game and did not return, leaving the Cards to grind out the remainder of the game with Emari Demercado. We’ll see how Conner is feeling when the Cardinals begin prepping for their Week 6 matchup against the Rams on Wednesday, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Conner miss at least one game. Demercado’s Week 5 involvement was partially due to Keaontay Ingram (neck) being inactive for the second-straight week. If Ingram is unable to go in Week 6, Demercado could be asked to shoulder the load.
- Darren Urban, Twitter
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Seemed like he jammed his knee, might miss one game. He had initially got up and was pumped after that big run.

EDIT: Apparently there was video of him running off to the locker room without much issue.
 
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JohnnyU said:
joey said:
Connor is a cheat code when healthy. Hoping he comes back soon.
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I see that term "Cheat Code" used a lot lately in FF circles. Why? and what does it mean in this context exactly?
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The term cheat code typically applies to players that have multiple levers of production. Usually used for big-time rushing QBs, like Lamar and Hurts (maybe Richardson at some point if he can stay out of the medical tent), that can also produce in the passing game. For RBs, I think this applies only to CMC, although Kamara may not be too far off if he continues to get a ton of dump offs in addition to high volume carries.
 
zamboni said:
JohnnyU said:
joey said:
Connor is a cheat code when healthy. Hoping he comes back soon.
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I see that term "Cheat Code" used a lot lately in FF circles. Why? and what does it mean in this context exactly?
Click to expand...
The term cheat code typically applies to players that have multiple levers of production. Usually used for big-time rushing QBs, like Lamar and Hurts (maybe Richardson at some point if he can stay out of the medical tent), that can also produce in the passing game. For RBs, I think this applies only to CMC, although Kamara may not be too far off if he continues to get a ton of dump offs in addition to high volume carries.
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I hope it's just a fad.
 
JohnnyU said:
zamboni said:
JohnnyU said:
joey said:
Connor is a cheat code when healthy. Hoping he comes back soon.
Click to expand...
I see that term "Cheat Code" used a lot lately in FF circles. Why? and what does it mean in this context exactly?
Click to expand...
The term cheat code typically applies to players that have multiple levers of production. Usually used for big-time rushing QBs, like Lamar and Hurts (maybe Richardson at some point if he can stay out of the medical tent), that can also produce in the passing game. For RBs, I think this applies only to CMC, although Kamara may not be too far off if he continues to get a ton of dump offs in addition to high volume carries.
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I hope it's just a fad.
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For me, it simply meant he is so undervalued that you get borderline RB1 production for a player that you didn’t haven’t to spend close to that much for, allowing you to build a very strong team at other positions in the draft, and then draft Connor as your RB2 and…profit!
 
kyoun1e said:
Out "multiple weeks" per all kinds of sources.
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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports James Conner (knee) will miss multiple weeks.
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Schefter said Conner could eventually land on injured reserve, meaning he would be sidelined for at least four weeks. This could position Emari Demarcado, an undrafted rookie out of TCU, as Arizona’s lead back in Week 6 against the Rams. Demercado had ten rushes for 45 yards and a touchdown in Week 5 after Conner exited in the first half with the knee injury. Keaontay Ingram has missed the past two games with a lingering neck injury. If he returns, look for Ingram and Demercado to split the backfield workload. Rotoworld’s Kyle Dvorchyk wrote about the Cardinals backfield situation in his Week 6 waiver wire article.
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NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports the Cardinals are placing James Conner on short-term injured reserve.

Conner suffered a knee injury in the Cardinals’ Week 5 loss against the Bengals. In his absence, undrafted rookie Emari Demercado replaced Conner and went 10-45-1. It’s expected that Demercado will assume the Cards’ lead RB role with Conner out. Conner has rushed 68 times for for 364 yards and two touchdowns this season while adding eight receptions for an additional 30 yards.
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Cardinals designated James Conner (knee) to return from injured reserve.
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Conner has been working his way back to the Arizona lineup over the pas month after a September knee injury that landed him on IR. Last week, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said Conner looked “excellent” in his rehab. Conner dominated backfield touches — including targets — before sustaining his knee injury. With Kyler Murray (ACL) set to return to the Cardinals in Week 10 against the Falcons, Conner could be a volume-based RB1 for the remainder of the season.
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Listed as questionable.

Haven't seen anything anywhere on if he's a full go, or on a snap count.

Any coachspeak other than "he looks faster?"
 
Demercado has been ruled out. And Cards didn't add any RB's to roster. In fact waived Tony Jones and Damien Williams. Leaves them with just Conner and Ingram, so they will have to add a 3rd RB before kickoff. But all signs point to Conner being a full go.
 
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If he holds up he's going to be a significant league winner.

My thought on him all off-season was that he was a good compliment if you took someone like Taylor, Breece or Kamara as he'd start strong but they would work him to death and run him into the ground before he had his inevitable injury. That he had his injury so early was a blessing in disguise. Got rested and gets to return with Kyler. He was a beast to close last year and I think he's about to do it again.
 
Via MFL update….

ACTIVATED FROM IR, WILL PLAY SUNDAY
PUBLISHED SAT NOV 11 3:07:21 P.M. ET 2023
(fantasypros) The Cardinals have activated RB James Conner from injured reserve and he will play on Sunday.
Analysis: Arizona gets both Conner and Kyler Murray back on the offensive side of the ball. Conner should step back into his lead role where he'll be an RB2 play for fantasy managers.
 
Fun facts: The Falcons, who Zona plays this week, have allowed RB's to average only 72 total rushing yards/game over their last 6 games, and have not allowed a single RB rushing TD over their first 9 games.

I have Conner rostered in 2 leagues, and will be forced to play him in one. Because of his TD prowess and lack of real RB competition, I really like him as a solid RB2 for ROS, but not expecting big things this week (hope I'm wrong). His remaining schedule is relatively tough too: Texans, Rams, Steelers, Bye, 49ers, Bears, Eagles.
 
Thinking of sitting him this week. Have Henry, Stevenson and Mattison in right now. If anything, I'd swap Conner with Mattison, but it looks like Dobbs uses him mor in the offense than Kirk tended to do...
 
BroncoFreak_2K3 said:
Thinking of sitting him this week. Have Henry, Stevenson and Mattison in right now. If anything, I'd swap Conner with Mattison, but it looks like Dobbs uses him mor in the offense than Kirk tended to do...
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Mattison seems to underwhelm every time he has the opportunity. Connor does have a knack of finding the EZ.
 
Faust said:
Next Gen Stats
James Conner gained 150 rushing yards and a TD on 27 carries, including the most rushing yards over expected (+63) by a Cardinals rusher since Week 6, 2020.

Conner finishes the 2023 season with +211 rushing yards over expected, 3rd-most in the NFL.

#SEAvsARI | #BirdGang
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Consistently one of the most underrated RBs in the league. Not sure how much longer he can keep it up turning 29 in May, but he’s fun to watch.
 
JohnnyU said:
Conner did reinvent himself after being thought of as a piece of glass
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That has not really changed, I think we discussed that a few weeks ago.

He had one year in Pittsburgh he missed 6 games. Every other season he has missed between 2-4 games, including 4 games each of the last two seasons.
 
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