Week 10 brings James Conner from college football to the NFL. Yes, a year and a half into the league, Thursday, will be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back’s biggest test.
No one expected James Conner to be better than Le’Veon Bell, but here we are. Nine weeks through the NFL season and one of the league’s best running backs is on the Pittsburgh Steelers. And he isn’t wearing number 26.
But Conner never got a rookie season. He played 14 games in 2017, only to touch the ball 32 times. Behind Le’Veon Bell, finding reps has been nearly impossible throughout the years. DeAngelo Williams and James Conner have filled the role of “safety net” while Bell touched the ball 400 times a season.
So, finding his ground in his first season wasn’t much of an option. Really, he just learned from the sidelines, which clearly has helped. But it leaves room for concern as the Steelers head into the second half of the season.
Thursday night will bring a wall. Not one that will necessarily slow Conner, but one that may. Coming off a short week in Baltimore and heading back to Pittsburgh to face Carolina combines nine weeks of a full workload with three days of rest – a mix nothing short of detrimental to a young running back.
None of this means Conner is headed for a 30-yard game and will virtually be unavailable come Thursday. He could show up and rush for his fifth-straight 100 yard game and score another touchdown (the hopeful outcome). You can’t predict the outcome of a player under his circumstances. This week brings a test bigger than he’s seen all season, but he’s shown all year that he’s not as predicable as we though.
The challenge is real, but one Conner can certainly overcome. Carolina’s seventh-ranked rush defense is riding a three-game win streak, allowing only 241 yards in that span. Conner has 706 yards and nine touchdowns so far this season. If a battle was going to be identified in this Thursday night matchup, it will be on the ground.
All eyes should be on the Steelers’ backfield in Week 10. It’ll prove how much of a star James Conner already is.