Fans have been talking about the debut performance by rookie running back James Conner. In the Pittsburgh Steelers second preseason game, they took on the Super Bowl runner-up Atlanta Falcons. Conner didn’t start the game, but ended up playing almost all of it. He finished with 98 yards on 20 carries, but definitely showed room for improvement.
James Conner Looks to Improve on his NFL Debut
On the positive side, Conner showed outstanding vision and had quick cuts as well as quick feet. Conner started the game by tripping on his own feet on his first carry, but he quickly recovered. He showed some good speed and the ability to turn the corner and get upfield. Although Conner had some nice runs giving him just under an average of five yards per carry, this was largely due to excellent blocking by the Steelers offensive line. On many of his carries, Conner was almost ten yards down the field before he was even touched.
Speaking of being touched, one thing that Conner could surely work on is his ability to break tackles. He didn’t break a single tackle unless you count one stiff-arm that he had that ended up going for no gain. While he couldn’t break any tackles, he did make several defenders miss with his open-field jukes. Conner will need to get physically bigger and stronger to be able to break more tackles. He was even tripped up and brought down by some arm-tackles.
Conner made a couple rookie mistakes in his debut. His biggest mistakes were dropped passes. Conner dropped his first target on a third down and was wide open with a ton of open field ahead of him. He also missed his second target, although to be fair, the pass from Dobbs was a bit high. Nevertheless, it should’ve been caught. Conner dropped another pass midway through the third quarter that was also on a crucial third down. It was a third and 12, but Conner was open and could’ve possibly been able to make it to the first down marker if he caught the ball.
Conner also made a glaring mistake at least a couple times when he was running the ball. Right before he would get hit, Conner would turn his back to the defender to avoid the hit. This is good for protecting the football, but it’s bad for gaining maximum yardage. He’ll need to work on pushing forward until the end of the play and falling forward as well to gain the most yards possible.
Growing Pains
Conner looked his best in the fourth quarter, which makes sense because he was playing against third and fourth string players. On top of that though, he also seemed to be a lot calmer and more relaxed in the second half. Since his debut, Conner has been moved up to a tie with Knile Davis for the Steelers third running back spot on the depth chart. Fitzgerald Toussaint is listed second on the depth chart while Le’Veon Bell is still the starter and announced on Twitter that he would be returning to the Steelers on September first.
Conner doesn’t have the patience that Bell does and could’ve probably broken the 100-yard mark if he didn’t run into his blockers on a few plays. All in all, Conner had a pretty impressive NFL debut. However, it wasn’t impressive enough to justify letting Bell go after the season like some fans have suggested on social media. Conner will be a solid backup to Bell though. Expect Conner to eventually win the number two spot on the depth chart behind Bell. The Steelers could very well end up having one of the best running back groups in the NFL.
The Steelers next preseason game is Saturday, August 26th against the Indianapolis Colts at home in Heinz Field.
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