{"id":247651,"date":"2025-09-21T20:29:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T00:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=247651"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:25:32","slug":"james-conner-injury-cardinals-running-backs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/21\/james-conner-injury-cardinals-running-backs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals News: 4 Running Backs That Could Replace James Conner After Devastating Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner suffered a gruesome lower-body injury<\/a> that will likely sideline the longtime veteran for quite some time. While we do not know the extent of the injury as of this posting, Conner never returned to the game, had to be carted off the field, and, based on nothing more than the tape, it sure didn’t look good.<\/p>\n

Update: James Conner suffered a season-ending injury, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Cardinals basically made 2024 third-round pick Trey Benson<\/a> the full-time starter in Conner’s absence, but the second-year pro probably can’t handle that type of workload over an extended stretch. This team needs another running back to navigate the James Conner injury, and there should be a few veterans available for a relatively cheap price.<\/p>\n

4 Running Backs Cardinals Could Target After James Conner Injury<\/h2>\n
\"James
Sep 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Medical personal tend to Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) during the second half against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Main Photo: Kyle Terada<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"jerome
Main Photo: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Jerome Ford<\/h3>\n

After an offseason of drama, second-round pick Quinshon Judkins<\/a> is officially the leader of the Cleveland Browns running backs. The Ohio State product played a pivotal role in the team’s shocking 13-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers, finishing the night with 18 attempts for 94 yards and a touchdown. Fourth-round rookie Dylan Sampson received just one carry, while veteran Jerome Ford didn’t run the ball once and finished with four receptions for 10 yards.<\/p>\n

Judkins is clearly the future of this backfield, which makes Jerome Ford an ideal trade target. While the veteran won’t set the world on fire, he proved to be an adequate short-term starter and role player over the past two seasons. Ford is a jack of all trades, master of none, whose unique skillset makes him the perfect complement to Benson as James Conner recovers from injury.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"alvin
Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs against the San Francisco 49ers defense during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Alvin Kamara<\/h3>\n

This one depends on how much faith the Cardinals have in Benson. If they truly believe he can be a starter, then Arizona will probably stay away from a high-priced option like Kamara. However, if they want a three-down back, the team could trade for the five-time Pro Bowler.<\/p>\n

Kamara is not the player he once was, but he’s still an above-average starter who can make plays as a runner and receiver. However, he’s wasted on the rebuilding Saints<\/a>, and the veteran would probably prefer to play for a team with a realistic shot at the playoffs. At 2-1, the Cardinals are a considerably better football team, and Kamara could help guide this team to their first playoff appearance since 2021.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"antonio
Jan 5, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Joe Milton III (19) hands off the ball to running back Antonio Gibson (4) against the Buffalo Bills in the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Antonio Gibson<\/h3>\n

Returning to a change of pace running back, Antonio Gibson might not have a home on the New England Patriots. The veteran fumbled in Week 3’s battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>, opening the door for rookie TreVeyon Henderson to take over as the unquestioned starter. If Henderson maintains this workload, New England should trade Gibson for whatever they can get. Again, he’s not a starter, but he can do a little bit of everything and makes sense as a cost-effective fill-in while James Conner recovers from injury.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Breece
Jul 24, 2025; Florham Park, NY, USA; New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) participates in a drill during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. Breece Hall<\/h3>\n

Breece Hall is in the final year of his rookie contract, and it’s clear the New York Jets do not view him as a three-down back. This means he probably won’t re-sign with the organization, and the 0-3 Jets should be willing to sell high on the impending free agent. If the James Conner injury is season-ending, Arizona could trade for Hall and use the 2025 season as an extended look into what he can bring to a backfield. If they like what they see, they could sign him long-term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner suffered a nasty injury in Week 3 and the team could add another set of legs to the backfield<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":247653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,33,8,5,28,6,6431],"tags":[1573,6307,7801,9064,2364,9056,7659,32160],"class_list":["post-247651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-cardinals","category-browns","category-patriots","category-saints","category-jets","category-nfl-teams","tag-alvin-kamara","tag-antonio-gibson","tag-arizona-cardinals-news","tag-breece-hall","tag-james-conner","tag-jerome-ford","tag-saints-featured","tag-trey-benson"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247661,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247651\/revisions\/247661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}