I've seen some talk about Chase Edmonds and James Conner lately. Some believe that Conner will be a major thorn in Edmonds' value, pointing out that Arizona favored Kenyan Drake near the goal line last year, which could happen again with the former Steeler. His signing has definitely depressed Edmonds' value in early drafts.
Personally, I'm very comfortable drafting Edmonds as a starter. Conner can't be totally dismissed, but he doesn't worry me, either.
Conner underwent offseason surgery for a turf-toe injury, which highlights that he hasn't been the most durable player. He's a guy who made it into the league after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma while at the University of Pittsburgh, so no one should question his toughness. But while he was a successful feature back for a couple of seasons with Pittsburgh, he's battled injuries all along. He missed three games in his second season with an ankle injury, and six the next year with shoulder and quad injuries. Last year he missed 3 games, one with a quad and two on the COVID-19 list. He's been banged-up or left early in plenty of games along the way.
Last season, it was a tale of two halves. In his first six games, Conner was pretty productive, averaging 18 touches for 94 total yards, and 4.4 yards per attempt.
| CONNER GAME LOG, FIRST HALF (2020) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp. | Att | Run | Avg | TD | No | Rec | Tot |
| at NYG | 6 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 17 |
| Den. | 16 | 106 | 6.6 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 121 |
| Hou. | 18 | 109 | 6.1 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 149 |
| Phi. | 15 | 44 | 2.9 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 63 |
| Cle. | 20 | 101 | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 102 |
| at Tenn. | 20 | 82 | 4.1 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 111 |
| Avg. | 16 | 75 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 19 | 94 |
In the second half of the season, a pretty steep decline across the board. Fewer touches, less production, and notably less effective with his chances. His lone good game was against a Jacksonville defense that had simply long since stopped trying, hurtling head-on to the No. 1 draft pick. Conner's yards per carry dropped to just 3.6 in those games.
| CONNER GAME LOG, SECOND HALF (2020) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp. | Att | Run | Avg | TD | No | Rec | Tot |
| at Balt. | 15 | 47 | 3.1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 60 |
| at Dall. | 9 | 22 | 2.4 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 20 |
| Cin. | 13 | 36 | 2.8 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 48 |
| at Jax. | 13 | 89 | 6.8 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 99 |
| at Buf. | 10 | 18 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Ind. | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 66 |
| at Cle. | 9 | 37 | 4.1 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 62 |
| Avg. | 11 | 39 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 15 | 53 |
I don't think Conner will be much of a threat to Edmonds. I suspect in most drafts he'll be selected too early, and Edmonds too late.
--Andy Richardson