JamesConner

News: 5 days agoConner rushed four times for 19 yards and a touchdown in Monday night's 34-11 wild-card round loss to the Rams. He also caught one of two targets for five yards.

Spin: Conner had his snaps limited while battling through a ribs injury, with the game flow of Monday's blowout also restricting his involvement as a runner. As usual, though, the tailback managed to find the end zone, scoring from two yards to finally get Arizona on the board in the third quarter. After inking a one-year deal with the Cardinals last offseason, Conner went on to finish third league-wide in touchdowns, with 15 of his 18 scores coming on the ground. Of course, that came in just 15 games, with Conner carrying 202 times for 752 yards and catching 37 of 39 targets for 375 more yards. Given that fantastic production, the 26-year-old is bound to garner more significant interest as he re-enters free agency this spring, but with many other key offensive contributors on expiring contracts, it's unclear whether the Cardinals will bring Conner back.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Conner signed with Arizona after spending his first four seasons with the Steelers. The 2017 third-round pick has missed at least three games each of the past three seasons and a total of 14 in his career. The Pitt product peaked with an RB6 fantasy finish in 2018, but he plummeted outside the top 25 each of the past two seasons. The 26-year-old is solid as both a rusher (career 4.3 YPC, 1.8 YAC) and receiver (6.3 YPT), but figures to focus primarily on the former as he takes over Kenyan Drake's role in Arizona. Drake ranked seventh among RBs in carries, eighth in rush TDs and third in carries inside the 5-yard line in 2020. Conner will defer most passing-down work to Chase Edmonds, but his new role keeps him in the RB3/flex mix.