In his sophomore NFL campaign, Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner exceeded all expectations starting in place of a disgruntled Le'Veon Bell embroiled in a messy contract holdout situation.

Bell's absence on the Steelers' offense meant that Conner had huge shoes to fill, but Pittsburgh's young local hero delivered in spades for his home state.

The 2019 season will serve another test for Conner to prove himself as more than just a flash in the pan. And judging from his remarkable 2018 season, he's more than capable of soaring to new heights yet again.

Here are our three predictions for James Conner's third year in the big leagues.

3. A Strong Candidate for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

What made Conner such a feel-good story beyond his on-field production last season is the fact that he had to overcome great adversity in his personal life prior to taking his first snap in the pros.

During his junior year in Pittsburgh in 2015, Conner was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, abruptly ending his budding football career even before becoming an NFL prospect. Conner fought really hard against his disease, and was eventually cancer-free and cleared to play football once more in 2016.

In his senior year, the 2014 ACC Player of the Year nabbed two more commendations. He made first-team All-ACC for the second time, and also won the ACC Brian Piccolo Award; the latter of which is awarded to the most courageous player of the current season.

Conner's story from being a cancer patient to becoming a football superstar – as beautifully documented by Conner himself on Player's Tribune – is very inspirational.

If the former Panthers standout makes a strong effort to give hope and spread his support outside the gridiron to the people suffering from life-threatening diseases, he could very well win the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award to further exemplify the meaning of what a real football hero ought to be.

2. A Surefire RB1 Option in Fantasy Football

On the lighter side of things, Conner's value in fantasy football immediately skyrocketed following the departures of Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown earlier this week.

As of March 13, FantasyPros ranked Conner as the seventh-best running back on the draft board and the ninth-best player overall. Early mock draft results on the site even have him going as early as pick No. 3.

As many fantasy owners of his witnessed firsthand, Conner is a touchdown machine who can make up for his lack of yardage output on any given Sunday. Pittsburgh's workhorse back amassed 13 touchdowns in as many games played last season, thanks in large part to his prowess and dependability in goal-line situations.

The only knack on Conner's value in fantasy is that he's already had a short run-in with health issues, missing four games late into the previous season with a lower leg injury. But besides that minor blip on his fantasy resumé, all signs point towards the Pennsylvania native becoming a fantasy stud for the 2019 season and beyond.

1. A Lock for Back-to-Back Pro Bowl Nods

If his 2019 fantasy projection wasn't enough proof of his offensive talent, Conner's Pro Bowl selection in 2018 should be more than enough to validate his status as one of the NFL's best running backs, period.

Here are his overall numbers from the previous season: 215 carries for 973 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns for an average of 4.5 yards per carry, and 55 receptions for 497 more yards and another score in the end zone.

Apart from earning a Pro Bowl nod, Conner also became the AFC's Player of the Month after a momentous run in October that quickly made him a household name in the league.

Now that the Steelers offense will mainly revolve around the team's new trio of him, Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu-Smith Schuster, there'll be less mouths to feed in the offense for Conner to further boost his numbers and earn another trip to Camping World Stadium after the 2019 regular season wraps up.