There’s a reason why Pittsburgh Steelers James Conner is one of the hottest waiver-wire pickups in fantasy football leagues right now. With Le’Veon Bell still on a holdout with only a few days before the Steelers open their 2018 season schedule against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the smart money now is on Conner starting that game.
Conner hasn’t made an NFL start before, but he says that he is feeling any butterflies swirling inside his stomach ahead of the Browns game, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
“No pressure on me,” said the second-year tailback after Thursday's practice. “There are a lot of people waiting to see how my performance is going to be. As long as we win, I'm cool.”
Conner did not do much in his rookie season, which is understandable since he mostly served as an understudy for Bell. In his first year in the NFL, Conner only had 144 rushing yards with no touchdowns on 32 carries across 14 games.
However, Conner has reaped great reviews in the training camp and in the preseason, thanks to his improvements in pass-catching and blocking.
In the third week of the preseason, Conner rushed for only 18 rushing yards on 10 carries, but showed his chops in the passing game by pulling down six catches on six targets for 52 receiving yards.
While there’s still time for Bell to return before the Pittsburgh’s trip to Cleveland, the Steelers are approaching the contest as though Conner is their opening-day starter.
James Conner will have his work cut out for him against the Browns who have allowed the seventh best defense against the run last season.
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