Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin sounds very confident in running back James Conner. In a recent video conference, Tomlin addressed his plans at running back for the 2020 season.
“You know, I’m a featured runner-type guy by mentality,” Tomlin said. “I think that when you have a featured runner, it gives them an opportunity to drop a stake in the ground. It allows others to rally around him and gives you a set of core base run plays that he specializes in and you find rhythm in that way.
“James is a featured runner and a proven guy when healthy and we’re excited about him getting back to health and displaying that in 2020,” Tomlin said. “Benny Snell is a guy that’s capable of being a featured runner, who plays with a physical style in a similar manner as James and might be capable of being a James-type guy if James is unavailable.”
Even after an injury-filled 2019, Conner will still be the starting running back until proven otherwise. This past season, Conner had disappointing stat line recording only 464 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. The 25-year-old suffered multiple injuries causing him to miss six games, which may be a concern for the Steelers.
Nevertheless, it sounds like the Steelers are hoping that Conner can rebound from his injury-plagued 2019 season and produce a dominant season as he did in 2018. When healthy, Conner is a top 15 running back in the league. Conner will be on the final year of his rookie contract this season with the Steelers.
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