The Pittsburgh Steelers just saw James Conner walk to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency, and now they apparently plan to replace him with one of their top picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Steelers hold the 24th pick in this draft. It looks like that pick very well could be used on a running back.

Via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The last step was changing the personnel, and it started with Conner, a three-year starter whose contract expired after the season. It will end on draft day. The Steelers appear to be content with Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland Jr. as backups, possibly even Kalen Ballage, who was signed in free agency. But they want a more dynamic feature back, a player who can put back in the offense a dimension that has been missing since the departure of Le'Veon Bell. They will do that in the draft, most likely in the first round, no later than the second.

It has been speculated the Steelers would draft a quarterback this year since midway through the 2020 season. However, now the smoke is blowing in the way of a running back. Conner looked good in the first portion of the year, but after falling to injuries, the team never recovered. Pittsburgh finished as the worst rushing team in the league, only totaling 1,351 yards, and now Conner is gone.

There is a ton of talent at running back in the draft this year. The Steelers could very well land one of the top-three prospects. Having either Travis Etienne, Najee Harris, or Javonte Williams in the backfield would surely be the upgrade the front office is looking for at the position.