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Conner is a Steeler!!

Can anyone verify or refute that Connor has a fumbling problem? Stats?

I don't remember if that's something I heard, or my own perception from what I've seen of him.
 
I would have rather had his quarterback selected.
 
Troglodyte said:
Can anyone verify or refute that Connor has a fumbling problem? Stats?

I don't remember if that's something I heard, or my own perception from what I've seen of him.
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Not really. He had 2 as a freshman, four as a sophomore, and only one his senior season. He carried almost 300 times his Sophomore season, so one fumble about every 75 touches that season. About the same rate as a freshman too. But, his final season, he only fumbled once in 240 touches.

Throw this in too.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/james-conner-pitt-letter-to-nfl-gms/
 
Watch tape from his freshman season...ACC player of the year, looked like a guy who could get a Heisman invite before he was done at Pitt. He can get back to that level, he wasn't truly 100% this season, especially early.
 
He could also be an elite special team player. Actually did play some D at Pitt and certainly seems to have the desire.
 
Watching the video, he runs a lot like Marshawn Lynch
 
TMC said:
I get the 4th/5th round thinking, but last year, Burns was a 2nd and Davis was a 3rd...at least going into the draft. I don't think anyone is upset with them now. Sometimes we get too hung up on draft ratings, I have myself, and we need to think more about the people/player we added.

Look, this kind of hits home for me. My dad battled cancer for a decade, lots of chemo. It can be debilitating. I cannot tell you how many times after chemo I had to have him put his arm around my neck and help him get from the car to the bed. He would often spend the rest of that day in bed, sick, uneasy stomach, not eat, and then sleep the whole next day to recover. One treatment a week usually took 3 days before he returned to normal. This kid is getting chemo, checking on other patients, lifting their spirits, and then he is getting out of the bed and putting in work. Sorry, I have to get on board with a dude like that, someone that dedicated to making it, because what will the not do to be great? When will they quit on you? When will a tough moment break them? That is the type of dude to stand in the fray, take the beating, and ask for more.

Conner broke Tony Dorsett's bowl record as a freshman and was the ACC Player of the Year before his ACL injury and subsequent cancer diagnosis. That cost him a year on the field and even more to get back close to the guy he was. I see nothing but upside here.
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I am glad they got him. I just think Dan Rooney told them to make it happen. Conner will only get better learning from how Bell came into the league and changed how he played. I also still don't think Conner was back to his former 2014 self after the MCL and battle with cancer. I have no problem with them picking him in the 3rd as I wanted him on the team. I picked him in probably 75% of the mock drafts I did. He also seems to run faster with pads than his 4.67 time at the combine shows.
 
Let me sum up why i hate the pick because i can already see that there are probably already people itching to call me out every time Conner gains a yard for teh steelers.

1. Backup RB is a need but nowhere near as big as OLB and DB. They got Watt and Sutton, but they still need depth there. They need another pass rusher and still need another DB. There was quality available at both spots.

2. Conner appears to have been selected a round or 2 higher than he should have. There were still plenty of RBs on the board like Pernie, Mack, McNichols, Gallman, etc. I liked other RBs better than Conner and i also would have seen drafting any of them as a mistake at that point because so many were still on the board and would have been available later.

3. I do think Conner is a solid player. I would have been happy with him as a later round pick. I loved the Matakevich pick last year but if they took him in RD 3 it would have been a horrible pick.

What makes it a terrible pick to me is WHERE they drafted him, not the player himself.
 
With Bells history, he may not be just a back up. Everyone says they took JuJu because they don't trust Bryant, what about Bell? He has never started and finished a season. They got a guy that, if not for cancer l, would've been a higher rated player.
 
And I've read Ben pushed hard for Connor
 
I think Ben is responsible for both Juju and Connor picks... I'm glad he allowed the GM and coach to make a couple picks to help the atrocious pass rush and secondary.

That being said.. I do like Connor, not a big fan of Juju or any WR in the 2nd round.
 
Burghproud said:
I've been super excited for a draft pick 3 times in my life.

Big Ben
Polamalu
This one.

Hoping it has same results the first 2 did
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You were not super excited about Jarvis Jones? Me either.
 
Often when i really want the Steelers to get a Pitt guy they lose out on him right before they draft... kind of happy he was there and they didn't wait... third round is the perfect place to get stud RBs...
 
It pains me to say this but the pot suspensions to Bell and Bryant really effected our draft this year. Their inability to be reliable and available I think put the slightest bit of pressure on our roster building to make sure our backups can't just be developmental prospects and have to be more game ready sooner.

By the end of last season our depth at RB and WR were effecting the efficiency of the offense more than I think fans want to admit and while many of us wanted another defense-heavy draft, Tombert saw it a different way.

Let's face it, the less we talk about Conner and Smith-Shuster this year the better. Because that likely means Bryant is lighting it up and living up to the talent he has flashed at the NFL level while Bell is getting his 20-25 touches a game and staying healthy.

And we haven't even discussed if these selections don't speak of possible contract failures with Bell and/or a decision already to let Bryant walk into free agency because of their commitment/availability/suspension issues. You hate to see successful draft picks on the talent side wasted in sweatpants but when that also contributes to decisions not to get guys under 2nd contracts, it effects your whole organization as you have to use resources to replace said talent.

I don't know. This draft does not make me feel "optimistic". It speaks to me of problems and potential turnover on a talent-for-talent basis and not the building/improvement/development side of roster building.
 
deljzc said:
It pains me to say this but the pot suspensions to Bell and Bryant really effected our draft this year. Their inability to be reliable and available I think put the slightest bit of pressure on our roster building to make sure our backups can't just be developmental prospects and have to be more game ready sooner.

By the end of last season our depth at RB and WR were effecting the efficiency of the offense more than I think fans want to admit and while many of us wanted another defense-heavy draft, Tombert saw it a different way.

Let's face it, the less we talk about Conner and Smith-Shuster this year the better. Because that likely means Bryant is lighting it up and living up to the talent he has flashed at the NFL level while Bell is getting his 20-25 touches a game and staying healthy.

And we haven't even discussed if these selections don't speak of possible contract failures with Bell and/or a decision already to let Bryant walk into free agency because of their commitment/availability/suspension issues. You hate to see successful draft picks on the talent side wasted in sweatpants but when that also contributes to decisions not to get guys under 2nd contracts, it effects your whole organization as you have to use resources to replace said talent.

I don't know. This draft does not make me feel "optimistic". It speaks to me of problems and potential turnover on a talent-for-talent basis and not the building/improvement/development side of roster building.
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I don't think Bell is going anywhere. I see Conner more of a replacement for D Will.

And for how talented Bryant is yeah you wonder if the Steelers will offer another contract. For how talented he is I am sure most will have mixed feelings on if you green light that or not.

I will say if he manages to stay clean from this point on...when is his contract up? I would hope the Steelers would try to get something for him before they make let him go. IF he stays clean, I think they could get something if they decide to move him going into his last signed year.
 
deljzc said:
It pains me to say this but the pot suspensions to Bell and Bryant really effected our draft this year. Their inability to be reliable and available I think put the slightest bit of pressure on our roster building to make sure our backups can't just be developmental prospects and have to be more game ready sooner.

By the end of last season our depth at RB and WR were effecting the efficiency of the offense more than I think fans want to admit and while many of us wanted another defense-heavy draft, Tombert saw it a different way.

Let's face it, the less we talk about Conner and Smith-Shuster this year the better. Because that likely means Bryant is lighting it up and living up to the talent he has flashed at the NFL level while Bell is getting his 20-25 touches a game and staying healthy.

And we haven't even discussed if these selections don't speak of possible contract failures with Bell and/or a decision already to let Bryant walk into free agency because of their commitment/availability/suspension issues. You hate to see successful draft picks on the talent side wasted in sweatpants but when that also contributes to decisions not to get guys under 2nd contracts, it effects your whole organization as you have to use resources to replace said talent.

I don't know. This draft does not make me feel "optimistic". It speaks to me of problems and potential turnover on a talent-for-talent basis and not the building/improvement/development side of roster building.
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Del with his head up his *** as usual. You're talking about whether Martavis (with 2 years left on his rookie deal) is going to get a second contract or not. Tomlin & Colbert live in the real world and understand that there's a significant chance that Martavis never plays another snap in the NFL.
 
Another thing about the WR and RB picks. In both cases we got ahead of the "runs" on those positions. If we had tried to wait it out, I'm not sure we get anyone of value (especially if you think they really wanted Dobbs in round 4).

As I try to "mock-the-mock", there is very little WR value as we continue down our selections. From us picking Smith-Shuster until we get up again at pick #94, there were 5 WR's taken. And you start getting into very scattered evaluations on those selected (which tells you team's boards were all over the place and "clear NFL talent" might not be there). The guys after pick #94 were Kenny Galloday, Chad Williams, Amare Darboh, DeDe Westbrook (off-field issues), Josh Reynolds, Mack Hollins and Josh Malone. To me that's a big drop off in talent between that group and JuJu Smith-Shuster. And even guys you "like" there with talent, Westbrook (off-field, doesn't fit opposite Brown) or Mack Hollins (age 24 vs. age 20 for Smith-Shuster) have problems.

I do like Chad Hansen that we could have had with our round 4 selection. I think there is some value there. I over scouted Stacy Coley and Malachi Dupree on film alone (and not their terrible attitude/off-field/work ethic baggage) and both would have been available in round 6 as talent values, but they are probably losers that won't work hard enough to make it. Still surprised K.D. Cannon didn't get drafted as I see him very similar to Marcus Wheaton.

Same kind of goes for RB. After Conner at pick #94, 5 more Running Backs were picked before we are on the clock again. Now with our 4th round pick I don't mind potentially Wayne Gallman or Marlon Mack but by the time our 5th round pick comes back, the running back class is very picked clean (and much earlier than normal).

So I think the Steelers did a decent job of getting ahead of some position runs on offense. And that was odd to predict because we all talked about how this was such a good defensive draft you'd think defense would be drafted like gangbusters. But maybe the fact 6 of the top 9 picks in this draft were "skill positions" (QB/RB/WR) should have indicated teams were going to overdraft the thin offensive positions early and expect good defense to still be on the board later. If that indeed was the case getting Smith-Shuster at #62 and Conner at pick #105 looks pretty decent in retrospect.
 
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