James Conner

[RightlegTucker]

Anyone get a chance to watch this guy? Unfortunately he hurt his MCL, so he's going to miss this season. He's huge (6'2" 240), but he has quick feet and good vision. He changes direction a lot better than I thought he would prior to watching him, and he has a nasty spin move he breaks out from time to time Great leg drive too, he routinely moves the pile. I think he'll be a 2nd-3rd pick with the potential to develop into a 3 down back. Not sure if he's going to come out this year with the injury, might wait until 2017. Thoughts?

[yooperbacker]

Beastly between the tackles with good feet to get through tight creases. Runs through arm tackles and usually takes multiple defenders to bring him down. Rumblings of him coming back this year. I really hope he does as I want to see if he gained some lateral quickness and/or breakaway speed by losing some weight. He could be elite with some added explosiveness, but I see Andre Williams+ as his floor right now.

[RightlegTucker]

Physically he's somewhat similar to A-Will, but Conner's bigger and he's got more wiggle. His vision is also much better than Williams' is. I've been having a tough time finding a player comp for himself. I think dropping weight could help him too, I could see him being a high 4.4 low 4.5 guy at a lower weight. Sad to see him get injured at the beginning of the season, but he could be a bargain if he comes out this year.

[yooperbacker]

I would definitely feel comfortable taking him with a mid-late 1st. Mike Williams is another name I'm keeping filed away in that same area of the draft. Flashed enough as an underclassman to take a shot at a discount.

[rubber_duck]

I've been tracking his box scores for a while. Now that he will be eligible it seemed like a good time to watch some tape. He's a tough runner and has some determination to keep the play alive. Good to see.

One thing that stood out to me was his blaring "tell". Conner has normal footwork for passing plays, whether he stays in to block or goes out on a route. However, if it is a run then he does a half-step back before going forward. I watched him take this half back step on nearly every rush he made for the 3 games I watched. He will not take the back step if the play is an option.

Finally thought I found one example where he didn't make this tell. It was in the 2nd quarter of the 2014 Iowa game. Turned out that he didn't take the 1/2 step because it was a play-action.

Don't know why the Pitt coaches are putting up with this. The NFL certainly won't let him.

[RightlegTucker]

It was announced recently that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Very sad, especially for such a young kid. His prognosis is pretty good though, hope he makes a full recovery.