Ex Teammate Says Cardinals RB James Conner Will Prove People Wrong

The Arizona Cardinals were smart to keep James Conner around.

September 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals were highly thought to be considering the possibility of parting ways with running back James Conner this offseason, though the organization restructured his deal to keep the team captain around for 2026.

Conner, set to turn 31 this offseason, is coming off a season-ending foot injury suffered in Week 3. While the Cardinals signed running back Tyler Allgeier this offseason, Conner's still expected to make a big impact this coming year.

His former teammate says Conner will prove everybody wrong.

Chase Edmonds, sitting down with Casino Guru's Kyle Odegard, offered some solid praise for Conner ahead of 2026.

"James is such a good dude," Edmonds said.

"It really hurt me to see him go down the way he went down last year. I reached out to him and we chopped it up a bit. I was just really happy to see that AZ did him right, not just leave him out to dry coming off the injury.

"James is still a very talented and productive running back. And he means so much to this community now. To have him come back to the Cardinals, I’m super excited to see it. We used to call him ‘Wolf’ back in the day when we were in the same locker room. I know he’s going to come with it and be more prepared than ever to come out and prove people wrong."

Conner indeed does mean a lot to the Cardinals' organization and overall community, so when new head coach Mike LaFleur entered town, there was hope he would retain one of the locker room's beloved leaders.

Conner initially was drafted in Pittsburgh and spent the first four years of his career with the Steelers before moving to Arizona in 2021. Before the foot injury, he had strung together consecutive 1,000-yard rushing performances for the Cardinals.

Running the ball in the desert certainly needs to improve, as Arizona had the second-worst rushing offense last season in terms of yards per game. Whether that was due to injuries, poor play or poor coaching (perhaps all three) is still up for debate.

However, LaFleur's zone scheme and improvements to the offensive line in free agency (with the draft pending) brings hope for that to turn around in 2026.

Conner, on a pay-cut, is set to still be part of that hopeful transformation. And if Edmonds' words carry any weight, he'll have a big season in doing so.