Steelers Film Room: Is James Conner as bad as the numbers indicate?
James Conner impressed a lot of people in 2018. So much so, he made a lot of us forget about Le'Veon Bell, or at least think the Steelers didn't need him anymore.
Going into 2019, the running game with Conner was almost a given. Now after an 0-3 start, Conner has carried the ball 34 times for only 97 yards, averaging only 2.9 yards-per-carry.
Of course, teams have more tape on Conner now. They've been able to look at his tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses, and come up with the best way to defend him. But could it really come down to just that? If so, Conner is not an NFL running back.
I wasn't convinced of that, so I decided to look at the tape. I ran back every single time Conner has carried the ball to see what the real problems are. Is Conner just not running well? Is the offensive line not blocking well enough? Is the offensive scheme really that bad?
To be honest, it's a combination of everything. Not one party is blameless. Conner could be better, the offensive line could block better, and Fichtner could put his players in better position to succeed.
But let's go deeper than that. Here are six different plays to show you some things that really stood out when going back and watching this film.
Play 1
In this play against New England, Conner runs a counter behind the pulling David DeCastro and gains only two yards.
The blocking in this play is pretty decent, but the biggest issue I find in it is when McDonald motions over to the left. New England's Patrick Chung moves along with McDonald, showing man coverage in the defense. This brings an additional defender to the side of the field Conner will be running. Chung ends up going unblocked.
Unfortunately, plays like this aren't a one-time incident. There have been multiple plays that I've seen this season where the defense is in man coverage and motioning the tight end over to the side of the play has actually hurt the play because now one is assigned to pick up the extra defender.
Obviously, a play like this is not on Conner. I would put this one on the play call itself and/or not checking out of it when man coverage is detected. If the coaches don't see this after a few weeks of film, this will be an ongoing issue.
Play 2
Here's an example of Conner struggling with finding a better opening to run through.
The play is a designed outside run and the offensive line gets good enough speed to get to their assignments and Conner has a good burst off the handoff.
The big problem here is Conner misses a gaping hole created between Al Villanueva and Vance McDonald, but continues to run behind Maurkice Pouncey. Even if that was the design of the run, when a hole like this opens, Conner has to have the vision to make a quick cut up field.
I give the biggest fault here to Conner for not recognizing the gaping hole in the defense. Fortunately, plays like this have not happened often. Of the 34 carries Conner has this season, on only five of them did I notice a better lane for Conner to run through. A couple of them were even on the second level of the defense.
Plays 3 & 4
This play, along with the next, were isolated incidents in this game. Pittsburgh did not run the ball well against Seattle, but we may have seen in these plays where the strength of the run game may be.
In the game against Seattle, the Steelers lined up with an extra offensive lineman in five on Conner's 11 carries in this game. The problem is those plays totaled for 4 yards, including the 1-yard touchdown run.
When the Steelers ran with the extra lineman, too many plays went outside the tackles. They either went outside the tackles because they were called that way or Conner had to bounce outside because the blocking, especially on the edges, was poor.
That being said, in the plays above and below, the Steelers run Conner up the middle. The play above has Foster pulling on a counter and DeCastro just misses the block on the second level. It still results in a 6-yard gain, thanks to Conner's second effort.
The play below is Conner's longest run of the season, and it's easy to see why. The blocking here is perfect and Conner blasts through the hole for a 14-yard gain. Enjoy!
Play 5
This play in San Francisco shows the struggle of the blocking on the outside. Xavier Grimble gets pushed back badly, forcing Conner back inside. Conner uses his vision and athleticism to cut back and go the other way and turn a potential loss into a 10-yard gain.
The defense is also in man coverage, and bringing Grimble in motion brings another defender to the side the play will be run toward. Thankfully, David DeCastro picks up the extra defender to prevent a bad loss here.
This is a combination of poor blocking and either bad play-calling or poor recognition. This is something that happens too frequently and it hurts the run game.
Play 6
This is the painful fumble by Conner in San Francisco last week.
Obviously, Conner can't fumble here. This is the worst play he has made all season because of losing a fumble in a key moment in the game when the Steelers were trying to protect their lead late in the game.
Let's be fair here. The blocking on this play is horrible. James Washington and Zach Gentry look terrible on this play, allowing two defenders to go after Conner scot-free.
I also question why, when running the ball late in the game to help protect a lead, is James Washington lined up inside to help with run blocking? This is a poor choice coming from the coordinator and not the best in-game decision.
All of that being said, it doesn't let Conner off the hook for fumbling. He would tell you that as much as I am here. No excuse for the fumble there, even if all 11 defenders have a shot at him.
Fun Facts
While looking at all of these plays, there were a couple different stats I wanted to get just to see what the numbers would be.
I wanted to see how Conner fared in runs up the middle, outside the tackles, and following a guard pulling on a counter. I also see a lot of complaining about running the ball out of the shotgun too often, so I wanted to see what the numbers were between running the ball from under center vs out of the shotgun.
| In-Between Tackles | Outside Tackles | Counters |
|---|---|---|
16 carries | 12 carries | 6 carries |
58 yards | 17 yards | 22 yards |
3.6 YPC | 1.4 YPC | 3.7 YPC |
| Under Center | Shotgun | Pistol |
|---|---|---|
7 carries | 25 carries | 2 carries |
16 yards | 73 yards | 8 yards |
2.3 YPC | 2.9 YPC | 4.0 YPC |
Final Conclusion
I truly do not see James Conner being the largest issue here. He's made a few mistakes here and there, with the largest obviously being the fumble last week.
However, Conner consistently hits the hole the play is designed for and has even at times been able to improvise. He doesn't always make the best decision, but he makes significantly more good ones than bad ones. Conner is hardly the main problem.
When it comes to the offensive line, the blocking overall is sub-par. I'm mostly concerned about the edges than I am in the middle. DeCastro has been the best run-blocker for Conner so far and it's not close. Ramon Foster has also been strong and Pouncey has been decent in run-blocking, minus a couple times he's been pushed backwards pretty significantly.
Matt Feiler was awful in run-blocking in the Seattle game. Al Villanueva has been much better on the left side, but could set the edge a bit better.
The largest concern in run-blocking is at tight end. All three of McDonald, Grimble, and Gentry had multiple plays where they got tossed or simply blew a blocking assignment. If the Steelers continue to run outside with how badly the tight ends have been blocking, it's going to be a long season for James Conner.
Finally, I put the most blame on the offensive play-calling and scheming. There were five plays when Conner's number was called that the play was doomed from the start, no matter how well the players executed the play. And that doesn't include the several plays where they constantly ran toward an extra defender after motioning a blocker.
Over 35 percent of Conner's runs have been called to run outside the tackles. With the combination of how badly the tight ends block and how much better Conner runs between the tackles, this is irresponsible.
We all saw Randy Fichtner call the same play three times in a row in New England and saw how badly the third play turned out. He obviously didn't learn his lesson. Here's a sequence from last week in San Francisco.
Fichtner, alongside Mike Tomlin, have to put their players in the best positions to be successful. James Conner is at his best between the tackles and the interior of the offensive line is where they are the strongest.
Calling more counters with behind DeCastro should be an idea as well. He is their best run-blocker and excellent at blocking on counters and misdirections.
The bottom line is this: everyone has to get better. From the coaching, to the offensive line and tight ends, to James Conner himself, everyone has to improve. It's not one person's fault the offense is sputtering, but everyone has to put in extra work to improve. After an 0-3 start, something's got to give.
