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James Conner Fantasy Overview

James Conner

James Conner
Player Profile
RB ARI

Height

6'1"

Weight

233 lbs.

Experience

8 yrs.

Bye

11

Birthday

May 05, 1995

Age

29.8

College

Pittsburgh

NFL Draft Pick

2017 - Rd 3, Pk 105

Fantasy Rankings

Weekly
BYE -
Season
RB {{playerPageAppVar.projectionForRestOfSeason && playerPageAppVar.projectionForRestOfSeason.rank[selectedScoringConfig.fantasyPtsKey] ? playerPageAppVar.projectionForRestOfSeason.rank[selectedScoringConfig.fantasyPtsKey].rank : "-"}}
Dynasty
RB98

2025 Projections

Rush Yds

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Rush TDs

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Rec

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Rec Yds

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Rec TDs

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Fantasy Pts

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DS 3D Projection

Our Thoughts

James Conner's Preseason Player Analysis

Bottom Line

Conner was awesome last year. He finished seventh among RBs in PPR points per game while ranking near the top of the league in most rushing efficiency metrics.

There are concerns heading into 2024. Conner remains one of the bigger injury risks in fantasy football, turned 29 in May, and faces new competition from rookie RB Trey Benson.

But that’s all more than baked into his low-end RB2/high-end RB3 ADP. Conner is capable of smashing that price tag.

What We Learned Last Year

  • Conner suffered a knee injury in Week 5 and missed the next four games.
  • His scoring averages in 12 healthy games ranked:
    • 7th among RBs in PPR points
    • 5th in half-PPR points
    • 5th in non-PPR points
  • Conner finished as a top-24 PPR RB in eight of his 12 outings. He finished top-12 six times, including five straight to close the season.
  • No RB averaged more PPR points per game than Conner from Week 13 on.
  • Conner’s 80.0 rushing yards per game were a career high and ranked fourth league-wide behind only Kyren Williams, Christian McCaffrey, and Nick Chubb.
  • Among 49 RBs with 90+ carries last season, Conner ranked:
    • 6th in yards per carry
    • 4th in NFL Next Gen Stats’ Rush Yards Over Expected Per Attempt
    • 12th in yards after contact per attempt
    • 2nd in missed tackles forced per attempt
    • 5th in Pro Football Focus rushing grade
  • Conner averaged just 2.1 catches and 12.7 receiving yards per game – both his lowest marks since his 2017 rookie season.
  • He ran a route on 43% of Cardinals pass plays in his 13 games. That was well down from his 58% route rate in 2022 but up slightly from his 41% route rate in 2021.
  • Conner’s target shares in games played over the last three years:
    • 2021 - 7.5%
    • 2022 - 11.1%
    • 2023 - 7.8%
  • His 7.8% target share last year ranked 43rd among RBs.
  • Conner ranked 32nd among 43 qualifying RBs in yards per route run, although he ranked 14th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade.
  • Conner ranked ninth among RBs in PPR points per game in both 2021 and 2022.
  • He ranks 11th among RBs in PPR points per game across the last three seasons.

What to Expect in 2024

  • The biggest concern with Conner is durability.
    • He’s never played a full season, missing 24 total games over the last seven years.
    • Our Injury Predictor gives Conner an 88.4% chance of injury and 2.8 projected games missed this season. Those are the fifth- and 12th-highest marks among RBs.
  • Conner turned 29 in May.
    • Our aging-curve data says to expect just 70-80% of peak production from a 29-year-old RB. That’s down from 80-90% at age-28.
  • The Cardinals spent the 66th overall pick of this spring’s draft on RB Trey Benson. He totaled just 316 carries over the past two years at Florida State but averaged 6.1 yards per attempt with 23 TDs. The 6’0, 216-pounder ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash and earned a 9.73 Relative Athletic Score at the Combine.
  • OC Drew Petzing returns for his second season with the Cardinals. The run game was productive under Petzing last year, ranking fourth in rushing yards and ninth in rushing TDs. Some of that came from QB Kyler Murray, but Cardinals RBs combined for the 12th most rushing yards on 4.8 yards per carry.
  • The 2023 Cardinals ranked:
    • 26th in Pro Football Focus run-blocking grades
    • 16th in adjusted line yards
    • 6th in ESPN’s run-block win rate
  • OT Paris Johnson, C Hjalte Froholdt, and G Will Hernandez return as projected starters. Johnson played RT last year but is expected to move to LT this season. He ranked 55th among 70 qualifying OTs in Pro Football Focus’ 2023 run-blocking grades but is a candidate to take a step forward this year after going sixth overall in last year’s draft.
  • The Cardinals signed OT Jonah Williams to a two-year, $30 million deal. He ranked 57th in PFF pass-blocking grades last season.
  • Free-agent signee Evan Brown is expected to start at the other guard spot. He’s been an average run blocker throughout his career.
  • Arizona’s offense could be significantly better this year with a healthy QB Kyler Murray and the addition of rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Advanced Stats

Forty Yard Dash

4.65

Forty Yard Dash Rank

30%

Three Cone Drill

7.41

Agility Score

11.72

Agility Score Rank

19%

Burst Score

105.80

Burst Score Rank

6%

Spar Qx

105.00

Spar Qx Rank

34%

Speed Score

99.70

Speed Score Rank

65%

VIEW MORE ADVANCED STATS

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Cardinals activating James Conner ahead of Falcons matchup

Cardinals activating James Conner ahead of Falcons matchup

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the Cardinals are activating RB James Conner from IR and will play him Sunday against the Falcons. We've been assuming all week this would be the case. We'll watch for any early Sunday reports about Conner's expected playing time and/or touch count. For now, he sits low in RB2 territory in our Week 10 RB rankings.

Cardinals RB James Conner (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Falcons. He was limited in practice all week after being designated to return from IR. HC Jonathan Gannon said Friday that Conner is “trending in the right direction” to play this weekend. We’ll look for further updates on Conner’s status – and how much work he might be in for in his first action since Week 5. RB Emari Demercado (toe) has been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

Cardinals RB James Conner (knee) was limited in Wednesday's practice. He's seemingly on track to return for this weekend's game vs. the Falcons, but we'll keep an eye on his status over the next few days. RB Emari Demercado (toe) remained sidelined on Wednesday after missing last weekend's game.

The Cardinals have officially designated RB James Conner to return from IR. That allows Conner to practice with the team this week. Arizona now has three weeks to decide whether to return him to the active roster. Signs have pointed to Conner returning to game action this week against the Falcons. We'll watch the RB's status throughout the week.

Schedule

Week Team SOS Fantasy

1

BUF

14.6%

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2

@ LAR

-10.3%

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3

@ DET

-14.3%

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4

@ WAS

1.6%

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5

SF

10.5%

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6

GB

-1.4%

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7

@ LAC

-11.5%

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8

MIA

2.2%

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9

@ CHI

10%

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10

@ NYJ

-7.8%

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11

12

SEA

-2.6%

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13

MIN

-15.6%

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14

@ SEA

-2.6%

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15

@ NE

11.1%

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16

CAR

39.9%

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17

LAR

-10.3%

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18

@ SF

10.5%

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