All of the ones that was hoping Bell did not come back.

[squidkid]

big difference
connor had a year in the league, samuels is a rookie
connor had huge college stats and proved he could carry the load, samuels college career did not
even with the small sample size, connors ypc was much higher in his rookie year compared to samuels

[Ernie]

When our bellcow back (Bell) wasn't available to us at the start of this season, I suggested that instead of making his backup (Conner) our new bellcow back, I thought we should use Conner in a RB by committee situation with Conner as the early down and goalline back, and replacing him in passing situations on 3rd downs with a more established receiving RB.

You interpreted this approach as me hating on Conner, simply because I was not comfortable handing him the bellcow RB role from day one.

Now, with our bellcow back (Conner) unavailable to us at the start of the the final month of the season, you are suggesting that instead of making Conner's backup our new bellcow back, you think we should use Ridley and Samuels in a RB by committee situation with Ridley as the early down and goalline back, and replacing him on 3rd downs with a receiving RB like Samuels.

Should we now interpret this perspective as you hating both Ridley and Samuels, because you don't think either one is ready to be our full time bellcow back to replace Conner?

In making your point, you also admit to missing the boat on Conner at the beginning of the season (by suggesting that he was best suited as an early down, short yardage guy)... and replacing him with better "Receiving type" RBs on passing downs. Conner has been a bigtime weapon as a receiver... and is at or near the top of the league in terms of 20+ yard runs. Conner is a very solid "Every down RB" in this league...and there's no doubt he caught most members of this board by surprise.
BTW...I am a proponent of a of RB by committee...

[Steel Maniac]

In making your point, you also admit to missing the boat on Conner at the beginning of the season (by suggesting that he was best suited as an early down, short yardage guy)... and replacing him with better "Receiving type" RBs on passing downs. Conner has been a bigtime weapon as a receiver... and is at or near the top of the league in terms of 20+ yard runs. Conner is a very solid "Every down RB" in this league...and there's no doubt he caught most members of this board by surprise.
BTW...I am a proponent of a of RB by committee...

Yes he did!! I’m so glad someone else remembers how Ruth put Conners down and how firmly Ruth was in the Bell camp.

[RuthlessBurgher]

In making your point, you also admit to missing the boat on Conner at the beginning of the season (by suggesting that he was best suited as an early down, short yardage guy)... and replacing him with better "Receiving type" RBs on passing downs. Conner has been a bigtime weapon as a receiver... and is at or near the top of the league in terms of 20+ yard runs. Conner is a very solid "Every down RB" in this league...and there's no doubt he caught most members of this board by surprise.
BTW...I am a proponent of a of RB by committee...

I absolutely admit that...I've never denied it. Conner is indeed an excellent pass catcher out of the backfield and a solid blocker to boot. The thing was, I saw little to no evidence of his pass catching or blitz pickup abilities during his rookie year, so I was unsure about his abilities in those areas during this last offseason. But this year, he has been a tremendous revelation in all facets. I guess I'm a "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of guy. Last year, based on what I saw from Conner on the field as a rookie, I believed he would be good running the ball, but I did not see enough of his pass catching and pass blocking abilities to be confident in those abilities coming into year two. This year, I have now seen that Conner is indeed a well-rounded offensive weapon out of the backfield in terms of running, catching, and blocking.

Maniac keeps trying to paint as some kind of Conner hater, but I just needed to see it for myself that he could handle all aspects of being a full-time bellcow back as opposed to just a part-time committee back. I did not see evidence of all those capabilities back then, but I surely see them now. I completely admit that 100%.

I think some folks now just assume that if you appreciated what Bell was able to do on the field for us, that means that must mean that you are a Conner hater in this new ridiculous "everything is us vs. them" world. Everything is not that black and white. I can appreciate what Bell offers without hating Conner, and I can appreciate what Conner offers without hating Bell. It doesn't have to be just one or the other.

[RuthlessBurgher]

James Conner still has time to finish storybook season

8:00 AM ET

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers players knew little about James Conner's sprained ankle other than he was rehabbing vigorously somewhere inside the team facility Wednesday. Conner wasn't visible during practice or the open locker room, offering up nothing more than prayer and half-smile emojis on twitter.

The one certainty is Conner will not play Sunday at Oakland, where Pittsburgh has lost three straight.

But Conner's teammates want to see the running back finish the job as early as Week 15 in a hotly anticipated clash with the New England Patriots. They've appreciated the way Conner navigated the spotlight in Le'Veon Bell's absence on the way to 909 rushing yards (fifth in the NFL) and 12 rushing touchdowns (tied for second).

As of midweek, Conner was fifth in overall Pro Bowl voting.

"Who wouldn’t love this story? Who wouldn’t want him to succeed?" guard Ramon Foster said.

Foster was glad the offense could focus on Conner once it became clear Bell would not report by the Week 11 deadline. Since then, though, Conner, the AFC Offensive Player of the Month in October, has dealt with his share of adversity on the field. He dropped two key late-game passes in Jacksonville, followed by a fumble in a loss to Denver that left him visibly frustrated in the postgame locker room.

The miscues haven't affected the Steelers' faith in Conner, who teammate Ben Roethlisberger says hasn't shown any signs of slowing down after 253 touches.

"He stayed quiet, he let his play speak for itself," Foster said. "More than anything, it just showed his confidence is everything he felt that he was. He showed what kind of player he was. It was like, 'Oh, you don’t believe me? I’m going to do it again.' You saw it in his face, in his actions."

At least for this week, Conner's running back mates plan to hold him down. Rookie Jaylen Samuels and eight-year veteran Stevan Ridley are expected to share carries, with Samuels getting the start.

"Three-0 is down, so everybody has to do their part so we can carry this load," Ridley said.

The Steelers pass the ball 67.31 percent of the time, tops in the NFL, which means tailbacks must be ready to hit the hole and catch passes.

Conner plays that versatile role well, ripping off nine rushes of 20-plus yards (tied for fourth in the league) along with 52 receptions. He has improved as a pass-blocker. The Steelers will need it for back-to-back matchups with the Patriots and New Orleans Saints in an effort to clinch a home playoff game.

Adequately replacing Bell was never the objective for Pittsburgh. Bell is arguably the game's best running back. More pointedly, Pittsburgh wanted to see whether Conner could become the feature back of their future, and that job is nearly complete.

A few more big-performance reminders might help, but left tackle Alejandro Villanueva never judged Conner by his stats.

"For players, it’s always [about] to be able to give 100 percent in what we do and try to fight for our teammates -- and that’s what he’s done," Villanueva said.

http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/29560/james-conner-still-has-time-to-finish-storybook-season