Fantasy Football: James Conner is a Must Own Player

With the regular season kicking off on Thursday night, most leagues have already had their draft. While most owners are in waiting mode, the savvy owners are already looking to the pool of free agents to see if there is anyone worth picking up. With Le’Veon Bell still a no-show, James Conner has just become one of the hottest names in fantasy football. Already one of the top handcuffs, he has the growing potential to be so much more. Thanks for reading, Fantasy Football: James Conner is a Must Own Player! Without further ado, here are three reasons the Steelers running back is a must own player!

When will Le’Veon Bell show up?

If anyone claims to definitively know the answer to this question, they are lying. When a recent report stated that Bell was set to return to the Steelers on Labor Day, Bell quickly shot that down. It’s currently Labor Day and the newest reports say that there has been no sign of Bell at the Steelers facilities. While it still seems unlikely that Bell would be willing to extend his hold out into the regular season, it wouldn’t be unheard of. Until Bell returns to the team, James Conner is the defacto starting running back and needs to be owned in every league.

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Le’Veon Bell’s injury risk.

If you read my article about Le’Veon Bell, you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of the Steelers running back in 2018. Regardless of his contract situation, I view Bell as a prime candidate to bust this year. There is a statistical trend that backs this opinion up. Six of the last seven players to lead the league in touches, failed to play more than eight games the following year. Bell has dealt with injuries before, and is coming off a season in which he led the league with a whopping 406 touches. Between Bell’s contract situation and injury risk, there is a high probability that James Conner will get a chance to showcase his skills at some point in 2018.

The probability of high volume.

Not all running back handcuffs are created equal. Sometimes when a player goes down, a team elects to use a committee to try to replace their production. Pittsburgh isn’t one of those teams. Last year, when the Steelers rested their starters in week 17, they fed Stevan Ridley with 17 carries, which he turned into 80 yards and a touchdown. Fitzgerald Toussaint finished second on the team with only 5 carries. Now rewind back to 2016 when Le’Veon Bell missed the first 3 games due to a suspension. Look at the numbers Deangelo Williams put up in Bell’s absence.

• Week 1 – 26 carries, 143 yards, 2 touchdowns and 6 catches, 28 receiving yards
• Week 2 – 32 carries, 94 yards and 4 catches, 38 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
• Week 3 – 8 carries, 21 yards and 4 catches for 21 yards (No other RB had more than 1 carry)

Even though Todd Haley is no longer the offensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin is still the head coach. If Bell’s hold out extends into the regular season or if he misses time due to injury, James Conner is going to be a workhorse in an offense designed to overload the running back with touches. That’s a guy you’re going to want on your fantasy football team.

If you are a Le’Veon Bell owner, there isn’t a more important player for you to own than James Conner. If you aren’t a Le’Veon Bell owner, at the very least, you could scoop up Conner and use him as a valuable trade chip. No matter the case, there is no excuse for a potential workhorse running back who plays in a high-powered offense to be sitting on the waiver wire. Grab him while he’s still available! Thanks for reading, Fantasy Football: James Conner is a Must Own Player!