James Conner gives the Cardinals a fantastic backfield committee

James Conner has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, replacing Kenyan Drake and forming a strong committee behind Kyler Murray.

When the Arizona Cardinals acquired Kenyan Drake, head coach Kliff Kingsbury had to think that he’d found the perfect player for his offense with a dual-threat player out of the backfield. Unfortunately, 2020 told a different story as Drake was miles less effective than in the previous season, largely getting out-performed by Chase Edmonds. Now they’ll look for James Conner to come in and not one-for-one replace Drake but to fill a role.

FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer first reported that Conner would be signing a one-year deal with the Cardinals on Tuesday. Conner spent his first four NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who elected not to retain him as he hit the open market for the first time in his career. However, that may have had more to do with their salary cap situation than the running back himself.

Coming to Arizona, Conner will reunite with running backs coach James Saxon, who coached the Pitt Panthers product early in his career, including his best season in 2018. In 13 games that season, the back had 215 carries for 973 yards and 12 touchdowns while also catching 55 passes for 497 yards and an additional score.

Given how Kingsbury’s offense utilizes running backs, Conner is a natural fit with his ability to run and catch passes out of the backfield. More importantly, he won’t have to shoulder the entire load as he pairs with Edmonds to form a committee in the backfield.

With James Conner and even before, there should be no excuses for the Cardinals in 2021.

Signing Conner in itself isn’t the biggest needle-mover for the Cardinals as they go into next season. However, it’s part of an aggressive offseason in which the franchise is clearly trying to take a massive step forward.

Between signing J.J. Watt following his release in Houston, taking a swing on rejuvenating A.J. Green’s career, trading for Rodney Hudson and now adding Conner, Arizona is identifying weak areas on the roster and not just addressing them but doing so with win-now types of moves.

With Conner now in the fold, though, Kingsbury and — to a lesser extent — Kyler Murray can’t afford any more excuses. This is a roster constructed to compete for a playoff spot right now and not making it to the postseason would bring about serious examination of the cornerstones of the franchise, the head coach in particular.