Review: How bright is the Steelers’ future at running back with James Conner?

It wasn’t a good week for the Pittsburgh Steelers to start the year.

After a week of drama surrounding the ongoing holdout of Le’Veon Bell — including fiery criticism of the running back from a few Steelers players — Pittsburgh became the first team in nearly two years not to beat the Cleveland Browns. Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions and fumbled twice, and the Steelers narrowly escaped Cleveland with a 21-21 tie.

If there’s a bright side to a disappointing start to the season, it’s that James Conner filled the large shoes of Bell admirably.

While the football world waits for Bell to return, the Steelers are turning to their 2017 third-round pick to handle the rushing duties. Presumably, it should be a significant downgrade for the Pittsburgh offense, which is without a two-time All-Pro running back who is arguably the best all-purpose machine in the NFL.

But Conner finished his debut as a starter with a Bell-esque stat line. He rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns on 31 attempts and caught five passes for 57 yards. The 192 yards from scrimmage for Conner tied the most Bell had in any game during a 2017 campaign that ended with first-team All-Pro accolades.

Shortly after the game, Bell sent a cryptic tweet that made it clear he tuned in for the Steelers’ opener:

Did Bell watch a passing of the torch?

The pressure of the moment wasn’t too much for Conner on Sunday. He played with patience and maturity against a good Browns defensive front. He hit holes with a head of steam when they were there, which was especially evident on his second touchdown of the day when he darted through a small seam and found the end zone 22 yards later.

It wasn’t all good for Conner, though, and that’s why he doesn’t get a higher grade here. His fumble late in the game set up the Browns on the doorstep for their first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns that erased a 21-7 lead for the Steelers.

“It wasn’t enough to win,” Conner said of his day during a somber press conference after the game. “I had some good runs, but it wasn’t enough to win.”

It’s anyone’s guess if the presence of Bell would’ve been enough to help the Steelers avoid the six-turnover day. But he’s fumbled a total of eight times in the 1,541 touches he’s recorded over the course of his NFL career. It seems unlikely that he would’ve added to Pittsburgh’s turnover total.

Bell was also targeted as a receiver 106 times in 2017, second only to Antonio Brown on the team. Would Roethlisberger have thrown four interceptions if he had his favorite safety valve at running back?

It was a good day for Conner, but it’s hard to argue that Bell doesn’t still make the Steelers a much better team when he’s on the field.

But regardless of how Bell’s 2018 season goes when inevitably returns, he’ll almost definitely be leaving when free agency opens in March.

Conner is the future for the Steelers and his Week 1 performance showed hand-wringing about the eventual departure of Bell may be misplaced. The Steelers’ offense appears to have a capable young replacement.

He can run with power, take a large workload, contribute as a pass catcher out of the backfield, and he’s improving as a pass blocker. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Conner seems to be the type of player who can quickly unify a locker room that is split on how to handle the Bell situation.

When Conner scored his first touchdown of the day, Bell’s most vocal critics along the offensive line were excited to celebrate the young running back getting into the end zone.

Conner is perfect for Pittsburgh, and even if he never fully steps out of Bell’s large shadow, the Steelers are in good hands.

The best part about Conner looking like a capable starter is that he’s doing it on a contract that counts $754,572 against the Steelers’ salary cap in 2018.

Bell turned down a five-year, $70 million contract from the Steelers over the summer, which made sense considering it only included $10 million in guaranteed money. While Bell has a reason to gripe about the Steelers using the franchise tag to twice keep him from negotiating his worth on the free agency market, Pittsburgh looks like it’ll come away the winner here.

The difference between the two players doesn’t seem nearly stark enough to warrant paying Bell more than 20 times as much as Conner.

Conner’s contract will run out after the 2020 season, so the Steelers will be in good financial shape at running back after Bell leaves. And Sunday showed they’re not doomed on the football field either.