National Football League

Can James Conner be Marshawn Lynch for Cardinals’ offense?

Updated Aug. 16, 2022 6:43 p.m. ET

By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFC West Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. — James Conner says it's not about getting more carries this season for the Arizona Cardinals.

"It's touches," the bruising running back said. "I feel like I might be able to do some good damage in the passing game this season, especially with the weapons we have on the outside. And I trust my hands. I work on it. So through the air or on the ground, I feel like I can get it done."

Last season, Conner totaled 752 rushing yards on 202 carries, including a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns. The Pittsburgh product added 37 receptions for 375 receiving yards and three TDs. Conner believes he can increase his receiving production in Arizona's dynamic passing game.

"I'm shooting for more," he said when asked if he will replicate his touchdown production from 2021. "I just want to win ballgames and do everything that I can. But it's absolutely realistic. I trained like no other this year. I feel like I'm in dog shape, so I'm ready to roll."

Conner split time with Chase Edmonds last year and signed a three-year, $21 million extension in the offseason while Edmonds went to the Miami Dolphins in free agency. Edmonds had 903 scrimmage yards and two total touchdowns in 2021 for the Cardinals.

Third-year pro scatback Eno Benjamin, free-agent addition Darrel Williams and rookie Keaontay Ingram will all compete to earn roles as complementary backs. But with Edmonds gone, Conner is expected to work as the lead back, taking some pressure off of Kyler Murray to carry the offense.

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Conner said all the work he did during the offseason was to prepare for an expanded role. That work was both physical and mental, including daily meditation.

"It's mainly just being thankful for what the good Lord has done for me, how far he's brought me, what he's brought me through and the doors he's opened for me," Conner said.

The 27-year-old back has been through a lot, including Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma during his college career. It's fair to question if he can carry the load of a bell-cow back, considering that he has never played a full season in his five-year NFL career.

Last season, Conner missed two games due to a heel injury and then played through a rib injury suffered in Arizona's final regular-season game against the Seattle Seahawks. He totaled just 15 snaps in a 34-11 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

The primary goal this season is for Conner to play all 17 games.

"We want to be smart with James, make sure he's healthy," Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "He's a guy who wants to practice all the time, goes as hard as he can on every rep."

Kingsbury added that Arizona's offense was at its best when Conner and Edmonds were keeping each other fresh by splitting the load. The coach will be looking for other backs to step up and replace what the Cardinals got from Edmonds last year.

"You almost have to save him from himself a little bit," Kingsbury said of Conner. "He's that valuable. You saw when he was on the field the plays he made in the passing game. He's obviously a tough runner. But we want to be smart with him. It's a long season."

Conner, for his part, sounds like he's looking to carry the load. "When it's game time, and they count, I feel like if I'm in a groove, they're going to let me go because winning is the only thing that matters," he said.

Can Conner provide an impact like Marshawn Lynch did with the Seahawks? Lynch rushed for a league-high 4,153 yards and 36 total touchdowns from 2012 to 2014 — a stint that included Seattle's back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in the 2013 and '14 seasons.

Much like Murray now, the Seahawks had a young, mobile quarterback running their offense and used Lynch as the engine teams had to game plan for each week. The mercurial Lynch was the angry runner and tone-setter for the Seahawks.

At 6-foot-1 and 233 pounds, the confident Conner casts that kind of imposing presence.

"When you have a power back like that, it's very intimidating," Raiders DE Chandler Jones told the NFL Network about his former teammate, who was recently voted No. 80 on the league's top 100 players list. "Even for a defensive end like me, you don't want to tackle that. I don't want to tackle James Conner."

Along with his physical presence, Conner earns respect from his teammates for his inspirational fight in overcoming cancer, which he wrote about in a book, "Fear is a Choice."

With Arizona hosting the Super Bowl this year, Conner hopes the Cardinals can make it to the title game, just like the Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did in their home stadiums the past two Super Bowls.

"It's been on my mind," Conner said. "We want to be the team in here playing in it. I don't want to think of anyone else using our locker room, getting ready for this game. That's our locker room. So it means everything for us. And that's what we want to do this year."

Conner's performance and ability to stay healthy will go a long way in determining whether the Cardinals reach that goal.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.