STRENGTHS
Connor reminds me of former Steelers RB Jerome (The Bus) Bettis. He has quick feet, along with good size and strength to break tackles and gain yardage in chunks. He is quick and for his size shows excellent overall speed. Connor is an excellent blocker in open space because of his lateral agility. He runs good routes because of his quickness off the line of scrimmage. Connor has the athletic talent to play more than one position and because of his hand/eye coordination and ability to adjust to the ball in the air, there is no reason for him not to be on the field for all three downs in any style of offense. Right now, most everyone including Connor thinks that he is just a fullback, I’m the only one who believes that he can become a feature back because of his overall athletic talent. Connor is a sleeper hiding in plain sight.
CONCERNS
If Connor is selected by a team with a running back coach who sees in him what I see, then I will be right. If teams just use him as a fullback and don’t include him in the offense then he will not have the impact I think he could have. To be a featured back he will have to be more patient going to the line and develop his vision. He is a between the tackles type of running back and not an east/west type of running back. He can run off tackle slants but basically, he needs to keep his shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage, very much like Derick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, and Jerome Bettis. My guess is, give him 20 touches and he will gain 100 yards along with 30 or 40 yards catching the ball and TD’s in the Red Zone. Nevertheless, it won’t happen if he is just used as a fullback and sits on the bench.
BOTTOM LINE 1.94
Now, let’s put this profile in perspective. It’s not likely Connor will be selected early in this draft. I’m also out on a limb suggesting he can be anything more than a FB who doesn’t see the field that much but…if Connor goes to the Senior Bowl and opens up some eyes with his play and overall talent then some team will see what I see and then who knows what will happen. I’m betting I’m right and if I’m a GM I’m targeting Connor because I believe he has unique talents and size to be a feature running back very much like Jerome Bettis, Derick Henry, and Jonathan Taylor. Once again this is why Rob and I started the 2-board system so watch to see what round he is most likely to be selected but remember I believe no matter what round he is selected that he truly has 1st round talent. Now it’s up to Connor to prove me wrong or right at the Senior Bowl workouts and move himself up on every team’s board.
