Steelers News: Figuring out what the Steelers should do with James Conner isn’t easy

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take at how the Steelers have a tough decision with how to handle running back James Conner in 2020.

Let’s get to the news:

• James Conner is an easy player to root for, but the Steelers have a tough decision to make with Conner in 2020, and beyond.

Tim Benz: The complicated case of Steelers RB James Conner

By: Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Mike Tomlin and his dealings with the media, if he doesn’t want to answer a question directly, he won’t.

He’ll no comment. He’ll respond but not really answer. He’ll talk around an inquiry. He’ll say a lot without saying anything.

If there is a bubbling storyline that Tomlin doesn’t like, he won’t give it legs by directly answering a question.

That’s why one direct answer at his season-ending press conference on New Year’s Eve really caught my attention.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach was asked how he could evaluate James Conner’s season given how often the running back was hurt this year, he did nothing to tamp down the growing frustration within the fan base about Conner’s frequent injuries.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Should the Ravens have played their starters vs. the Steelers in Week 17?

Ravens’ loss dusts off Week 17 rest-or-rust debate

By: Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk

The question of whether a team with nothing for which to play should play to win in Week 17 has received another data point for when it inevitably arises again.

The Ravens, who secured the No. 1 seed with a Week 16 win over the Browns, rested key starters for the regular-season finale. As a result, said key starters went 20 days between games.

So were the Ravens rusty on Saturday night?

“I don’t know,” coach John Harbaugh said after the 28-12 loss. “I don’t have the answer. It’s unanswerable. I thought our guys practiced really hard, did the best they could. But we didn’t play a sharp football game, for sure. What you attribute that to, I guess you can theorize.”

Embedded in that answer is the possibility that Harbaugh, the PFT coach of the year, made a coaching error by not keeping his guys fresh. Of course, if Harbaugh had played the likes of Lamar Jackson in a meaningless game against the Steelers and if the likes of Jackson had gotten injured by a hard-hitting arch-rival that entered the game with a playoff berth still a possibility, Harbaugh would have been relentlessly criticized.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• The 2020 NFL Draft order is practically set...

Spots 1-28 now set for 2020 NFL Draft

By: Darin Gantt, ProFootballTalk

Yesterday was a crushing loss for the Texans, but at least they can comfort themselves with their future, and how they can use the 26th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to make a good team better.

Oh wait, they already traded that one to the Dolphins. Sorry guys, that was probably too soon.

With the results of the weekend’s games, spots 25-28 are now filled into the order for the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Vikings will pick 25th, the Dolphins will follow with the Texans’ pick, the Seahawks will pick 27th, and the Ravens 28th.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

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