Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner hits season milestone

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the 2024 season.

He accomplished the feat in the first quarter of Week 16’s road test against the Carolina Panthers. Conner needed just 27 yards to reach the milestone today and did so on a massive 40 yard rush.

With the rush, Conner joins Ottis Anderson and Edgerring James as the only players in franchise history to have 1,000+ rushing yards in consecutive seasons.

Conner has arguably been the team’s top player the last two seasons under head coach Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. In a run-first offense that prioritizes heavy tight end sets and establishing the ground attack, Conner has thrived.

His efforts were rewarded with a two-year, $19 million extension to stay in the desert.

Other milestones within reach for Conner entering Week 16:

“You know we have different variations in the run game and he can really do it all. He can run wide zone, he can run inside zone, he can run gaps and he can do it from the gun, from underneath, from gun. He has a skill set that qualifies (us) to be able to call those certain runs,” Gannon said earlier on Conner.

“All the different ones. He doesn’t do any of that bad stuff. So obviously his running style. He’s a leading player. He hits it, he’s got good vision, he’s got good balance, he’s hard to bring down, he’s got juice. He does a good job.”

On a Cardinals team that has been up and down throughout the season, Conner has been one of the team’s best players.