No. 1: Get James Conner Going Early and Often

Outside of Steelers fans and pundits, few likely were familiar with the name James Conner until the past few weeks as Le’Veon Bell’s holdout raised bigger question marks.

Yet Conner is slated to be the team’s starter on Sunday, and the 2017 third-round pick will have a chance to solidify a key role in Pittsburgh’s offense right out of the gate.

Conner saw limited action his rookie season, appearing in 14 games with 32 rush attempts for 144 yards. He did average 4.5 yards per carry, though, so those few chances appear to indicate good things for the Steelers offense.

But it’s still a notable downgrade. According to Pro Football Focus last year, Conner averaged 2.19 yards after first contact, where Bell averaged 2.55. The 6-foot-2, 233-pound Conner has a similar build to Bell, although the second-year pro’s vision is certainly not at the same level of the guy he’s replacing.

Hence a possible reason behind the numbers after contact.

While the Browns offense might have plenty of question marks this season, their defense might wind up being somewhat watchable in 2018. Per PFF, this unit enters 2018 ranked No. 12 out of all run defenses, meaning Conner isn’t going to have an easy task of moving the ball on the ground.

And with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger posting a career passer rating around 85.0 on 3rd-and-long plays, one can see how Conner getting close to the sticks on first and second downs will be essential.