(Note: This is a follow up article to the topic of discussion we all have been having about James Conner playing on defense)

  In a separate post’s comment section  our long-time commenter Wbb and I have been bandying back and forth about the coaching staff’s experiment of planning to play SO James Conner at Defensive End at certain times this season.   This has been an interesting and contested topic of conversation since the 2014 Spring Practices when the move was semi-formalized and talked about publicly.  We PITT fans will remember that Conner played a few downs on defense during the Bowling Green bowl game where he got in but had no tackles.  Let’s look at where the staff stands on that now and what we might see in the future.

In a nutshell the staff’s intent of having Conner play DE was to insert him on defense during situation specific needs, mostly 3^rd down passing plays, where he could use his size (6’2″ & 250 lbs), his speed (4.4) and his strength to rush the QB.  This isn’t that farfetched as Conner played DE very well while at McDowell High School in Erie, PA.  Supposedly he was recruited by PITT to play that DE position, although I don’t believe that.  Just because a recruiting site labels a player “DE” doesn’t mean that’s what he is.

The fact that Conner ran for 1,680 yards and 21 touchdowns on 155 carries, an impressive 10.8 yards per carry, his senior year at McDowell was the factor in Chryst’s decision to place Connor at RB as soon as Conner set foot on campus and to keep him there in the backfield all of last season.   Personally, I think Conner was always targeted to be Chryst’s ‘Big Back’, like those he had at Wisconsin, all along.

So, the 2014 spring camp starts and the “Connor Conundrum”, the issue of why, how and when Conner will play on defense, begins to take a life of its own. An interesting quote from that linked article has to do with a conversation after a workout at the Southside facility between Steelers’ LB Lawrence Timmons and Conner:

“There’s also a school of thought that he would be better on defense than on offense. That’s what Timmons thinks, anyway.  “He told me (last year) I should be playing defense,” Conner told the Tribune-Review. “I kind of laughed it off, but it definitely stuck with me. I put heavy thought to that.”  (Note: hope he listens to his actual coaches more than the Steeler guys)

Anyway, the local and national media jumped on the interesting story of a PITT player seeing the field on both offense and defense in the same game and same season.  From there the always mega-involved PITT fans took things to new heights in speculation, as we are wont to do.

Soon it wasn’t enough for the fans or some media reporters that Conner would play DE in specific spots but now their thoughts were “Hell, if we are going to do it let’s go all the way and move him full time”.  Yes, this was a rampant discussion on the message boards and blogs as well as some local articles. There were a few reasons for this idea come about.

First was that PITT had just recruited a four star running back out of Notre Dame’s backyard in Chris James.  James was a real ‘get’ as the 22^nd nationally rated RB and was recruited by 11 other FBS schools, yet chose to attend PITT. All of a sudden, and with visions of Tony Dorsett, LeSean McCoy and Dion Lewis’ freshman years of RB superstardom flashing in their heads, some media and fans wanted the full time move because James was, by golly, going to burst onto the scene like a supernova which would allow Conner the switch to defense they assumed the staff wanted to happen.

Secondly, going into the camp and the season we really did looked barren at DE. rsSR Dave Durham wasn’t expected to do much based on his average play in 2013, rsJR Ejuan Price was lost for the season before fall camp started, SO Shakir Soto had some experience but was really untested as a starter and our two-deep kids, FR Rori Blair and rsFR Luke MacLean had no playing experience at the college level at all.  All the above was a valid concern and at the time was an unanswered question mark as to how well the DE unit would produce.

That was the setup moving into the opening game of the 2014 season when PITT hosted Delaware at Heinz Field.  Everyone kept looking to see if Conner was in on defense on 3^rd down plays and it didn’t happen. Looking back at how the game unfolded, or exploded in PITT’s 62-0 favor as it were, there was never a time that either Conner was needed or that the staff wanted to see him at DE.  Conner played one half at RB and sat out the second half all together.  Totally understandable.

The following game against a much more competitive FBS and ACC opponent Boston College was expected to be much closer and to have situations where Conner’s skills would be needed on defense for 3^rd down plays.  As the game progressed there were multiple opportunities for the staff to use Conner as advertised.  In the first half alone, when the game was still a close fought battle,  this is what we saw when BC was in possession of the ball:

In the first half of the game with the score:

7-3   PITT;      3^rd & 3, 3^rd & 6 and 3^rd & 10 – No Conner.

10-7 PITT;      3^rd & 2, and 3rd & 7 – No Conner.

13-7 PITT;      3^rd & 7, 3^rd and 12 and 3^rd & 17 – No Conner.

See a trend here?  Correct me if I’m wrong but what better time would there be for Conner to play “…DE, when we need him…” if it isn’t in a close game against an ACC opponent on their home turf?  Really Paul?  Hey, Coach Palumbo – were they pulling your chain or what?

How are 3^rd & 10 with only a four point lead or 3^rd & 12 with only a six point lead not the appropriate time?   Of course it is with one exception and that is if your current four DEs are playing so well the move isn’t necessary, just as Chryst explained was the case after the game.

Which leads me to believe that this whole issue doesn’t actually revolve around how skillful Conner is on both sides of the ball but really only on how well our DE two deep lids are producing  playing (two out of our five sacks so far). I have no real problem with that except for the same considerations I have with Boyd returning punts unless it is absolutely necessary.

If it were up to me as his RB coach I’d sit down Conner this evening and tell him that the odds are against his having to play both ways and If the opportunity presents itself at a later time we’ll revisit the option, but right now it’s his job to concentrate on the job he gets paid to do and that is run the ball like a crazed bull.

Tomorrow’s game will be interesting to watch for a number of reasons but if Conner is forced to play because we need him then we are in a world of hurt.  But who knows – he may get some PT on defense just to whet his appetite.

On a completely different note – watch this video.  It is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.