The Arizona Cardinals are beginning to collect recognition for some of the individual seasons put forward in 2024.
Every year, Pro Football Focus releases a thorough ranking of the top 101 (yes, 101, that isn’t a typo) players in the NFL, based on the previous season. This year, RB James Conner was the first Cardinal to be honored on said list, coming in at #81 overall.
PFF explained their placement of Conner as follows:
“Conner followed up his placement on this list last season with a career year in 2024. The Cardinals back earned the highest rushing grade of his career (90.6), as he notched his second-consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. That production is largely a credit to Conner’s innate ability to shed would-be tacklers (68) and break off explosive runs (34 of 10 or more yards) — both of which ranked in the top five among backs in 2025.”
Conner, 29, put forward one of his best career seasons in 2024, rushing for 1,094 yards and eight touchdowns, while picking up another 414 yards and a score through the air.
All of this production came despite missing what was effectively nearly two and a half games down the stretch of the season.
Conner managed 4.6 yards per attempt, and a career-high 2.4 yards per attempt after contact. By all means, he was a bruising, powerful back that remained the driving force of Arizona’s offense for a second straight year.
That production rightfully earned Conner a payday, as he inked a two-year, $19 million extension to stay in Arizona through his age-31 season.
While other backs might decline with age, Conner has shown no signs of slowing, and earned Cardinals On SI’s Offensive Player of the Year Award for another heroic season.
Though perhaps flying under the radar of the NFL’s more focused-on backs, there’s an argument to be made that not many others were nearly as impactful and important to their offense than Conner was, and has been for most of his tenure in the desert.
Regardless of Arizona’s struggles throwing the ball, fans can always count on Conner to ensure the run game is at its peak, and deservedly lands on this list of the NFL’s best.
