James Conner always felt destined to be drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, he was, in 2017, even if there was some hand-wringing over how ‘early’ he was drafted, in the compensatory stages of the third round.
A local-area native, a Steelers fan, a Pitt alum, a cancer survivor, all of the strings of his history wove itself into a sort of destined mythology, and that reached its current zenith during the 2018 season, when he got to take over the running back position for the no-show Le’Veon Bell, scoring 13 touchdowns that year and being named outright to the Pro Bowl.