James Conner surprised the NFL by leading the league's Week 1 rushers with 135 yards against the Browns, but how he did it shows a combination of confidence in himself and in his offensive line that wasn't evident in 2017.
Le'Veon Bell's brilliance rested in his ability to hit holes quickly while also being extremely decisive and making smart decisions about which gaps to attack. The Steelers have built a zone blocking system that benefited his unique skillset to choose between those gaps, but that wasn't something Conner looked ready to benefit from in his rookie season.
That was not the case in Cleveland.
The concept of zone blocking relies on the offensive line to attack spaces in front of them rather than specific players. It allows them to work together and maintain certain gaps instead of telling them to attack specific players, which generally leads to the running back having to go through a single designed gap.
But with the Steelers' zone, those gaps can multiply. That just didn't happen last year against the Browns in the season opener for both Conner and Bell. Much was made about Bell's lack of success, but you could also see Conner struggle to look confident behind zone blocking plays.
Watch how he approached the line last year too cautiously as he tried to decide which hole to attack. He started by thinking he should go outside, then inside and then outside again, never truly attacking any gap and getting swarmed by the Browns' front seven:
Trying to emulate Bell's style isn't easy and that's what it looked like Conner was struggling with at times last season. Either he wasn't sure which hole he was supposed to attack or he wasn't sure if the line would hold up where he wanted to go.
There's a thin line between the hesitation that gets you stuck like the above play and the patience that allows you to find the weakness in a defense like he did this year.
Watch how Conner attacked the defense here by starting his run to attack behind Marcus Gilbert and David DeCastro, but then runs an effective counter that bursts behind Roosevelt Nix five gaps down the line. Conner uses just two quick steps and then explodes across the line for a 10-yard gain. He felt the hole open up and got there:
The offensive line's work shouldn't be minimized either, because you can see Alejandro Villanueva wall off Myles Garrett around the edge and Maurkice Pouncey get to the second level to block just enough of Joe Schobert to prevent him from getting to Conner. This was also against an eight-man front, which means the Browns committed to the run and still couldn't stop it.
That's the kind of work that wasn't there early in 2017, and it's also the kind of work that gives a young running back confidence to run hard and trust his line will give him the space to capitalize.
That confidence allows Conner to make smarter decisions and trust his eyes and instincts. Watch how he attacks another zone run and sees two gaps on the weak side of the offense. Nix is right at the point of attack against Jamie Collins and his block allows Conner to bounce to B-gap. He hits it with a full head of steam and gains 17 yards against another eight-man front:
That's peak decision-making and hard running combined with consistent blocking from the Steelers' offensive front. It's what made Bell an All-Pro and what Conner needs to make a consistent part of his game. This is not saying that Conner's going to become Bell; this is showing his path to finding his own style.
But the Steelers don't only run zone schemes and Conner needs to be ready to switch between the styles of running. Fortunately, Conner made an entire collegiate career by running hard and following pulling guards tightly in his days at Pitt.
The Steelers' offense traditionally runs a lot of power runs, which implies that two lead blockers will cross the formation to plow the road for Conner to attack different holes. Conner's 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter was a perfect example of how comfortable he can be on those plays.
He doesn't hesitate for a second and as soon as he sees DeCastro cross the back of Pouncey, Conner bursts behind him and keeps his head up to dodge defensive backs, which allows him to run with high knees, dodge an arm tackle and finish the play with a touchdown:
Conner did a good job showing that confidence against the Browns, but making that a consistent part of his game is the next step. Especially when teams start to adjust to him getting more than 30 touches and not Bell.