James Conner's 2025 season, as expected, is finished.
Conner suffered a foot injury in Sunday's 16-15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and will require season-ending surgery, Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon announced Monday.
"One of your leaders, a captain. You hate that it happened," Gannon said of Conner, a stalwart runner for Arizona over the last half-decade. "I feel terrible, but I know he'll take the right attitude and bounce back. Picking up that slack, both the player and the person, we're all going to have to collectively do it, truthfully. But that's a bummer just like all of our guys who've gotten hurt. But just knowing what type of player and person he is it's tough to replace, but we have to. So that's what we'll do."
Conner's injury -- which required him to be carted off the field at Levi's Stadium -- was initially announced as an ankle injury. Gannon clarified Monday it affected Conner's foot, not his ankle, but produced the same unfortunate result concerning his availability in 2025.
What does this mean for the Cardinals' offense?
Since arriving in 2021, Conner has led the Cardinals in rushing annually while breaking the 1,000-yard mark in each of his last two campaigns. That had already changed prior to Sunday, with second-year back Trey Benson having led the team in rushing through two weeks and now after three with 125 yards on 21 carries.
Benson, a 2024 third-round pick, is the next man up on the depth chart and brings 16 games of NFL experience to the table, spending his rookie season as a spell back who tallied 291 yards and one rushing score on 63 attempts. Emari Demercado is also available to handle some of the rushing load, although he'll be used more as a third-down pass-catching option (red-zone drop on Sunday aside) than Benson. Arizona also has former New York Jets running back Bam Knight available.
More importantly, Arizona will need to find a new method of balancing out its offense without Conner, the rugged runner who forced defenses to respect him whenever he lined up in the backfield. Without Conner, Arizona struggled to move the ball on the ground Sunday and couldn't pick up a first down when it needed one to seal a victory over the 49ers. Kyler Murray exists as a dynamic threat, but he cannot carry the rushing attack alone.
In short, one of these running backs will need to prove he can contribute enough to keep the Cardinals on schedule and to avoid becoming a pass-heavy team. We'll see who steps up, and if Arizona might have its eyes on a running back elsewhere.
