What future for the Steelers against James Conner?

It was not a good week for the Pittsburgh Steelers to start the year.

After a week of drama surrounding the maintenance of Le'Veon Bell – including virulent criticism of the return of some Steelers players – Pittsburgh became the first team in nearly two years not to beat the Cleveland Browns. Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions and failed twice, and the Steelers narrowly missed Cleveland with a 21-21 draw.

If the start of the season is disappointing, James Conner has beautifully filled Bell's big shoes.

As the world of football waits for Bell's return, the Steelers are turning to their choice of the third round 2017 to handle the pressing tasks. Presumably, this should be a significant downgrade for the Pittsburgh offense, which does not require twice as much All-Pro which is arguably the best all-round machine in the NFL.

But Conner ended his debut as a starter with a Bell-esque stats line. He ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns on 31 attempts and caught five passes for 57 yards. The 192 yards of the scrum for Conner tied the most points that Bell won in a campaign in 2017 that ended with the first rewards of the All-Pro team.

Shortly after the match, Bell sent an enigmatic tweet stating clearly that the Steelers' game was coming up:

Did Bell watch the torch pass?

Immediate impact: 7.9

The pressure of the moment was not too strong for Conner Sunday. He played with patience and maturity against a good defensive front of the Browns. He hit holes with a head of steam when they were there, which was especially evident during his second touchdown of the day when he went through a small seam and found the end zone 22 yards later.

It was not good for Conner at all, and that's why he does not have a better score here. His late breakaway allowed the Browns to qualify for their first of two fourth-quarter touchdowns, which canceled a 21-7 lead for the Steelers.

"It was not enough to win" Conner said of his day at a dark press conference after the match. "I had good races, but it was not enough to win."

One can imagine if Bell's presence would have been enough to help the Steelers avoid the six-digit day. But he groped a total of eight times in the 1,541 hits he made during his NFL career. It seems unlikely that he added to Pittsburgh's total revenue.

Bell was also targeted as a receiver 106 times in 2017, second behind Antonio Brown in the team. Would Roethlisberger have launched four interceptions when he had his favorite safety valve back?

It was a good day for Conner, but it's hard to say that Bell does not always make a better team for the Steelers when he's on the pitch.

Long-term impact: 8.5

But regardless of Bell's 2018 season, which inevitably comes back, he will leave almost definitively when the free agency opens in March.

Conner is the future of the Steelers and his performance of Week 1 has shown that losing Bell could be misplaced. The Steelers attack seems to have a young capable substitute.

He can run with power, take a large workload, contribute as a pass receiver out of the backfield and improve as a passlocker. Certainly Conner seems to be the type of player who can quickly unify a split cloakroom on how to handle Bell's situation.

When Conner scored his first touchdown of the day, Bell's most outspoken critics along the offensive line were excited to celebrate the return of the youngsters to the end zone.

Conner is perfect for Pittsburgh, and while he never leaves Bell's shadow completely, the Steelers are in good hands.

Profitability: 9.9

The best part of Conner that looks like a capable starter is that he does it on a contract that counts $ 754,572 against the Steelers salary cap in 2018.

Bell refused a $ 70 million five-year contract with the Steelers over the summer, which made sense given that it included only $ 10 million in guaranteed money. Although Bell has a reason to complain that the Steelers are using the franchise label to prevent it twice from negotiating its value in the free agency market, Pittsburgh has the impression of winning here.

The difference between the two players does not seem serious enough to justify paying Bell more than 20 times more than Conner.

Conner's contract will end after the 2020 season, so the Steelers will be in good financial shape after Bell's departure. And Sunday showed that they are not sentenced on the football field either.