Who Should I Start? James Conner or James Cook III

Friday, July 24, 8:14 AM

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (ankle, foot), who was held out of the offseason program, participated in drills in Thursday's training camp practice, according to Jess Root of Cardinals Wire. Conner will most likely be eased back in this summer after he played in only three games due to the injury in 2025, but he has reportedly fully recovered from the injury and shouldn't face any limitations for the start of the regular season this fall. The problem for the 31-year-old veteran back is that the Cardinals have since added rookie first-rounder Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier to their backfield, so even if he's fully healthy in 2026, he's not going to have near the volume of touches he had before his ankle/foot injury last year. Coming off his serious injury and with lots of competition in the Cardinals' backfield now, Conner's fantasy stock has taken a massive hit. He will go undrafted in most standard-sized leagues and is currently ranked as the No. 77 overall fantasy RB for the 2026 season.