Moore: Kliff Kingsbury should not make James Conner a 3-down back

James Conner might be the Terminator, but that doesn’t mean he’s indestructible.

It’s a balance that everyone associated with the Arizona Cardinals should be mindful of as they head into a season where there will be a realistic urge to give the guy more touches than a doorknob.

The 27-year-old Conner has the will to run inside, the skill to catch the ball out of the backfield and the drive to pass protect like the world’s skinniest offensive tackle. And he’s not the type to back down.

“When it’s game time, you know? When it counts, I feel like if I’m (feeling good), let me go,” Conner said at the start of training camp. “Winning is the only thing that matters.”

That might be true, but recent NFL history suggests that if he tries to do it all in the same game all season, the hangover will be more memorable than the party.

Three-down backs don't reach Super Bowl

Going back 15 years, there have been 37 rushers who’ve touched the ball 350 times or more in a single season, according to an analysis of statistics from Pro Football Reference. Most high-usage backs ended up flaming out like Arnold Schwarzenegger sinking into the vat of lava at the end of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” — and there wasn’t a single Super Bowl season in the pack.

Some of these guys suffered massive drop-offs.

Tennessee’s Derrick Henry played in just eight games last season.

Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey has played in just 10 games since 2019 when he became only the third player in NFL history to go for 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.

And in Arizona, we all know what happened to David Johnson.

Other backs kept it up for a while, but their team’s overreliance on one guy was ultimately their undoing.

Adrian Peterson somehow had 350 touches four times in his Minnesota career, but his squad never made it to the final Sunday.

Dallas’ Zeke Elliott did it three times but never made it past the second round of the playoffs.

And Chicago’s Matt Forte had three huge seasons, and only once did Da Bears finish above .500 — and even in that year (2008) they didn’t make the playoffs.

That means that even if Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury can give James Conner the ball 20 times every weekend, that doesn’t mean he should. (That’s a line from “Jurassic Park,” which running backs coach James Saxon might need to whisper to Kingsbury during offensive meetings and film sessions.)

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Competition for playing time will be fierce

The preseason will be a time for Kingsbury to decide between former Arizona State star Eno Benjamin, Kansas City defector Darrel Williams, veteran Jonathan Ward and rookies Keaontay Ingram, TJ Pledger and Ronnie Rivers.

Benjamin and Ward have been in the system the longest, entering their third year with the Cardinals.

Anyone who has been around the Sun Devils will find it hard to be objective about Benjamin’s potential. He went for 312 yards rushing against Oregon State in 2018, breaking tackles like elementary school kids break crayons. And he had 248 yards and five touchdowns in two wins over Arizona in Territorial Cup showdowns. He played a little last season, gaining 160 yards with a touchdown on 40 touches for the Cardinals.

Ward, meantime, had 67 yards on 12 touches last year, not bad for a guy who made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent and who played his way off the practice squad onto the active roster.

Both Benjamin and Ward have played special teams, and whichever player stands out more in this vital third phase of the game could have an edge when it comes time to decide who gets the ball more often.

Williams is the most accomplished in the NFL, gaining over 1,000 yards from scrimmage on nearly 200 touches last season. He was a member of a Super Bowl-winning Kansas City team after the 2018 season. He played in KC’s Super Bowl loss to Tampa the next year. And last season, he was a key reason why Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes were a play away from reaching the NFL’s title game for the third time in three years.

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Rookies have a long way to go

Rookies are rookies. So Ingram, Pledger and Rivers will have to prove they belong at this level.

Kingsbury will likely only carry four backs on the roster. Conner and Williams are shoo-ins. Benjamin and Ward are likely.

Ingram, Pledger and Rivers will have to show big flashes in their preseason opportunities to wedge their way into the conversation.

Ingram, last season at USC, went for 204 yards in a win over a struggling UA squad. A week later, ASU held him to 54 yards and the Trojans went back to Los Angeles with a loss.

Pledger started his college career with Kyler Murray at Oklahoma but wasn’t the team’s primary backfield option. At Utah last season, Pledger had a combined 168 yards and three touchdowns in wins over Arizona and Arizona State.

Rivers was a threat rushing and receiving at Fresno State, finishing his career as the school’s all-time leader in touchdowns (50) and receiving yards by a running back (1,417).

If I were advising Kliff Kingsbury, I’d suggest using Benjamin in a role similar to Chase Edmonds last season. They’re similar in that they’re both smaller, shiftier backs who would provide a change of pace from Conner. The guess here is that Kingsbury likes the idea of mixing up playing styles.

“I’ve said it a bunch,” Kingsbury said. “But … we were playing our best football, when (Conner) and Chase were really kinda splitting the workload and staying fresh, and we were able to maximize what each guy does best. Hopefully, we can find a similar rhythm this year.”

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The counterargument is that defenders would get tired and wear down after bouncing off Conner and Williams, they’re both goal-line types who would just as soon run over a guy as run past him. But I’d save that sledgehammer approach for later in the season.

There also should be room to use second-year Rondale Moore out of the backfield in special situations.

However it goes, the Cardinals should resist the urge to make James Conner into a three-down back.

It’s great for fantasy football, but in real life, it’s not a winning strategy for a player or his team.

Conner might be the Terminator, but he’s not indestructible.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Moore: James Conner, Cardinals should know three-down backs don't win