Arizona Cardinals: How good can David Johnson be?

Arizona Cardinals: How good can second-year running back David Johnson be for Bruce Arians and his offense?

Entering his second season, how good can Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson be? After what he did in 2015, it seems like the sky is the limit…

As a third round pick in 2015, the expectations for Johnson weren’t as high as many of his peers in the 2015 class. If you have watched the All Or Nothing series on Amazon, you might know that the Cardinals were banking on Ameer Abdullah being their new running back before the Lions snatched him up in the second round.

It was clear by the reaction of general manager Steve Keim and team president Michael Bidwell that the Cardinals were banking heavily on Abdullah being available and when he wasn’t, they were absolutely devastated.

The Cardinals picked Markus Golden, a pass rusher out of Missouri and waited until the third round to get Johnson, who was expected to be much more of a project than he turned out to be.

Johnson’s ascent was an incredible sight to behold, and Bruce Arians is the perfect coach to be able to get the most out of him.

Though the Cardinals’ season ended with an unbelievably sour note, the ability of David Johnson to be a featured player in this offense can’t be understated. He’s got superstar potential, even though I might not have seen it before he first touched the ball in the NFL.

Johnson is a player who combines excellent size with speed, vision, and game-breaking ability from any spot on the field. He is a dynamic kick returner as well as a runner and receiver. Here’s what I wrote after watching Johnson play at Northern Iowa…

“What you notice immediately about Johnson is his ability to catch passes and run after the catch. Not many young running backs are this strong of receivers out of the backfield, but Johnson is absolutely pro-ready in that regard. He is such a natural pass catcher but a major mismatch for linebackers as well. He shows strong route running ability and in the Iowa tape, you can see he absolutely abuses the inside linebacker when he sneaks out of the backfield on a few passing plays.”

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Johnson scored a whopping 13 touchdowns in his rookie season with the Cardinals, but can that kind of play continue or develop further? Consider this…

Offensively, Johnson touched the ball 161 total times last year. If the Cardinals can get him 250-300 touches? The potential for Johnson to get better and do even more damage to opposing defenses is certainly there.

The Cardinals might have too much talent offensively for him to touch the ball 300 times as a featured back, but if players again struggle with injuries, the potential for that is certainly there. Johnson is now a focal point of this offense, and will therefore also be a focal point for opposing defenses. He’s no longer a complimentary piece — he’s the star.

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