Arizona Cardinals: Bruce Arians says David Johnson has no ceiling

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football that RB David Johnson has no ceiling…

How high can Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson fly?

According to his head coach, Bruce Arians, the sky is the limit.

In an interview on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Arians said that his superstar running back has ‘no ceiling’ as far as his potential to produce in the NFL, and that if he wanted to, he could start at wide receiver.

Johnson’s a multi-talented back, no question about it. He was insanely productive in 2016, and would have been even more statistically impressive if it weren’t for an injury he suffered in the team’s final game of the season.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl and was named a first-team All-Pro after racking up 2,118 yards from scrimmage and a whopping 20 total touchdowns — 16 rushing, four receiving.

The Cardinals had gotten phenomenal production out of Johnson in his rookie season of 2015, when he ran for 581 yards and had eight rushing touchdowns to go along with 36 receptions for 457 yards and four scores.

In terms of total yards from scrimmage and total touchdowns, Johnson basically doubled his rookie season output in 2017, just his second year in the league. The Cardinals took him off of kick returns so he wasn’t completely wiped out, but he’s proven a dynamic threat on special teams as well.

I still remember watching Johnson carve up the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2014, primarily as a receiver out of the backfield. It was after watching him dominate that game physically that I felt like he would at least be a fit as a secondary back for an offense that likes to throw the ball to its running backs.

My expectations were obviously too low.

Johnson is among the NFL’s elite, and the Cardinals are lucky to have him. As Arians recalled in his appearance on GMFB, the Cardinals very nearly drafted Ameer Abdullah in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, which would have obviously prevented them from getting Johnson in the third.

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The Lions called Abdullah while he was on the phone with the Cardinals’ front office, and Arizona ended up going with Markus Golden in the second round and Johnson in the third.

Not a bad trade off.

Now in year three, the expectations are through the roof as the Cardinals will once again feature their prized runner, and as Arians stated on Wednesday — there’s no limit to how great he can be.