It took most of his rookie season before David Johnson got a chance to be the lead back in Arizona’s offense, but he proved to be well worth the wait.
Johnson ran for 442 yards and four touchdowns in five starts to close out the year and build excitement about what will come now that he’s running with the first team from the start. Running is just part of the package, however.
Johnson had 17 of his 36 catches during that five-game run and General Manager Steve Keim called him “probably the best receiving back I’ve seen” before comparing him to the best receiving back that a lot of other people have ever seen.
“A lot of people have compared him to Marshall Faulk, and our coaches had Marshall Faulk in Indy,” Keim said, via ESPN.com. “I think he’s very similar in some ways athletically and in terms of ball-catching skills to Marshall.”
With Chris Johnson back from injury and Andre Ellington still on the roster, the Cardinals don’t have to use Johnson on every down in his second NFL season. Keim’s comments suggest that he’s not going to be coming off the field much in what the Cardinals expect will unfold a lot like those final five games of 2015.