Arizona Cardinals: David Johnson impressive

The Arizona Cardinals third-round pick of the 2015 NFL Draft was impressive on Saturday night

Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson had a heck of an NFL debut on Saturday night. After missing part of camp and the first game last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Johnson looked the part of an NFL running back on Saturday night against the San Diego Chargers.

David Johnson got a good amount of playing time thanks to running back Chris Johnson who did not play because of an injured hamstring. That hamstring injury could keep Chris Johnson out of action for the next couple of weeks.

David Johnson carried the ball 13 times for 66 yards on Saturday night in the Cardinals 22-19 loss to the Chargers. He was a work horse out there on the field. He looked a little tentative at first and ran horizontally to the line of scrimmage rather than vertically down the field early on but he corrected that.

Johnson was advertised as another Andre Ellington but maybe a little bit more durable. However after the first practice of training camp three weeks ago, Johnson was shelved due to a hamstring injury. He finally made it back in full to practice this week and he showed hopefully what he can deliver in the regular season.

Ellington got just two carries but the starters were not scheduled to go past the first quarter. Johnson looked like a back who could push Ellington for that starting spot at some point. It is hard to hide the excitement about him but let’s remember this was a preseason game.

Johnson though could make things interesting for other backs come cut time. Most notably for Chris Johnson. The Cardinals signed him this week to a one-year make good deal but after injuring himself in the final play of practice on Thursday, now he appears as if he will miss the rest of the preseason according to reports.

So what do the Cardinals do with guys like Stepfan Taylor, Robert Hughes, Marion Grice, Kerwynn Williams, and even Paul Lasike? If I were Taylor I’d be worried. The Cardinals will have some tough decisions to make. Chris Johnson was brought in because the Cardinals felt like they needed a push for guys like David Johnson. I think the message was received. It will be interesting to see if the play of David Johnson on Saturday night combined with the lack of time Chris Johnson will get the rest of camp and the preseason if that affects how the final cuts will be made?

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