Arizona Cardinals: The running backs

The Arizona Cardinals begin OTA’s this Tuesday at their Tempe, Arizona headquarters

In what used to be an understaffed area of the roster now the Arizona Cardinals seemingly have an influx of talent up and down the depth chart. The Cardinals running game is alive and healthy.

Injuries did in the roster in 2014 and they struggled to find someone who could run the ball towards the end of the season.  In that search they did find Kerwynn Williams.  He turned out to be good and then the backs started getting healthy.

In 2015 the two big injuries to the backs were to Andre Ellington and to Chris Johnson.  When Ellington went down though, it was Chris Johnson who stood up.

When Chris Johnson went down towards the end of the 2015 season, rookie David Johnson stood up.  David Johnson started out hot and showed his versatility as a running back, a receiver, and on special teams.

However David Johnson had trouble hanging on to the ball early in the season.  By the time he took over the starting spot for Chris Johnson though those were issues of the past.

Going into the 2016 season, the Cardinals are going to have some tough decisions to make once the final depth chart is put together.  Here is what they have.

Definitely on the 53-man roster:

David Johnson, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington

David Johnson goes into the season as the starter.  Chris Johnson will get plenty of touches.  He took less money to stay in Arizona instead of bolting for the Miami Dolphins.  That says a lot for the organization given that he will lose touches next season to David Johnson.

Ellington, as long as he stays healthy, should get his 10-15 touches a game as well.  It will be hard to spread the ball around but his versatility is also a plus.

Should make it:

Kerwynn Williams

Williams, who was relegated to the practice squad early on in 2015 because there was no room, once again came in and saved the day.  When Chris Johnson went down, he once again showed how valuable he was in a late season performance at the St. Louis Rams.

Work to do:

Stephan Taylor

He was the virtual missing mad last season.  He did not touch the ball nearly as much as he did in his first two seasons.  At one point I thought the Cardinals would cut him.

He does contribute on special teams, so there is that.  However if it comes down to Taylor competing with Williams for the final spot, Williams might find that spot despite special teams play.

Long shot:

Elijhaa Penny

The rookie from Idaho could be the greatest show on Earth this summer but it still likely won’t be enough.  The depth at running back is great.

Penny will likely get a good look and could stick around on the practice squad this season but he would have to have a phenomenal camp to make this happen.  Don’t get too attached.