Andre Ellington has done his time as a receiver with the Arizona Cardinals and is now returning to the offensive backfield
The Arizona Cardinals experiment with Andre Ellington at receiver is over. They’ve decided to move him back to his old position at running back.
It was fun while it lasted. However it didn’t last too long. It was initially a move that seemed to make sense for both parties involved.
A couple of months ago the Cardinals announced that the team would be moving Ellington to receiver. He has great hands and has shown his receiving skills over his first four seasons in Arizona.
With 12 receivers already on the roster, leaving little chance to make the roster as a receiver, the move back to running back was made. Given the Cardinals current situation at running back it also makes sense for that position as well.
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The Cardinals have David Johnson as the starter but after that it could end up being anyone at the number two and three spots on the depth chart. Kerwynn Williams was the most experienced back behind Johnson entering his fourth season in the NFL.
Still, it would have been interesting to see how Ellington would have performed at receiver. As a back though in Bruce Arians system, it is almost a given you will see Ellington lined up at receiver at times anyway.
Just now the Cardinals have made it official. It also will give Ellington a better shot at making the 53-man roster. With a lot of chatter last season about his status it was mildly surprising to see the Cardinals continue to go with him.
The big question hasn’t been ability but durability with Ellington. With no longer carrying the burden of being the number one and may not even be the number two, Ellington will take fewer hits on the body. He only carried the ball 34 times in 2016.