David Johnson’s future with Arizona Cardinals

Kenyan Drake‘s arrival and breakout season with the Arizona Cardinals might have seen the end for David Johnson in the desert

David Johnson had been one of the best running backs the Arizona Cardinals have had in recent years, despite him only being on the team since 2015. Johnson is 10th all time in rushing yards in Cardinals history, right behind legends such as Ottis Anderson and Stump Mitchell.

The Cardinals thought they had their future running back in Johnson after they had to go through guys such as Edgerrin James, Tim Hightower, Beanie Wells, Rashard Mendenhall, Andre Ellington, Kerwynn Williams and Chris Johnson. All these running backs had a few breakout games here and there, but none showed as much promise as Johnson.

Since 2015, Johnson has over 3,000 rushing yards, and over 2,000 receiving yards. He is the only player in NFL history to have played in 14 straight games where he had over 100 scrimmage yards.

According to Bleacher Report, Johnson is also the second player in NFL history, behind Gale Sayers, to have at least 20 rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, and a kickoff returned for a touchdown, in his first two seasons in the NFL.

So what happened to Johnson that made the Arizona Cardinals replace him with Chase Edmonds and Kenyan Drake?  Injuries.

In the first game of the 2017 season against the Detroit Lions, Johnson sustained a wrist injury that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season. Since his return from that injury in the 2018 season, it did not look like Johnson was the same player and was not playing with the same fire, despite having nearly 1,000 rushing yards that season.

In the 2019 season, Johnson dealt with a back injury that sidelined him for a few games, and forced the Cardinals to look elsewhere for another running back. Once Drake arrived, there was no looking back. Johnson healed, but his touches and playing time were limited. He wanted to be on the field, but coaches and fans knew they did not see the same Johnson they saw in the 2016 season.

So what happens now?

Even if the Cardinals do not sign Drake during the offseason, Edmonds still proved his worth when he was on the field. Before his injury in the game against the New Orleans Saints, Edmonds averaged over five yards per carry with four touchdowns.

While these numbers may not jump out, that could take some load off Kyler Murray in the passing game and even fool some defenses if they decide to run some play-action or run-pass options.
Either way, it seems like the Cardinals have moved on from Johnson. All that is left to do is see which teams are willing to trade some draft picks or offensive linemen for him.