Vincent Frank
Can David Johnson put up another strong performance for the Arizona Cardinals?
The highly anticipated debut of this rookie running back went swimmingly last week against the San Diego Chargers. Johnson, a third-round pick out of Northern Iowa, has an opportunity to make a major impact as a rookie. Held back due to a hamstring injury earlier in camp, the running back got his first taste of live game action, going for 66 yards on 13 attempts while playing with both the first and second teams. At 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds, Johnson has the frame to be a three-down back in the NFL. The issue we noticed early on last week was seeing such a big back dance around in the backfield instead of using his power to go downhill. Using every opportunity as a teaching moment, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians spoke to Johnson early in the game:
“We had a nice talk,” Arians said. “We had a nice talk about dancing. He can go on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ if he wants to dance. As big and fast as he is, take your foot on the ground and give me four yards or more, and we’ll come,” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “I thought he ran really, really well after that.”
The other issue we had heard about in camp was pass protection. Interestingly, the Cardinals allowed him in on obvious passing downs with Carson Palmer in the game. If that doesn’t show faith, I have no idea what does.
With incumbent starter Andre Ellington seen as an injury risk and new veteran addition Chris Johnson simply looking to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, it will be interesting to see how much play Arizona gives the younger Johnson with the first-team offense against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
