David Johnson – the forgotten superstar in Arizona

Sep 10, 2017; Detroit, MI, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) runs the ball during the third quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
Entering 2017 with a full head of steam, Johnson suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 1 after only 46 snaps.
Let’s take a further look at Johnson’s impact on the Cardinals offense and why you shouldn’t have forgotten about him heading into 2018.
In Johnson’s breakout 2016 season, he posted a receiving grade of 90.0, a grade that is up there with the likes of what we saw from Alvin Kamara a season ago.
He forced another 44 missed tackles on his 293 carries, making a huge impact in both phases for the Cardinals, earning an 87.8 overall grade, which topped the league’s running backs.
Further displaying his versatility, Johnson also averaged 1.7 yards per route run from the slot in 2016, the sixth-highest mark of any running back since 2006.
In 2017 when lined up at receiver, Le’Veon Bell, Kamara and Christian McCaffrey forced 13 combined missed tackles.
Without any discernable threat out of the backfield, the Cardinals ranked towards the bottom of the league in their usage of play-action passes, with Palmer and Stanton actually posting lower passer ratings on play-action passes verses non-play-action passes.
Should rookie Josh Rosen step in to a starting role at some point, expect him to target Johnson heavily and utilize play action to open up throwing windows in what should be a more threatening Cardinals offense, thanks to Johnson’s versatility and effectiveness all over the field.
Johnson’s 2016 level of consistent impact in both the running and passing game has been rarely seen before and the 2018 version of the Cardinals offense will surely benefit greatly from his return.