Arizona Cardinals - Fantasy News

David Johnson 2017 Fantasy Projections

by Tom Joyce

8/11/17

NFL

Arizona Cardinals

David Johnson is entering the third year of his NFL career, and he has already established himself as a player to watch each and every Sunday.

The Arizona running back is an MVP candidate on a team that does not have much in terms of outstanding skill players. The Cardinals figure to rely heavily upon Johnson, so one must wonder if he will be the best player in the league, or if he ultimately will be unable to carry his team’s offense.

Why David Johnson Will Be A 2017 Fantasy Football Keeper

Johnson was arguably the best player in the league last year. He averaged 24.85 Dober Fantasy Points per contest, which was higher than the likes of Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh’s Le'Veon Bell and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan.

The expectations on Johnson are insanely high entering 2017. If he could live up to all of the preseason praise, then he could be far and away the top player in the game. Head coach Bruce Arians wants to get Johnson up to 30 touches per game, which over the course of the season would be a total of 480. Last year, he received 373 touches and was still the most productive player in the league. Now, the plan is to add six or seven more per game. That’s a heavy workload that could translate into big fantasy numbers.

Johnson offers a lot of versatility from the running back position. Last year, he ran for 1,239 yards and amassed 16 touchdowns on the ground. As a pass-catcher out of the backfield, he made 80 catches on 120 targets for 879 yards and four scores. In all, he had eight multi-touchdown performances in 2016.

There is not much behind Johnson at running back. At the start of last year, Chris Johnson threatened his playing time before getting hurt and ultimately becoming a free agent. Now, Andre Ellington is listed as the team’s No. 2 back. He received just 34 carries last year, so the Cardinals are investing all of their chips in Johnson. In other words, the Cardinals do not have much of a backup plan since their other running back, TJ Logan, was a fifth-round pick this past draft.

Why David Johnson Will Be A 2017 Fantasy Football Bust

Expectations are astronomically high for Johnson. If the Cards are going to give him the ball as much as they expect, then injuries have to be a concern from overuse—especially because Arians said he thinks Johnson is too young to be overused.

The average NFL team ran 64 offensive plays per game last year, so Arizona’s game plan would be to try to get the ball to him on about half of its plays. That would make the Cards an incredibly one-dimensional offense this season. If Johnson gets the ball as much as expected, then teams will adjust their defenses accordingly.

Increased touches for the star tailback would also mean that fumbles have to be a concern. His five cough-ups and three fumbles lost were the most for an NFL running back last year. Surely, more touches could mean more giveaways.

Additionally, since Johnson could be used even more as a pass-catcher this year, balancing his rushes and catches could prevent him from getting 100-yard performances in either—which means he would not gain an extra DFP for his work.