David Johnson - College Hero To NFL Superstar

David Johnson was announced as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October with an impressive 488 rushing yards, five touchdowns and 726 scrimmage yards. With the Arizona Cardinals returning to action this weekend after a much needed bye-week, let’s take a look at the numbers from Johnson’s humble rise to the top of the NFL rankings.

Johnson enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa after receiving an athletic scholarship offer in 2010. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he made 13 appearances (including five starts), rushing for 822 yards and nine touchdowns. He also made 33 receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns, rounding off a great first year. Johnson had a solid career at Iowa, finishing with 1,553 yards and 17 touchdowns in his senior year. He went on to break many school records, most notably in career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns, finishing with 4,682 yards and 49 rushing touchdowns, prompting him to declare for the 2015 NFL Draft.

Standing at 6ft 1in and 224 lbs, Johnson is deceptively quick for a man of his size; he registered an impressive 4.5 second 40-yard dash at the Draft Combine. Before long he caught the attention of Cardinals GM Steve Keim and the team went on to select him as the 86th overall pick in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. After a strong show at training camp, Johnson earned himself a spot as the fourth Running Back on the Cardinals’ Roster for his rookie season.

He burst onto the scene on September 13th 2015 against the New Orleans Saints, making a 55-yard touchdown on his very first play. The following week against Chicago at Soldier Field he returned the first kickoff of the game for a 108-yard touchdown (tied for the second longest play in NFL history) and finished the game with 42 from five carries and a rushing touchdown, becoming the quickest player in NFL history to score a rushing, receiving and kick-off return touchdown in just two games. His season didn’t end there though, in week 15, Johnson rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, becoming the first player in Cardinals history to rush for 180+ yards and three touchdowns in a single game.

Throughout the 2015 season, Johnson really stood out among the highest rated rookie running backs, scoring the second highest amount of rushing touchdowns, second only to Todd Gurley who went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Season. This is an impressive feat considering Johnson only made five starts to Gurley’s 12.

Johnson finished the season with 581 rushing yards at a respectable 4.6 yards per carry, scoring eight rushing touchdowns as well as making 36 catches for 457 yards and four receiving touchdowns. He became the fourth player in NFL history to total 500+ rushing yards, 400+ receiving yards, 500+ kickoff return yards and 13+ touch downs in a single season. Not bad for a rookie. Johnson had been receiving high praise from his colleagues in Arizona all year but by the end of the regular season he had caught the attention of the entire league. Naturally, he was hotly tipped as a Pro Bowl contender and ‘one to watch’ for the 2016 season.

After a breakout rookie season, Johnson earned the starting role on the Cardinals roster for the 2016 season. After eight games so far this season he’s put up some strong numbers, racking up roughly a third of the Cardinals offensive yards. He’s rushed for 705 yards and eight touchdowns and made 35 receptions for 407 yards. He’s made over 100 total yards in each game this season, showing strong consistency so it’s difficult to single out performances. He put up strong numbers in a very gritty performance in week 7 against Seattle, rushing for 113 yards and chipping in with 58 receiving yards against a very tough defence. A week before that he blew away the New York Jets on his way to 111 yards rushing with three touchdowns. His weakest rushing game so far this season was against the Carolina Panthers, where he only managed 24 yards on the ground but he was able to contribute in the air with 84 receiving yards, refusing to let the Panthers front seven keep him out of the game.

The Cardinals’ next matchup comes against divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers – a must-win game if they are to keep their play-off hopes alive. The last time the two teams played was back in week 5 when Johnson rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns, becoming NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Arizona will be hoping that he can continue that sort of form to help them get back to winning ways.

As it stands, Johnson has made a strong claim for Pro Bowl selection. Currently, his eight touchdowns make him the leader amongst the other NFC candidates.

While his rushing stats are impressive enough, he’s also racked up over 400 receiving yards this season. It’s this versatility that makes David Johnson such an exciting player to watch and it separates him from the other Pro Bowl running back candidates. He’s a genuine dual threat running back and can be involved in almost all of the Cardinals offensive plays, which makes him such a strong and versatile asset to the team. There’s still a long way to go before the Pro Bowl selection of course, but if he keeps churning out this level of production he’ll be a sure fire lock in for the NFC team.

One thing’s for certain, we look forward to watching David Johnson continue in his progression this season.