Injuries to Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington shook up the Cardinals’ backfield situation
The Arizona Cardinals backfield situation took a sharp turn following their Week 12 game against the 49ers. Prior to the game, the Cardinals had a crowded backfield situation with three running backs, Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington and David Johnson, looking for touches and making it difficult for fantasy owners of any of the running backs to feel comfortable starting them in any given week. Now following injuries to both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington there may only be one running back standing which could potentially consolidate all of the Cardinals’ running game production, David Johnson.
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Chris Johnson left the Cardinals’ Week 12 game against the 49ers in the third quarter when he took a helmet to his knee on a goal-line carry. Initial reports were that he had a fractured tibia and could miss anywhere from six-to-eight weeks. The team placed him on injured reserve with a designation to return on Tuesday. This means that he would be able to return after eight weeks, which would only give him eligibility for the Super Bowl, should the Cardinals reach the final game of the season. Fantasy owners of Johnson can safely drop him.
Andre Ellington took over for the injured Chris Johnson on Sunday and proceeded to get injured himself on the next Cardinals’ drive. Ellington left the game with a left foot injury to his toe that is being described by the Cardinals as a turf toe injury. Turf toe injuries are difficult to play through and also hard to predict when they will heal. Fantasy owners of Ellington might want to hold onto him for now if you have the roster space until we hear more details on the injury, but for now expect Ellington to miss at least the next game.
That leaves David Johnson, the Cardinals’ rookie out of Northern Iowa, as the likely lead running back for the Cardinals in Week 13 and potentially the rest of the season. Johnson has had a solid rookie season so far in a part-time role for the Cardinals averaging 4.0 yards per carry with four rushing touchdown to the lead the team. Johnson was also already the Cardinals’ primary receiving back with 19 catches for 241 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Johnson was an every-down back in college and will likely fill that role for the Cardinals going forward. The other running back on the Cardinals’ depth chart is Stephen Taylor who should step in as the backup and get a few carries per game.
The upcoming schedule for the Cardinals features some solid defenses against opposing running backs:
- Week 13 at St. Louis (13th most fantasy points allowed to opposing RBs)
- Week 14 vs Minnesota (28th)
- Week 15 at Philadelphia (17th)
- Week 16 vs Green Bay (22nd)
- Week 17 vs Seattle (31st)
With a fairly difficult schedule for the Cardinals’ running game, fantasy owners should temper their expectations for David Johnson a little bit. That said, he should still be the top free agent running back pickup this week. If he gets the vast majority of touches in the Cardinals’ backfield he should still be a productive fantasy option as an RB2 or flex down the stretch and in the fantasy playoffs.
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Brad Richter is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot.
