Fantasy Football: Top 15 Running Backs to Target in 2019
By Cullen Jekel
FANTASY FOOTBALL RUNNING BACKS TO TARGET IN 2019
NUMBER 10 – DAVID JOHNSON
After playing in just a single game in 2017 due to injury, David Johnson appeared in all 16 games for the Arizona Cardinals last season, rushing for 940 yards, catching 50 passes for 446 yards, and scoring ten touchdowns.
Those are really solid numbers, especially on a team led by quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Josh Rosen, but they don’t come close to Johnson’s 2016 numbers, when he led the NFL with 2,118 total yards and 20 touchdowns.
Now, the Cardinals are essentially hitting the re-set button again, turning over quarterback duties to number one overall draft pick Kyler Murray out of Oklahoma. Additionally, Johnson will be playing for his third head coach in three years, going from Bruce Arians to Steve Wilks to Kliff Kingsbury.
But the changes from Rosen and Wilks to Murray and Kingsbury will help elevate Johnson, who’s entering the second season of a three-year, $39 million contract he signed last September. Maybe he won’t match those eye-popping numbers he put up three years ago, but he’ll build upon his solid 2018 season.
The Cardinals, especially their offense, have a real boom-or-bust vibe. Even it goes bust, Johnson will put up Top 15 running back numbers. But if everything clicks, as things sometimes (well, rarely) do with rookie quarterbacks? Especially in PPR leagues, Johnson could once again be the top fantasy running back in the league.
This projection is based on something in the between happening.