Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks says he wants the team to be more creative in their use of running back David Johnson in their offense. The fourth-year running back has shown that he is one of the most versatile players in the NFL. His ability to be a threat between the tackles and as a receiver makes him their offense's most dynamic weapon.
A wrist injury in the 2017 NFL season limited Johnson's production last year. He only recorded 11 rushing attempts for 23 yards for the season. The previous year, Johnson ran for 1,239 yards and recorded 879 receiving yards. However, his Cardinals are 0-2 heading into Week 3, and haven't used him very well, via Darren Urban of the official Cardinals website.
“We talked about that,” Wilks said about conversations he had with coordinator Mike McCoy and the offensive staff. “We’ve got to utilize David from the standpoint of getting him out of the backfield, putting him in the slot, putting him out there to try and create that matchup that we need.”
Johnson has accrued 85 rushing yards and 33 receiving yards so far this season. The Cardinals continue to work on getting him into open space with the ball. That's when he's at his best. Wilks went on to acknowledge that there are other important problems his team is facing this year as well.
“If I thought it was just that one position, I would be more than willing to say, ‘You know what, we need to make a change, we need a spark, we need something to happen,’ ” Wilks said. “(But) it’s not just Sam. There are numerous things that collectively we need to get better.”
The Cardinals will get to stay home in Week 3, but they'll face a gruesome Chicago Bears defense that will swarm their backfield relentlessly. If Wilks is going to make a change to turn their season around, he needs to make it fast.
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