David Johnson injury: Who could replace him?

Arizona Cardinals’ running back David Johnson will be sidelined indefinitely. Who will be able to fill the void in Bruce Arians’ backfield?

Off a 35-23 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Arizona Cardinals had enough to worry about. Things got a little worse on Monday afternoon when the news came down regarding All-Pro running back David Johnson.

Bruce Arians’ running game was a no-show in the Motor City. Johnson finished with 23 yards on 11 carries and the team managed only 45 yards rushing. But the three-year pro did tie for the club lead with six catches, good for 68 yards. All told, he touched the ball 17 times and totaled 91 yards from scrimmage.

So do the Cards have a player on the roster that can be that kind of versatile weapon? The depth chart includes Kerwynn Williams and Andre Ellington. The former carried five times for 10 yards and one touchdown on Sunday. Ellington played and did not total a carry. But he caught two passes for 35 yards. He’s the more versatile player of the two in terms of offense. Making Ellington the feature back in place of Williams enables the latter to remain on both punt and kickoff returns.

There was the immediate speculation that the team could bring back Chris Johnson. He played in a total of 15 regular-season games for the Cardinals these past two seasons. While he was around for only four games a year ago, he totaled an impressive 872 yards from scrimmage in 11 games with the club in 2015.

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Of course, there are also a few other free agents that could fit the bill. Ryan Mathews is on the open market, as is Rashad Jennings. There’s also ageless DeAngelo Williams, who filled in for Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell the last few seasons when the star runner wasn’t available. However, the player that may make the most sense is Ellington. In any case, adequately filling the cleats of the NFL leader in total yards from scrimmage and touchdowns in hard to comprehend.