Is Kenyan Drake taking over as the starter for David Johnson?

Is Kenyan Drake taking over as the starter for David Johnson?

For those who selected David Johnson as their main running back in their fantasy drafts this year, you must be feeling pretty disappointed with the recent circumstances that have arisen over the last month and a half or so.

At the start of the 2019 regular season, Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson was deemed to lead the backfield. The coaching staff was hoping that an experienced and talented runner like Johnson would help with the development of rookie quarterback Kyler Murray this year.

Also, with first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury now leading the charge, many were anticipating a heavier volume of passes being thrown his way as well, which in turn would boost his value tremendously in fantasy.

If we were to take a quick stroll down memory lane, Johnson’s magical 2016 season occurred not only because of his effectiveness on the ground but also through the air as well. During that particular season, he rushed for over 1,200 yards and 16 scores, while also catching an additional 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns.

I believe a lot of us were hopeful Johnson was going to return to the form he was three years ago but it unfortunately has not panned out that way.

Earlier on this season, there was some promise he would have a very solid year. Weeks 1-6, Johnson was RB6 averaging a solid 17.7 fantasy points per game in half PPR formats. All seemed to be well and managers who had him on their rosters must have been feeling pretty confident they made the right choice. That is until the injuries occurred.

The dreaded back and ankle injuries he sustained in the middle of October completely derailed what looked like a very promising 2019 campaign. Then the worst possible thing could have happened to Johnson and his managers. The Arizona Cardinals decided to go out at the trade deadline and acquire Kenyan Drake from the Miami Dolphins.

This was a sign right there that the Cardinals had given up waiting for Johnson to return to full strength. It’s completely understandable why the Cardinals wanted to make this move. After all, they were still in the NFC playoff hunt at the time and they needed to make a move if they were to qualify despite having the odds stacked against them.

Just as the Cardinals’ 2019 regular season completely spiraled out of control, so too did Johnson’s. Since Week 6, Johnson has only cracked the top-20 in fantasy points once. The arrival of Drake completely changed the dynamics of Arizona’s offense leaving fantasy managers feeling frustrated and worried.

Some who had Johnson on their rosters were quick enough to grab Drake off the waiver wire in the event something like this would happen. Drake wasn’t a viable starter in fantasy in his days with Miami making it manageable for the unfortunate Johnson souls to salvage their season.

Since coming to Arizona in late October, Drake has been indisputably the number one back to lead that backfield. He has amassed 417 rushing yards on 87 carries and five total scores. Furthermore, he’s been targeted 27 times, catching 22 of them for 130 yards in the six games he has played for the Cardinals.

Johnson almost has similar numbers (92-342-2-ground & 35-366-0-air) to Drake’s and that isn’t good considering that he has played in almost double the number of games with Arizona.

Drake’s most recent game against the Browns has truly put into doubt about Johnson’s job-status moving forward for the remainder of this year and beyond. In Week 15 against Cleveland, the former Dolphins back trucked for 137 rushing yards and four touchdowns to help Arizona put an end to their six-game losing streak.

There is some speculation swirling around that the Cardinals may feel inclined to move on from their once star running back. When asked about Johnson’s future beyond the 2019 regular season, Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim would not commit to an answer. Keim and the rest of Cardinals’ management will take a close look at their roster and the needs that must be addressed during the offseason.

They will cross that bridge regarding Johnson’s future when they get there, but there seems to be a feeling that Arizona would not be averse to hearing offers from interested suitors for the soon to be 28-year-old. Yes, the Cardinals are locked into a pretty big contract that they had recently signed him to in the 2018 offseason, but given his recent struggles and the fact that Drake has been more effective this year are signs that Johnson’s time in Arizona might be limited.

Drake is the clear-cut top back on the depth chart and it is not even close at this time. Johnson has been relegated to a pure RB2 option for Kingsbury’s offense offering virtually no fantasy appeal whatsoever. Whatever happens in the offseason remains to be seen, it’s all speculation for now. What we do know is Johnson should be dropped from rosters in all redraft league formats if not done so already.

He’s just taking up space on rosters for more viable options possibly available like Anthony Miller, Breshad Perriman, and/or Raheem Mostert.

The days of when Johnson dominated fantasy games appear to be in the rear-view mirror. Maybe things will change between now and September at the start of the 2020 regular season, but that is a long way to go. We will just have to wait and see in the days ahead what Arizona decides to officially do with their backfield situation in the future. At this time though, it’s Kenyan Drake’s job to lose unlike how it was at the beginning of the year with Johnson.