Chris Johnson was an afterthought addition to the Arizona Cardinals backfield this offseason. Heading into Cardinals training camp the electrifying Andre Ellington was expected to be the home run-hitter and recent third-round draft pick David Johnson was expected to be the chain-mover and bruising big back. But it wasn't long into preseason work that Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians determined that something on the Arizona running back depth chart wasn't quite right and made the move to sign Johnson, the speedy veteran who'd suffered through a dismal 2014 with the Jets. Three weeks into the season, with Ellington ailing and the young Johnson still coming along, CJ2K looks very much like the best bet for the team - and fantasy owners - moving forward.
"He kinda fits our system real well," Arians told Sirius XM NFL Radio on Tuesday, via NFL.com. "He's now getting in football shape. When we got him, he wasn't in great football shape and he pulled a hamstring early in camp. He's now getting in football shape and he has his explosiveness. We're not going to wear him out. He's still going to be a 15-20 touch guy. Even when Andre Ellington comes back, hopefully this week we'll have all three guys. Now that David Johnson has emerged, we don't have to just pound one guy all the time."
During Sunday's route of the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson saw 22 carries and turned them into 110-yards and two touchdowns. He added a reception for 40-yards and suddenly the Arizona backfield looked not only promising, but dominant.
While Ellington will still be certain for his fair share of catches and runs when he returns to the Cardinal lineup - something that won't necessarily come to pass this week as Ellington has been limited in practice - and David Johnson is certainly on the rise, there's simply no denying that Chris has looked like the CJ2K of old thus far in 2015 and, taking Arians' proclamation into consideration, is therefore the safest fantasy bet of any of the Cardinals backs.
