David Johnson (running back)
David Jerome Johnson Sr. is an American football running back for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Northern Iowa.
Early years
Johnson attended Clinton High School in Clinton, Iowa, where he was a three-sport star in football, track, and basketball. He played as a running back and defensive back for the River Kings high school football team. He set numerous school records including touchdowns in a season, career receptions, career receiving yards, career and single-season total offense and single game record for touchdowns. As a senior, Johnson led Clinton to an 11–1 record while accounting for a school-record 42 touchdowns and was selected 2009 Outstanding Offensive Player for Clinton. In four seasons, Johnson compiled 4,682 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns along with 1,734 receiving yards and another 14 receiving touchdowns. Johnson took up kick returning as a senior, averaging 36.5 yards per attempt and returning one for a touchdown. He was invited to play at the 2010 Shrine Bowl All-Star Game, where he showed excellent vision and speed. Academically, Johnson maintained over a 3.0 GPA throughout high school.In track & field, Johnson was a two-time Drake and state qualifier. He earned second-place finishes in both the 4 × 200 and 4 × 400 relays at the 2009 Drake Relays, while also recording a personal-best time of 11.03 seconds in the 100-meter dash. At the 2009 Iowa State T&F Championships, he took ninth in the preliminary rounds of the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.34 seconds. Also a starter on the basketball team, Johnson was named second-team All-conference as a junior. He helped lead the River Kings to the state tournament during his senior season, where he averaged a team-best 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He was a first-team All-league selection in the Mississippi Athletic Conference and a third-team All-State pick by the Iowa Newspaper Association. He was also a second-team All-state selection by The Des Moines Register.
Johnson committed to the University of Northern Iowa to play college football. The only other school to offer Johnson an athletic scholarship was Illinois State.
College career
Johnson attended Northern Iowa from 2010 to 2014. After redshirting in 2010, he played in 13 games, with five starts, as a redshirt freshman in 2011. He had 179 rushes for 822 yards with nine rushing touchdowns and also had 33 receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2012, Johnson started seven of 12 games. He finished the year with 1,021 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. As a junior, Johnson started 10 of 11 games and rushed for 1,286 yards on 222 carries. As a senior, Johnson rushed for 1,553 yards on 287 carries with 17 rushing touchdowns and returned 12 kickoffs for 438 yards and one touchdown. During his senior season, he set numerous school records, including career rushing yards, career rushing touchdowns, and career all-purpose yards.College statistics
Professional career
Following a standout career at UNI, Johnson declared for the 2015 NFL Draft and was projected to be a second or third round pick after a promising showing during the NFL combine and UNI's Pro Day.Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals selected Johnson in the third round in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the seventh running back to be selected that year. The Arizona Cardinals originally planned to draft Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah in the second round and were speaking to Abdullah on the phone when they discovered the Detroit Lions had selected him with their second round pick. After failing to draft Abdullah, they changed their draft plans and opted to select David Johnson. Johnson became the seventh running back drafted in 2015 and the only player drafted from Northern Iowa in that year. He was the highest drafted player out of Northern Iowa since Jacksonville Jaguars selected offensive lineman Brad Meester with the 60th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.2015
On May 18, 2015, Johnson was signed to a four-year, $2.9 million contract with a $639,373 signing bonus and $639,373 guaranteed.Johnson opened the season as the fourth string running back behind veterans Andre Ellington, Chris Johnson, and Stepfan Taylor. On September 13, 2015, Johnson played in his first career game, against the New Orleans Saints, and finished the season opener with one reception for a 55-yard touchdown. The following week, he received more playing time against the Chicago Bears after Ellington was injured the previous game. Johnson carried the ball five times for 42 yards and scored his first career rushing touchdown in a 48–23 victory over the Bears. In addition, he returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown in the game.
December 6, 2015, marked Johnson's first career start after Chris Johnson suffered a fractured tibia in the previous game. In his first start, he had 22 attempts, 99 rushing yards, two receptions, 21 receiving yards, and a touchdown reception in a 27–3 win over the St. Louis Rams. Of those 99 rushing yards, they included rushes of 17 yards, 23 yards, and 10 yards.
On December 20, 2015, Johnson had his third consecutive start and recorded a season-high 29 carries for 187 yards and three rushing touchdowns, while also recording four receptions for 42 yards in a 40–17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC Sunday Night Football.
The Cardinals made the playoffs and earned a first-round bye. In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, he finished with 35 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards in the 26–20 overtime victory. On January 24, 2016, Johnson rushed for 60 yards on 15 carries and a rushing touchdown as well as 68 receiving yards on nine receptions against the Carolina Panthers in the 49–15 loss in the NFC Championship. He finished the season having carried 125 times for 581 yards with eight touchdowns, and caught 36 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns.
2016
Johnson experienced a breakout season in 2016. He posted 15 straight games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage, matching the Lions' Barry Sanders for the longest single-season streak in NFL history. In the season opener against the New England Patriots, he had 89 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and 43 receiving yards. In the next game, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had 45 rushing yards to go along with three receptions for 98 yards. In the following game, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 83 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with three receptions for 28 yards. He recorded 124 scrimmage yards in the next game against the Los Angeles Rams. Four days later, he had a season-high 157 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in victory over the San Francisco 49ers. In the next game, against the New York Jets, he had 111 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. In the next game, a hard-fought 6–6 tie with the Seattle Seahawks, he had 33 carries for 113 yards to go along with eight receptions for 58 yards on NBC Sunday Night Football. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October after averaging 145.2 rushing and receiving yards through five games along with five touchdowns. On November 13, against the San Francisco 49ers, he had 55 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 46 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown. On November 20, against the Minnesota Vikings, he had 103 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 57 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown. In the next game, against the Atlanta Falcons, he had 58 rushing yards to go along with eight receptions for 103 yards and a receiving touchdown. In Week 13 against the Washington Redskins, Johnson recorded nine receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown and ran for 91 yards on 18 carries for another touchdown, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Johnson finished the season having carried 293 times for 1,239 rushing yards with 16 rushing touchdowns. He was ranked seventh in the NFL for rushing yards, and ranked second in the NFL for rushing touchdowns. Johnson also finished the season having caught 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns. He had the most receiving yards among running backs and ranked 38th among all NFL players in receiving yards. He was named First-team All-Pro and was also named to his first Pro Bowl. He was also ranked 12th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.On January 1, 2017, Johnson left the field on a cart in the first quarter of the Cardinals final regular season game of 2016 against the Los Angeles Rams with an injured left knee after getting tackled awkwardly. The injury looked very serious but ended up only being an MCL sprain and would not require surgery.