Fantasy Alert: David Johnson Calls Kliff Kingsbury's Offense 'Electrifying'
September 5, 2019
As the Arizona Cardinals move closer to the start of the Kliff Kingsbury era, star running back David Johnson believes the NFL better get ready for a special kind of offense.
Per Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic, Johnson said Kingsbury's offense is going to be "electrifying for sure" when the Cardinals take the field Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Coming off a 3-13 record in 2018, the Cardinals made themselves one of the most intriguing teams in the league thanks to the hiring of Kingsbury and selection of reigning Heisman winner Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
In June, Murray told reporters Arizona's offense was going to be "explosive."
The Ringer's Robert Mays wrote the Cardinals are "about to test [the NFL's] limits" of merging "college's Air Raid principles throughout the league, and teams' searches for the next play-calling wunderkind."
Kingsbury certainly knows the Air Raid system, having played in it during his time as quarterback at Texas Tech from 1998-2002 and implementing it as head coach at his alma mater from 2013-18.
Murray will get most of the attention in Arizona by virtue of being the top overall pick and playing quarterback, but Johnson seems likely to be the most important player for his rookie signal-caller.
Johnson's best season came in 2016 when Bruce Arians, an offensive guru in his own right, was the Cardinals head coach. The 27-year-old led the NFL in touches (373), yards from scrimmage (2,118) and total touchdowns (20).
Even when the rest of Arizona's offense was struggling to make plays in 2018, Johnson still had a solid year with 1,386 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns on 308 touches.
Given Kingsbury's arrival and the potential for a return to his 2016 form, it's not surprising to see Johnson is one of the most sought-after fantasy players. The former All-Pro has an average draft position of sixth overall in PPR leagues, per Fantasy Pros.
The Cardinals can rely on Johnson's ability out of the backfield if they want to take things slowly with Murray. All indications are they will air things out early and often, starting Sunday against a Lions defense that tied for 28th with 7.9 yards allowed per completion last season.
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