Despite missing virtually all of 2017 with a wrist injury, David Johnson was still a top target of fantasy owners heading into this season. Those owners were then discouraged to start the year as his touches consistently weren’t where they should be for a player with such talent. Johnson failed to surpass 16 touches in a game from Weeks 1-3 but has now topped 20 in 2 straight weeks, including Sunday’s win over SF in which he rushed 18 times for 55 yards and 2 scores and caught 2 of 3 targets for 16 yards. Despite his shortcomings to this point, Johnson is still RB8 on The Wolf’s Rest of Season Big Board.
While Johnson has yet to show the big-play ability that made him 2016’s Fantasy MVP, he’s still just 26 years old and the definition of a dual-threat back. Johnson is fantasy’s RB10 through 5 weeks, putting up over 360 total yards and 5 total TDs through 5 weeks. We were terrified about Johnson’s workload as recently as Week 2, but clearly the team is making it a priority to make DJ a more prevalent part of their offensive attack.
Johnson has played 2 full seasons in the NFL and has finished at RB7 and RB1 in those two years. He also sat out a full season after a September injury that typically requires a 2-3 month recovery; clearly, he prioritized his long-term health over rushing back to contribute to a lost season. So while there’s a chance he never returns to his glory days of 2016, all signs point to another stellar season for DJ as long as Arizona feeds him properly.
