The ugly: The decline of David Johnson?

While Kenyan Drake had a modicum of success, Cardinals running back David Johnson was absolutely nonexistent rushing for only two yards on five carries including an uncharacteristic fumble in the third quarter at the Tampa Bay 19-yard line. The fumble would be his first since Week 13 of last season against the Detroit Lions.

While Johnson is still a great receiver out of the backfield, his rushing numbers have not been great averaging only 3.7 yards per carry. Johnson has yet to have a 100-yard rushing game and had three games where he has had under 20 rushing yards.

The matchup against the Bucs was a tough one but Johnson has clearly not been as effective of a runner since his breakout 2016 season where he led the league in scrimmage yards with 2,113. He has dealt with some nagging injuries this year playing in only eight games and rushed only one time against the New York Giants in Week 7 due to a recurring ankle injury.

The Cardinals rewarded Johnson with a three-year, $39 million contract with more than $31 million guaranteed with hopes that he could replicate the same success that he did in 2016.

That success has not translated well and if the Cardinals plan to move on, they may have to wait until 2021 when his dead cap hit is around $3 million.

Although this was a tough game, we may have seen the last of David Johnson’s prime.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

[protected-iframe id=”a204a11f801568b3e0792ce96f9d7e48-112738498-106269283″ info=”https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/19884698/download.mp3″ ]