Remembering David Johnson’s brief greatness with the Cardinals as running back retires

David Johnson announced his retirement on Sunday through his social media channels, and by now it was more of a formality. The one-time Cardinals running back didn’t play in 2023 and played only five games when he was with the Saints in 2022.

But it’s a notable moment, if for no other reason than to mark the amazing first two seasons for Johnson after the Cardinals made him a third-round pick in 2015. He was so good he became the 2017 cover subject for Sports Illustrated’s NFL preview, back when SI was still meaningful.

Sure, there were many fans frustrated with him at the end, a combination of Johnson struggling both with the vision as a runner that once made him great and his fit in the Kliff Kingsbury offense. But even in 2018, playing within a wretched offense as rookie QB Josh Rosen struggled, Johnson still gained 940 yards rushing, had 50 catches for 446 yards and scored 10 total touchdowns, and that was after he missed all but one game in 2017 with a wrist injury.

But he was a key piece of the trade for DeAndre Hopkins in 2020. And those first two years, I mean, dang. His numbers weren’t eye-popping as a rookie because a) he was sharing time with Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington and b) that team had all kinds of offensive stars. But he scored the game-winning TD on a catch out of the backfield against the Saints, and he had a Beast Quake-type TD run against the Eagles in their division-clinching win that season, and was quietly a stud.