Cardinals nervously waited for UNI’s Johnson

Arizona Cardinals brass became nervous as they approached their third-round selection on Friday night. They wanted Northern Iowa running back David Johnson, but they feared somebody else would take him.

'I was holding my breath that he was going to make it down there,” Arizona Coach Bruce Arians said.

But Johnson (6-foot-1, 224 pounds) did make it, and the Cardinals quickly scooped him up with the 86th overall pick. Johnson has a chance to immediately impact the Cardinals' offense and potentially start.

'He reminds me a lot of (Chicago Bears RB) Matt Forte coming out of Tulane,” Arians said of Johnson. 'Maybe (Johnson is) a little faster. He's just a three-down player, a good pass blocker. He's got all three phases right now.”

The Cardinals have a need at running back after ranking 31st in rushing. Traditional third-down back Andre Ellington (5-9, 199) led the way with 660 yards at 3.3 yards per carry. Johnson and Ellington figure to make a strong combination.

Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim said Johnson's 'height, weight, speed are off the charts.” He also touted Johnson's 205 yards receiving in the season opener against Iowa.

'He can catch the ball,” Keim said. 'He's got tremendous versatility. So we thought he was a great fit for us schematically.”

'I'm able to catch the ball out of the backfield on third downs and with my bigger frame, I'm able to protect for (quarterback) Carson Palmer and make sure he doesn't get hit, make sure he stays healthy.

Johnson holds 15 UNI records, including career all-purpose yards, career all-purpose yards per game, average yards per kick return and all-purpose yards in a season. Last year he finished with 2,527 all-purpose yards and rushed for 1,553 yards. He's the first UNI running back with three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

'The unique thing about the back is there's not many backs that are 6-1 that have the combination of explosiveness that he has,” Keim said.

'The guy at his size and his size, the way he runs the football, he's a pick-and-slide guy,” Arians said. 'He's got good power but his received ability is as close to Andre's as anybody I've ever seen.”

Johnson was the seventh running back drafted.

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