David Johnson (running back)

Early years

Johnson attended Clinton High School in Clinton, Iowa, where he was a three-sport star in football, track, and basketball. He played as a running back and defensive back for the River Kings high school football team. He set numerous school records including touchdowns in a season, career receptions, career receiving yards, career and single-season total offense and single game record for touchdowns. As a senior, Johnson led Clinton to an 11-1 record while accounting for a school-record 42 touchdowns. For his efforts, he was selected 2009 Outstanding Offensive Player for Clinton. In four seasons, Johnson compiled an impressive 4,682 rushing yards (on 5.4 YPC) and 49 rushing touchdowns to go along with 1,734 receiving yards and another 14 receiving scores. Johnson took up kick returning as a senior, averaging 36.5 yards per attempt and returning one for a touchdown. He was invited to play at the 2010 Shrine Bowl All-Star Game, where he showed excellent vision and speed. Academically, Johnson maintained over a 3.0 GPA throughout high school.

In track & field, Johnson was a two-time Drake and state qualifier. He earned second-place finishes in both the 4 × 200 and 4 × 400 relays at the 2009 Drake Relays, while also recording a personal-best time of 11.03 seconds in the 100-meter dash. At the 2009 Iowa State T&F Championships, he took ninth in the preliminary rounds of the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.34 seconds. Also a starter on the basketball team, Johnson was named second-team All-conference as a junior. He helped lead the River Kings to the state tournament during his senior season, where he averaged a team-best 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He was a first-team All-league selection in the Mississippi Athletic Conference and a third-team All-State pick by the Iowa Newspaper Association. He was also a second-team All-state selection by The Des Moines Register.

He committed to the University of Northern Iowa to play college football. The only other school to offer Johnson an athletic scholarship was Illinois State.

College career

Johnson attended Northern Iowa from 2010 to 2014. After redshirting in 2010, he played in 13 games, with five starts, as a redshirt freshman in 2011. He had 179 rushes for 822 yards with nine rushing touchdowns and also had 33 receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2012, Johnson started seven of 12 games. He finished the year with 1,021 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. As a junior, Johnson started 10 of 11 games. He rushed for 1,286 yards on 222 carries. As a senior, Johnson rushed for 1,553 yards on 287 carries with 17 rushing touchdowns and returned 12 kickoffs for 438 yards (36.5 average) and one touchdown. During his senior season, he set numerous school records, including career rushing yards, career rushing touchdowns, and career all-purpose yards.

2015 season

Following a standout career at UNI, Johnson declared for the 2015 NFL Draft and was projected to be a second or third round pick after a promising showing during the NFL combine and UNI's Pro Day. On May 1, 2015, Johnson was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the 3rd round with the 86th overall pick. Johnson became the 7th running back drafted in 2015 and the only player drafted from Northern Iowa in that year. He was the highest drafted player out of Northern Iowa since Jacksonville Jaguars selected Brad Meester with the 60th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

On May 18, 2015, Johnson was signed to a four-year, $2.9 million contract with a $639,373 signing bonus and $639,373 guaranteed.

Johnson opened the season as the fourth string running back behind veterans Andre Ellington, Chris Johnson, and Stepfan Taylor. On September 13, 2015, Johnson played in his first career game, against the New Orleans Saints, and finished the season opener with one reception for a 55-yard touchdown. The following week, he received more playing time against the Chicago Bears after Ellington was injured the previous game. Johnson carried the ball five times for 42 yards and scored his first career rushing touchdown in a 48-23 victory over the Bears. He also returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown in the game.

December 6, 2015, marked Johnson's first career start after Chris Johnson suffered a fractured tibia the previous game. In his first start, he had 22 attempts, 99 rushing yards, two receptions, 21 receiving yards, and a touchdown reception in a 27-3 win over the St. Louis Rams. Of those 99 rushing yards, they included rushes of 17 yards, 23 yards, and 10 yards.

On December 20, 2015, Johnson had his third consecutive start and recorded a season-high 29 carries for 187 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns, while also recording four receptions for 42-yards in a win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

On January 24, 2016, Johnson rushed for 60 yards on 15 carries and a rushing touchdown as well as 68 receiving yards on nine receptions against the Carolina Panthers. He finished the season having carried 125 times for 581 yards with eight touchdowns, and caught 36 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns.

2016 season

Johnson experienced a breakout season in 2016. He posted 15 straight games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage, matching the Lions' Barry Sanders (1997) for the longest single-season streak in NFL history. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October after averaging 145.2 rushing and receiving yards through five games along with five touchdowns. In Week 13 against the Redskins, Johnson recorded nine receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown and ran for 91 yards on 18 carries for another touchdown, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Johnson finished the season having carried 293 times for 1,239 rushing yards with 16 rushing touchdowns. He was ranked 7th in the NFL for rushing yards, and ranked second in the NFL for rushing touchdowns. Johnson also finished the season having caught 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns. He had the most receiving yards among running backs and ranked 38th among all NFL players in receiving yards. He was named First-team All-Pro. He was also ranked 12th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.

On January 1, 2017, Johnson left the field on a cart in the first quarter of the Cardinals final regular season game of 2016 against the Los Angeles Rams with an injured left knee after getting tackled awkwardly. The injury looked very serious but ended up only being an MCL sprain and wouldn't require surgery.

2017 season

On September 10, 2017 in the first regular season game against the Detroit Lions, Johnson injured his left wrist during a play in the third quarter, and left the game. The Cardinals lost the game 23−35. The next day, it was revealed that Johnson's wrist was dislocated, which required surgery, and 2-3 months to recover. He was placed on injured reserve on September 12, 2017.