Arizona Cardinals’ rookie RB David Johnson: ‘I feel like I can do it all’

Face it, you probably hadn’t heard of David Johnson before last Friday night.

The Arizona Cardinals drafted the running back from Northern Iowa with the 86th selection of the third round in hopes of bolstering their running game, which sputtered in 2014.

While not a household name, Johnson was one of the most complete backs available in this year’s draft. In four years in college, the 6-foot-1, 222-pound back ran for 4,687 yards and 49 touchdowns while catching 141 passes for 1,734 yards and 15 more scores.

With numbers like that on his résumé, it’s easy to see why the rookie is confident as he makes the jump to the NFL.

“I feel like I am a three-down running back,” he told Doug and Wolf Tuesday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I feel like I can do it all. I can run the ball on first and second down, I can get the short yardage on third and fourth and my ability to catch out of the backfield is another thing I’m really good at.

“I just feel like I can excel at everything.”

Johnson was durable during his college career — a fact which is more impressive when you realize got an astounding 1,007 touches on plays from scrimmage. You might think that a player who is used that much would shy away from physical contact.

Think again. He relishes the contact.

“I think you have to if you want to be a good running back, especially at the next level,” he said. “You kind of have to want the contact and show you’re an aggressive runner.”

Even though Johnson is brimming with confidence, he knows there is plenty he needs to work on as he starts his professional career.

“With me being so tall, it’s a little bit harder for me to get low, so that’s one thing I have to work on is getting my pad level lower, just to be able to blow by those ankle tackles and lower, smaller corners and DBs,” he said.

Johnson, along with the other six Cardinals draft picks and a host of undrafted free agents, will attend a rookie mini-camp starting this Friday at the team’s training facility in Tempe.