Arizona Cardinals’ Andre Ellington no longer limited, has no problem with team adding a running back

TEMPE, Ariz. — Andre Ellington wasn’t supposed to be just a part of the Arizona Cardinals’ offense last season.

He was supposed to be the offense, with head coach Bruce Arians at one time saying Ellington would receive 25 to 30 touches per game.

Instead, the second-year pro battled various injuries throughout the season until a hip injury finally sidelined him for good in Week 13.

The running back finished the season with 660 yards and three touchdowns on the ground along with another 395 yards and two scores in the air.

A disastrous season? No, but not nearly the campaign everyone expected from the former sixth-round pick.

On the field for the first day of OTAs (organized team activities) Tuesday, Ellington proclaimed himself healthy and ready to go.

“I’m not limited in anything,” he said. “I’m out here running, running around, feeling good.”

None of Ellington’s injuries were the type that would keep him out long-term or inhibit him going forward. Once healed, he would essentially be the same player he was prior to getting hurt.

Still, much of the conversation this offseason was centered around the Cardinals’ desire to add another running back, be it a bigger back for short-yardage siguations or perhaps a star, like the Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, to potentially take over as the lead guy.

The team did eventually add a running back, choosing David Johnson out of Northern Iowa in the third-round of the NFL Draft.

Johnson sees himself as a running back who “can do it all,” and the Cardinals themselves have said he is a three-down back.

On the surface, that would seem to point to Ellington’s role shrinking a bit, though Arians said that’s not the case.

“It should remain the same,” he told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM about Ellington’s projected amount of touches. “He’s still a dynamic player every time he touches the ball.”

The 5-foot-9, 199-pound Ellington averaged 16.75 carries per game last season, a number that includes a five-carry performance against Atlanta, a game he left early due to injury. Add the 3.8 passes he caught per game — a number Arians said was limited due to the running back’s lack of practice time — and you aren’t necessarily far off from the preseason prediction for touches.

If not for the injuries, who knows what Ellington would have accomplished.

The running back, now entering his third season, admitted to being frustrated last season, but added that, “getting back out here, feeling good, running good is kind of great to see.”

The Cardinals surely feel the same way, and the fact that the organization went out and added a running back does not bother Ellington at all.

In fact, he’s all for it.

“Who doesn’t want help,” he asked. “It would be unrealistic to say that you could carry it by yourself.

“Once you get a lot of guys that can kind of help out, we’ll always take all hands on deck.”