David Johnson believes you should pick him No. 1 in fantasy football

Two years ago, David Johnson became a fantasy football hero.

Last season, he caused immediate anger.

And this year, the Arizona Cardinals running back wants fantasy GMs to trust him. Back from a wrist injury that kept him out of the 2017 season following a brief appearance in Week 1, Johnson is confident his fantasy stock should soar once more.

“Yes, I should definitely be the No. 1 pick,” he told Bickley & Marotta Monday on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station. “I got all the grief last year. Social media is blowing up right now questioning if they should pick me. Who should they pick?

“Definitely pick me.”

Life has changed for the Clinton, Iowa, native, who attended Northern Iowa and officially burst into mainstream football fame during 2016, his second NFL season. That year, he rushed for 1,239 yards and received 879 more. Johnson set an NFL record with at least 100 scrimmage yards in the first 15 games of a season before his finale was cut short due to an sprained MCL.

The running back recovered from that injury before hurting his wrist Week 1 of last year, which required surgery and ended his season.

As a top overall fantasy pick by many fans heading into 2017, that pushed Johnson right into the heat of social media — and real life — criticism.

“I’m telling you, I’ll literally get Rams fans, I’ll get 49ers, Seattle fans: ‘Man, you got to get, I’m telling you, three touchdowns, 150 yards, you guys got to lose by one. I just need you to do this but you still need to lose,'” Johnson said. “People, I think they feel more involved now.

“I’ll be running off the field or something, or out and about, and they’ll tell me stuff that — I have to kind of look back and see who it is talking about it because you would think they’re the GM or something (because of) the stuff they would say: how many touches you had, how many yards, how many catches.”

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