What It Means:

"That'll go game to game," Arians responded when asked about David Johnson's workload. "If he's hot, he's staying in there. But there's no script right now." While this gives Johnson truthers cause for pause on the surface, the smart money says this is no more than coachspeak from the Cardinals head honcho. The 24-year-old sophomore running back is widely expected to be a bell cow back this season, with Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington potentially seeing a series here and there. Johnson remains an elite RB1 as draft season approaches.

Among 44 running backs with at least 100 carries, David Johnson finished first in Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play last year. Our models currently project him to turn 210 rushing attempts into 930 yards and 9.24 touchdowns, while also catching 54 catches for 501 yards and 2.97 touchdowns.