(UPDATE: Chris Johnson has signed with Arizona, according to FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer. Original post appears below.)
Chris Johnson’s reported signing could complicate Cardinals backfield, fantasy situation
Chris Johnson passed his physical and reportedly signed with the Cardinals, while rookie David Johnson returned to practice Monday. We break down the fantasy implications.
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The Arizona Cardinals enter the second week of preseason with a muddled situation at running back. Andre Ellington is the current starter, but head coach Bruce Arians has been open about wanting more competition at the position. As such, the team has been courting veteran free agent Chris Johnson, who passed his physical Monday. Johnson is now free to sign with the team after being injured in a drive-by shooting this offseason.
In other Cardinals running back news, rookie David Johnson returned to practice Monday. Johnson has been sidelined for most of training camp with a hamstring injury. The third-round pick has been slow to recover and recently drew the ire of Arians, who said that “there’s no way in hell I’m putting him out there” after missing so many practices.
Fantasy impact: At 29 years old, Chris Johnson is far removed from his fantasy superstar days, but adding him could spell trouble for Ellington, who has failed to seize the starting job with authority like Arians was hoping for. If CJ signs, David Johnson could be further buried on the depth chart unless he shows quick progress in practice. We’ll see how this situation plays out through the preseason, but Ellington looks like a poor value at his current fourth-round ADP.
