David Johnson is a special player. He's a rare talent that is just as good running the ball out of the backfield and catching it out on the perimeter, and last year he put together a truly special season. Johnson recorded at least 100 yards from scrimmage in each of the Cardinals' first 15 games, seeing his streak snapped only by an injury in Week 17.
In 2017, Johnson is looking to one-up that performance. In order to showcase his versatility even more, Johnson has set the goal of becoming the third player in NFL history to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and at least 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
"That's my No. 1 goal -- to have 1,000 receiving and 1,000 rushing -- just because two guys have done it and also because I was so close last year," Johnson said on CBS Sports Radio's Tiki and Tierney. "Unfortunately with the injury, I wasn't able to do it. I felt like I would have had a chance to do it. I was feeling good that game. I was having a good game until the injury. But I know for a fact that's one of my main goals."
The only other players to accomplish this feat are former 49ers running back Roger Craig (1989) and former Rams running back Marshall Faulk (1999 with the Greatest Show on Turf). It's a nice coincidence that Cardinals GM Steve Keim compared Johnson to Faulk prior to last season. Johnson himself actually came pretty close to doing it last season, though.
| Player | Year | Tm | Att | Yds | Rec | Yds |
| Marshall Faulk | 1999 | STL | 253 | 1,381 | 87 | 1,048 |
| Roger Craig | 1985 | SFO | 214 | 1,050 | 92 | 1,016 |
| Marshall Faulk | 1998 | IND | 324 | 1,319 | 86 | 908 |
| David Johnson | 2016 | ARI | 293 | 1,239 | 80 | 879 |
| Le'Veon Bell | 2014 | PIT | 290 | 1,361 | 83 | 854 |
Finishing just 121 receiving yards away is pretty damn close, and if the Cards up his volume just a little bit, he should be able to reach the plateau. How wise it is to give him more than 370 touches in a season is, well that's another question, but Johnson certainly has the ability to make this happen. With the way the Cardinals' offense is set up to run almost exclusively through him, we shouldn't be surprised if, at the end of the 2017 season, this list has three names instead of two.
