Need to find ways to get D. Johnson the ball

[sunsfan88]

He reminds me of Eddie Lacy.

 

[Jetstream Green]

DJ: The next OJ Anderson. His size and running style is going to make a bunch of people take bad angles -- he covers far more ground than it looks.

This... and I like the way they are easing the boy into the system and allowing him to get his protections and knowledge of the playbook as he adjusts properly

 

[Cardiac]

DJ has TD's receiving, KR and via the run in the first 2 games of his NFL career. That's 3 TD's in two games, as a rookie. Not sure what the record is but that's pretty remarkable.

 

[Cheesebeef]

DJ has TD's receiving, KR and via the run in the first 2 games of his NFL career. That's 3 TD's in two games, as a rookie. Not sure what the record is but that's pretty remarkable.

next week he throws one.

 

[Cardiac]

next week he throws one.

Yep and BA calls the play with 10 seconds left in the half from our own 10 yd line

Looks like we may need a PR man as well, I don't want P2 back there too often.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yep and BA calls the play with 10 seconds left in the half from our own 10 yd line

Looks like we may need a PR man as well, I don't want P2 back there too often.

me neither, especially considering we're carrying only 3 CBs.

 

[D-Dogg]

His speed for that size is nuts. It does take him a while to get up to that speed though.

And I still think he goes down way too easy between the tackles.

Give him time. I am happy with being patient.

Disagree; I think he is just patient. On both the passing TD and the kickoff return, he ran looking for the blocks, and once he saw daylight he hit the rocket boost.

I love the patience, the stride and the ability to turn it to 11 on a moment's notice.

My guess is that if he tried just flat out speed, he'd not be as successful, but combining the patience, vision and speed he...well...he does what he's doing.

 

[ajcardfan]

David Johnson is the first player in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the NFL to score a TD by rushing, receiving, and return in his first two games.

Holy crap, that is mind blowing! The closest thing I can think of for Cardinals rookies making a bang right off the bat is Anquan Boldin. But, I think Johnson tops Boldin by virtue of his versatility.

 

[conraddobler]

The return was awe inspiring not because it was particularly amazing looking in fact it just looked ho hum.

I am not going to jinx it by saying anything else yet. I have hopes though

 

[JCSunsfan]

Bears fans thought he looked really slow.

http://www.chicitysports.com/forum/...Arizona-Cardinals-(1-0)-12-00PM-CDT-FOX/page5

That guy might be the slowest kickoff returner I've ever seen and he went untouched for 108 yards

 

[splitsecond]

I really think cheesebeef's Herschel Walker comparison is spot on after yesterday. Good god does he look like him when he hits that extra gear. Keep him away from bobsleds BA!

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Bears fans thought he looked really slow.

http://www.chicitysports.com/forum/...Arizona-Cardinals-(1-0)-12-00PM-CDT-FOX/page5

That guy might be the slowest kickoff returner I've ever seen and he went untouched for 108 yards

To be fair DJ has such a smooth running style that it really doesn't look like he running all that fast. Though he recorded the fastest run speed in a game last week with like 23 mph.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Bears fans thought he looked really slow.

http://www.chicitysports.com/forum/...Arizona-Cardinals-(1-0)-12-00PM-CDT-FOX/page5

That guy might be the slowest kickoff returner I've ever seen and he went untouched for 108 yards

It's funny they say that because I thought Forte looked really slow...

 

[Milgod]

He reminds me of Eddie Lacy.

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[Russ Smith]

I really think cheesebeef's Herschel Walker comparison is spot on after yesterday. Good god does he look like him when he hits that extra gear. Keep him away from bobsleds BA!

He does although I hope he doesn't have the same bad habit Walker had of turning his back when he encountered a defender.

But he does have that same style of running. Walker was unreal in college, I remember his freshman year the coaches kept saying most of his big runs were plays where he didn't run where he was supposed to. When he got to the NFL that was the problem he had, he didn't have a clue how to pick a hole he just tried to run by or over people. Still a terrific player.

 

[Darkside]

To be fair DJ has such a smooth running style that it really doesn't look like he running all that fast. Though he recorded the fastest run speed in a game last week with like 23 mph.

This all day. It's his style and technique. He's moving alot faster than it looks, but when you compare it to others on the field it's evident he's really moving.

Saw a special once on these track stars who could have been Olympic athletes but elected to play football. The one I remember most was Darrell Green. They compared video of him running so effortlessly, compared to the guys trying to catch him on the football field. They did video cut ups and when you viewed only the speedster running away from the opponents, he doesn't appear to be going as fast, due to length of stride and excellent form and technique. The guys chasing looked like they were moving faster, even though they were losing ground, you could see them straining and pumping their legs and arms and desperately trying to catch up. I just remember him saying that when your form and technique is good, it will look effortless, like you're gliding on the grass. He said guys with bad form, grimacing and pumping their limbs like that, all they're doing is wasting energy. When you have good form, he said, you're like a coiled spring with no wasted energy. He said it looks effortless, but takes tremendous discipline.

That's what I saw from DJ yesterday. On the kickoff return he showed great patience, then exploded through the hole, switched the football to his off hand as he came through, and just glided down the field. Same thing with his TD run and all his other runs. Effortless.

That's form and technique that is hard to teach. He instinctively already knows that part of it. What will limit his playing time is blocking assignments, but also chip blocking, knowing when to release to the flats etc. Palmer is still the most important player on this team, so until he's up to speed I suspect his rookie year will be like Ellington's was, where everyone is screaming for more touches.

I think this is the best team we've ever had in Arizona, even with the concerns at LB. I get the worry, but honestly this is an offense driven league and our offense could become elite.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

This all day. It's his style and technique. He's moving alot faster than it looks, but when you compare it to others on the field it's evident he's really moving.

Saw a special once on these track stars who could have been Olympic athletes but elected to play football. The one I remember most was Darrell Green. They compared video of him running so effortlessly, compared to the guys trying to catch him on the football field. They did video cut ups and when you viewed only the speedster running away from the opponents, he doesn't appear to be going as fast, due to length of stride and excellent form and technique. The guys chasing looked like they were moving faster, even though they were losing ground, you could see them straining and pumping their legs and arms and desperately trying to catch up. I just remember him saying that when your form and technique is good, it will look effortless, like you're gliding on the grass. He said guys with bad form, grimacing and pumping their limbs like that, all they're doing is wasting energy. When you have good form, he said, you're like a coiled spring with no wasted energy. He said it looks effortless, but takes tremendous discipline.

That's what I saw from DJ yesterday. On the kickoff return he showed great patience, then exploded through the hole, switched the football to his off hand as he came through, and just glided down the field. Same thing with his TD run and all his other runs. Effortless.

That's form and technique that is hard to teach. He instinctively already knows that part of it. What will limit his playing time is blocking assignments, but also chip blocking, knowing when to release to the flats etc. Palmer is still the most important player on this team, so until he's up to speed I suspect his rookie year will be like Ellington's was, where everyone is screaming for more touches.

I think this is the best team we've ever had in Arizona, even with the concerns at LB. I get the worry, but honestly this is an offense driven league and our offense could become elite.

Good post. I like how quickly he seems to be able to switch gears as well. On the return for instance he really was just kind of jogging, but as soon as he hit the hole he just turned on the jets and left everyone behind. He did that on his TD run as well, just nice and patient until he saw the crease and then flipped that switch.

 

[GatorAZ]

Tyrann Mathieu
John Brown
David Johnson

Keim is killing the third round.

 

[Cardiac]

Tyrann Mathieu
John Brown
David Johnson

Keim is killing the third round.

Very true and doing pretty well in the 4th as well, Watford, Okafor and Gunther (so far) are all good to solid with Logan Thomas being the lone whiff.