The Arizona Cardinals could be without Andre Ellington for a few weeks and fantasy football owners should look at Chris Johnson and David Johnson as handcuff options moving forward. Johnson and Johnson could be sleepers for the Cards, as the team wants to be balanced with Carson Palmer coming back from a serious knee injury.
Ellington went down with a knee sprain on Sunday and the news for the Cardinals was much more positive than initially expected. According to ESPN.com, Josina Anderson reports that Ellington will be out for two to three weeks with a Grade 1 PCL Sprain in his right knee. When Ellington went down in the game, the injury looked serious and some speculated that it could have been a tear. Clearly that is not the case, but either way the Cardinals will have to get things going without Ellington for a little bit of a stretch.
Ellington is injury prone and last season he dealt with a nagging foot injury that caused him to miss some time. Johnson and Johnson now will take over as the lead backs and they could be used as split options for Bruce Arians until Ellington can get back into the mix. NFL.com reports that Arians said that Chris Johnson would be the "lead dog" if Ellington had to miss time. Johnson signed in the offseason after not being brought back by the Jets and he has the potential to put up some solid numbers for fantasy owners.
Johnson stepped in and had 37 rushing yards on 10 carries for the Cardinals, while the other Johnson also was impressive. David Johnson had just five offensive snaps, but he made them count, as he ended up with one reception for 55 yards that ended in a touchdown. While that came late, Johnson could get a boost with a full week as the backup and he could be a solid handcuff for Chris Johnson. The Cardinals may end up being cautious with Ellington and that could lead to more playing time for both Johnson's.
Chris Johnson had 10 touches compared to the one for David, but things could even out a little more without Ellington in the mix. Johnson is the veteran and likely will have more carries while Ellington is out and he comes in after playing in all 16 games last season with the Jets and rushing for 663 yards. Johnson was a 1000-yard rush machine while with the Titans, and while he has dropped off since then, Arians and the Cardinals could find a spark with him leading the way over the next few weeks.
The Cardinals continue to have high expectations for John Brown after a strong rookie season and eh had a nice start in Week 1 against the Saints. Brown finished with four catches for 46 yards and added a touchdown and he now is one of the top receive options for the cards, as he has been more consistent than Michael Floyd dating back to last season.
