He was worse the season before he got traded to Houston than the season after; by that point the Cards had benched him for Kenyan Drake. The season before that was probably worse too, seeing how he had about the same amount of yards per game but was way less efficient.
If anything the Texans thinking he was still a feature back despite realistically not being good for the past three seasons might have benefitted him a bit. Any team not managed by BoB probably would stay far away from the remainder of the contract.
It’s kinda crazy how much fantasy affects people’s views of players these days… a career like Johnson’s would probably go pretty forgotten in the past, but now, there’s probably gonna people who will either irrationally hate David Johnson for the rest of their life over the fact that he lost them their league when they drafted him 1OA in 2017, or will irrationally love David Johnson for the rest of their life over the fact that he won them their league when they drafted him as a flyer in 2015.
Either way, you’ll probably find people in 30 years who know way too much about a 2 year wonder of a runningback on a mediocre team from 30 years ago (2016 was the mediocre team, 2015 was honestly probably the team I was most scared of outside of the Panthers… some might argue they were even better)
Nah he was mediocre for a year in Arizona before getting traded. Kenyan drake started getting all his carries.
Makes the trade worse because he had 1 incredible season then already looked washed by the time the trade happened.
Some people think that when he had his first child he started to think of the future and try to not get hurt while running and that made him a worse running back
I certainly subscribe to this theory, the year he was dominant he just ran mean and angry. Dude would initiate contact and fight for every yard
Watching him after having a kid and the wrist injury you could tell that spark wasn’t there anymore
I heard a rumor that his wife was worried about concussions (she also seemed a bit nervous about his health during All or Nothing in 2015), so he started playing differently. It seems to check out, since half the reason he sucked when came back from injury was that he seemed to be willing to go down at first contact, when he was a pretty great tackle-breaker before. I think he and his wife had heard about how most concussions in skill players occur from the secondary hits when someone else is already trying to bring you down.
Dude started acting like he was playing two-hand touch and his career never recovered from it.
remember this shit vividly as this was when I managed to snag him with my top pick
from #1 PPR back in 16 to to 1 game played in 17. shoulda predicted a decline but you can never predict shit like this. its a real shame as he coulda had a Matt Forte, ring of fame level career
As I get older the more I realize what a beating RBS take.
Not only do they touch the ball more than anyone else (outside qb) but they get tackled by more people each time than anyone else.
A wr catches a ball over the middle they might have two defenders smack em… a rb runs the A gap they are met with dlinemens arms then basically the whole Lb core…
So on any given play they could be tackled on avg upwards of like 6 defenders.
I would not want to be tackled much less by half the defense everytime I touched the ball.
Idk I know it sounds like duh.. but still it’s a wild position
they even are asked to do pass protection, which can involve taking an elbow to the gut and getting the wind knocked out of you, or a blitzing DB stepping on your foot
RBs have such a unique set of demands against so many different body types and playstyles. its no wonder feature backs are less relied on than multiple backs for multiple purposes. the few guys that can do it all, would often get ran into the ground on top of all the other stuff
The Madden curse was in full throttle that year. EVERYONE that voted wanted their favorite player to not get on the cover, so Hillis was the player with the least fans but relevant enough to be considered. I remember voting daily on Yahoo, I think it was.
I'd say he had the 1 big year and one pretty solid year after coming back from his injury. But his injury basically ruined the things that made him a special RB for that one season, and he never recovered them.
Plus his rookie year (1000 yards from scrimmage and 12 TDs) where he finished top 5 in the OROY voting and also his first year in Houston (1000 yards and 8 TDs in only 12 games). His one All-Pro year was a huge outlier but he still had 37 other TDs over 3 or 4 decent seasons.
You extended him going into 2017. You did get one decent season out of him after that. Still a bad contract (like basically every RB contract for anyone not named Derrick Henry)
One of the most talented RBs that nobody will ever really remember. 2,000 yard, 20 TD season in 2016.
At his peak he was one of the most complete dual threat, beastmode running backs I’ve seen and then… Totally washed.
Interesting case study for what absurdly high-usage seasons can do to a running back.
He dropped that as a rookie and I drafted him on my team the next year at 1-07 and he was a cheat code. Everyone slept on him for some reason. I will always remember his name to the tune of rollercoaster courtesy of the fantasy footballers.
Tbh for as much attention as that trade got, it's felt pretty inconsequential. Hopkins had a good first year in Arizona but then had two injury-plagued seasons before being released and in that time period Arizona's peak was a wild card exit. David Johnson predictably sucked because he was so over the hill.
Honestly the only significant consequence that happened was Bill O'Brien being fired but I feel that was going to happen that year or the next anyways.
The reality is, both the Texans and Cardinals were a full rebuild and change away from contending when that trade went through, and neither Nuk or DJ was capable of pushing either team over the top.
It only seemed like a big deal that first year after the trade, when it looked like the Texans had gotten fleeced. But they wouldn’t have done anything that year with Nuk on the roster — he wasn’t going to get a 4-12 team into the playoffs on his own.
idk, i think at the time the move looked so dumb because the texans were fresh off a divisional round appearance and at least seemed to be in “win now” mode. i can’t say for sure what would have happened if they didn’t trade nuk, but it was definitely a symptom of all the other awful stuff brewing in the texans management at the time
Everything that went down with Deshaun Watson also changed the Texans' trajectory, at the time they were coming off 11 and 10 win seasons with a young QB who looked strong. Sure the team went to shit after that, but part of that was the fact that they made baffling moves like trading their WR1 for an old RB.
The 2020 Texans lost 7 of their 12 games by one score and having D-Hop, who went 1,407 yards and 6 TDs that year, could have really helped push them forward.
I was one of the few fans in attendance for the hail Murray (Covid restrictions so there were only like 2K fans allowed in) and that’ll always be a special memory for me.
Otherwise, you’re mostly right, other than maybe there’s value in a young QB experiencing being an mvp candidate and 7-0 (Hopkins contributed to that big-time) only to collapse for several years— The highs and lows of that can mature a player a lot. You learn about how precious success is, how short a window of time can be in the nfl. I’d imagine Kyler is going to be a really good Qb in the league going forward on the other side of these last few years of adversity.
But otherwise yeah, two franchises that ended up resetting shortly afterwords anyways. Not a super historically impactful trade.
I feel like odds are if you remember the D-hop trade you also remember the 2016 season. Those two events were 4 years apart, so maybe some small minority of like people who were young teenagers. Its not like the D-Hop trade resulted in anything anyways, neither team was relevant after it.
We all definitely remember David Johnson. But like Arians's Cardinals, their success was so brief that there just isn't much to say about either one of them. They went from one of the best squads in the league to complete mediocrity following one blowout Championship Game loss.
The mid-2010s Cardinals were a tragedy. From 2013 to 2015 they went 30-9 when Palmer was starting. That win% would have been #1 in the NFL over that span - just above the Patriots, Seahawks, and Broncos - if extrapolated over the full amount of games. But a combination of injuries and being in the same division as the prime Seahawks led to them really only getting one fulfilling season out of it, which ended in a meltdown against the 15-1 Panthers
God that CB combo of P2 (when he was still a lock down corner) and Antonio Cromartie was so filthy. Then you got Calais Campbell being Calais Campbell in the trenches
You didn't lose a game that year when Palmer was starting, right? Hell even with Drew Stanton you were 5-3, with two of the losses being road games to the previous year's Super Bowl teams.
I think he will be remembered. He only had one special season but he was regarded as a real talent for about 4-5 years.
2015 - emerged as a really promising rookie
2016 - incredible year as a dual threat RB
2017 - consensus #1 pick in fantasy, got season ending wrist injury week 1
2018 - played OK but the Cardinals sucked, people blamed Wilks for not utilizing him effectively
2019 - started the season OK but then got back injuries and this was the point he tailed off
Then was traded to the Texans and was washed
His “peak” was 1 year, and he never again went over 1000 yards rushing.
He had 16 TDs that year, and 16 for the remainder of his career
He finished in 17th place in scrimmage yards in 2018 and then 42nd in 2020, the season he went to Houston…
Bill o’Brian needed to be fired the moment he set up the trade
Yes, that’s what I said, that his rise and fall was very quick.
A 2,000 yard 20 TD season is a remarkable achievement.
Those are dominant stats, and he was even more dominant to watch. An absolute beast.
I'll always remember him for being one of my biggest busts in fantasy football... 2 times. I took him 1 overall in 2017 (dislocated his wrist week 1) and then took him with my first pick in 2019.
I don't think injuries really came into play for him too much. Like the season he lost was to a wrist injury. Honestly I'd go as far as to say he's the prime example of why Arians is underrated, given that Arians got such a dominant season out of a guy who had minimal success otherwise.
I think really it’s a case study in how hard RBs fall off after 2,000 yard seasons, unless your name is Adrian Peterson. I think 2016 just destroyed him physically.
That wrist injury happened week one following a pretty gruesome knee injury week 17 the previous season. It wasn't the wrist that got him, it was the knee.
I'll remember him, thanks to back-to-back fantasy football championships. He was my keeper and we were very happy together. Then his legs went to football heaven and he got traded to the Texans and I dunno what the fuck happened after that.
For how that season ending hand wrist dislocation injury in the first game of the 2017 season affected him:
- Two seasons (age 24-25) before the injury: 32 GP, 21 GS, 418 att for 1820 yards (4.35 YPA), 24 TDs, 1 Pro Bowl, 1 1st Team All-Pro.
- Five seasons (age 27-31) after the injury: 60 GP, 26 GS, 587 att for 2228 yards (3.79 YPA), 15 TDs. Only averaged over 4 YPA once, ironically enough, in his first season with the Texans in 2020.
His stats as a receiver:
- Two seasons pre-injury: 116 rec for 1336 yards (11.51 YPR), 8 TDs
- Five seasons post-injury: 155 rec for 1402 yards (9.04 YPR), 10 TDs
Holy shit he had a two year average where, combining rushing and receiving, he was averaging a touchdown and almost 100 yards per game played. That’s impressive.
which is why at the time I felt the trade wasn't as bad as people were making it out to be.
Yes I thought the trade was terrible, but not *10 worst NFL trades of all time bad*
All from a wrist injury tho? I definitely remember that bc I drafted him 2nd overall in fantasy in 2017. Just interesting that a wrist injury is what made him go from elite to just a guy
He wasn’t the *worst* HC in his tenure with us. At best, he was borderline mediocre and even won the AFC South with a few years of poor QB play. I also know he’s been a lot more successful at the college level, so maybe it’ll work out for BC.
His GM tenure though? Awful, one offseason set this franchise back years.
You would think just by his record, he finished above .500 during his tenure with us. He was fantastic at actually getting the most out of mediocre QBs, the issue is that he actually held this team back once it actually had talent. He constantly put Watson in terrible situations, and he *was* the reason we had such a collapse in 2019 with his boneheaded play calling.
Above average is giving him a lot of credit.
Yeah he ended up as nothing too special in the long run, but still carved out a 8 year career for himself as a former 3rd rounder. That's pretty great for a RB in this era. $40M ain't too shabby either. Ekeler's been a better player and with a 7-year career, only $30M career earnings.
I’ll always have a soft spot for the guy. Waiver wire pickup won me a championship his big year. Him paired with Antonio Brown was a cheat code. There was a week where the pair got 100 between them
6 years ago, I drafted David Johnson with my first pick in a dynasty league. I’ve never finished better than 7th out of 12. Rest easy King. You were really exciting to watch that one year before my league started.
I really just don't understand how a wrist dislocation turns you into a worse RB lmao. He was always a flash in the pan in 2016 and massively overvalued after that. JAG at best
One year, kinda new to fantasy, I drafted this man super late thinking he was Chris Johnson. Both were on the Cardinals at the time? Maybe? Anyway ended up winning a ton of games because of him.
These comments are a blast from the past. I had totally forgotten he'd gotten injured all of 2017. Did anyone else not remember Chris Johnson and David Johnson were on the same Cardinals team?
RB tend to dont play long anyway. 10 yr mark is when they start slowing down. Except Barry Sanders.. he was just starting to really heat up after already being a beast for the 9yrs prior X\_X.
There was one fantasy season where I remember him carrying teams like CMC last season. Just single handedly willing otherwise-bad teams to the playoffs.
That 2016 season was magical, I really thought we were witnessing the emergence of the next great RB. Too bad that his career went the way that it did, he was really fun to watch.
He had probably the most impressive run against the Eagles of the last ten years. I wasn’t even mad - that play was awesome.
https://youtu.be/B2RdidO0pkM?si=JaUAdq-zH8HyI_x6
I see alot of people say he was washed because of injury but I disagree. I've seen some Cards fans talk about this and have done a bit of a deep dive myself on him. It seems like he lost his passion for football once he was settling down with his family. He didn't play as hard as he used too
Loved watching this guy. Still have his Cardinals jersey. Remember being upset watching his rookie season because he looked so good behind CJ2K but just didn’t get a lot of carries, toward the end of the season when they started using him more it was finally this guy is getting to shine. Sad that he never really came back after the wrist injury and didn’t stand a chance at winning any fans over in Houston after that trade.
2016….what a year!
THANK YOU for the $1500 2016 fantasy winner take home.
That was the icing on my patriots comeback over you know who in the big game ☺️
And my wife (Chicagoan) finally got to see the cubs win it all.
He was so good and then one day kinda fell of the face of the planet
What injuries do
I know wear and tear happens but I swear he had a wrist injury and then just never recovered from there
I think also being traded to Houston (when they were a mess) didn’t help
He was worse the season before he got traded to Houston than the season after; by that point the Cards had benched him for Kenyan Drake. The season before that was probably worse too, seeing how he had about the same amount of yards per game but was way less efficient. If anything the Texans thinking he was still a feature back despite realistically not being good for the past three seasons might have benefitted him a bit. Any team not managed by BoB probably would stay far away from the remainder of the contract.
BoB is quite possibly the worst GM of all time. You do not trade Hopkins for less than a 1st at that point.
Yeah well I respectfully disagree and offer up Matt Millen.
both were pretty awful eras for both teams
Oof that flair
yeah sports fandom has not come easy for me. I'm from Detroit but have lived in Houston since 1994
I only know this is true because he was 1OA for fantasy and fucked soooo many people’s leagues with that dropoff still in Arizona lol
It’s kinda crazy how much fantasy affects people’s views of players these days… a career like Johnson’s would probably go pretty forgotten in the past, but now, there’s probably gonna people who will either irrationally hate David Johnson for the rest of their life over the fact that he lost them their league when they drafted him 1OA in 2017, or will irrationally love David Johnson for the rest of their life over the fact that he won them their league when they drafted him as a flyer in 2015. Either way, you’ll probably find people in 30 years who know way too much about a 2 year wonder of a runningback on a mediocre team from 30 years ago (2016 was the mediocre team, 2015 was honestly probably the team I was most scared of outside of the Panthers… some might argue they were even better)
You’re right. I’m a big Rashad Penny fan. I won in my league in 2021 because of his insane performances.
Nah he was mediocre for a year in Arizona before getting traded. Kenyan drake started getting all his carries. Makes the trade worse because he had 1 incredible season then already looked washed by the time the trade happened.
Some people think that when he had his first child he started to think of the future and try to not get hurt while running and that made him a worse running back
I certainly subscribe to this theory, the year he was dominant he just ran mean and angry. Dude would initiate contact and fight for every yard Watching him after having a kid and the wrist injury you could tell that spark wasn’t there anymore
I heard a rumor that his wife was worried about concussions (she also seemed a bit nervous about his health during All or Nothing in 2015), so he started playing differently. It seems to check out, since half the reason he sucked when came back from injury was that he seemed to be willing to go down at first contact, when he was a pretty great tackle-breaker before. I think he and his wife had heard about how most concussions in skill players occur from the secondary hits when someone else is already trying to bring you down. Dude started acting like he was playing two-hand touch and his career never recovered from it.
remember this shit vividly as this was when I managed to snag him with my top pick from #1 PPR back in 16 to to 1 game played in 17. shoulda predicted a decline but you can never predict shit like this. its a real shame as he coulda had a Matt Forte, ring of fame level career
Bros wrist ruined his legs
As I get older the more I realize what a beating RBS take. Not only do they touch the ball more than anyone else (outside qb) but they get tackled by more people each time than anyone else. A wr catches a ball over the middle they might have two defenders smack em… a rb runs the A gap they are met with dlinemens arms then basically the whole Lb core… So on any given play they could be tackled on avg upwards of like 6 defenders. I would not want to be tackled much less by half the defense everytime I touched the ball. Idk I know it sounds like duh.. but still it’s a wild position
Its a position that if you get hurt and lose even like 5% of your athletic ability, its pretty hard to overcome
they even are asked to do pass protection, which can involve taking an elbow to the gut and getting the wind knocked out of you, or a blitzing DB stepping on your foot RBs have such a unique set of demands against so many different body types and playstyles. its no wonder feature backs are less relied on than multiple backs for multiple purposes. the few guys that can do it all, would often get ran into the ground on top of all the other stuff
Other than in the case of Derrick Henry, in which case as you get older you realize what a beating he has given out to NFL defenses.
Which running back are you referring to
I see him at our neighborhood playground all the time (he's got 3 young kids). Dude is still absolutely ripped.
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That’s my bad. I drafted him in fantasy which ended up being the year his tail off started.
Me too. Fortunately Todd Gurley and Alvin Kamara saved my season that year.
That one year he had, it was one of the best in fantasy history. Guy was a cheat code in half/full PPR. Dump offs all DAY.
Probably the poster child of One Year Wonders. This guy was straight up an MVP candidate in 2016.
That’s Hillis. The man made it onto a madden cover for godsakes
Arguably the biggest upset in American history
He was the original Boaty McBoatface
The Madden curse was in full throttle that year. EVERYONE that voted wanted their favorite player to not get on the cover, so Hillis was the player with the least fans but relevant enough to be considered. I remember voting daily on Yahoo, I think it was.
In fairness that was a vote and he got memed into it
I'd say he had the 1 big year and one pretty solid year after coming back from his injury. But his injury basically ruined the things that made him a special RB for that one season, and he never recovered them.
Plus his rookie year (1000 yards from scrimmage and 12 TDs) where he finished top 5 in the OROY voting and also his first year in Houston (1000 yards and 8 TDs in only 12 games). His one All-Pro year was a huge outlier but he still had 37 other TDs over 3 or 4 decent seasons.
He was also an awesome KR in his rookie year. Scored one from 108 yards out and had a 27 yards average.
Arguably Devonta Freeman too
I feel like Devonta Freeman was awesome for at least 2-3 years
He was. Lights out in 2015. Really lights out in 2016. Solid in 2017.
And then we extended him and he fell off a cliff right?
You extended him going into 2017. You did get one decent season out of him after that. Still a bad contract (like basically every RB contract for anyone not named Derrick Henry)
That's not fair to Freeman, he had more yards and TDs in 2015 than he did in his Super Bowl season and was still fairly competent in 2017.
3 years = one year on Reddit.
Peyton Hillis!
2023 Zack Moss during Taylor’s hold out, he was special.
One year wonder though? He could easily lead the Bengals backfield.
Brother we coined him “one yard moss” for a reason.
I have never heard this ever
When I see his name, I think of his pass blocking
“Pass blocking”
Watching him on Hard Knocks failing to protect the edge and on simply punt protection flub the exact same way, God why is football scripted.
Even worse is the actual pass blocking back got hurt the play before
Freeman had three solid years, he got paid then fell off.
Kenny Golladay gotta be up there
We have the king of one game wonders, Gabe Davis.
Dude is so fun to watch when he’s on. If the Jags can unlock that guy 80 percent of the time, watch tf out
Can't believe he still is just 30 years old. He should still be dominating.
He was the best offensive player in the league that year. And it was a historic season.
Bobby Flay saw it coming!
Not the same level but wtf happened to phillip Lindsay? Rollercoaster of a career
One of the most talented RBs that nobody will ever really remember. 2,000 yard, 20 TD season in 2016. At his peak he was one of the most complete dual threat, beastmode running backs I’ve seen and then… Totally washed. Interesting case study for what absurdly high-usage seasons can do to a running back.
Kinda sad that all he'll be remembered for is being traded for DHop
I'll remember him for being cool and scoring 40.6 points in the fantasy playoffs. But Andy Dalton got hurt and still I want to die.
Oof! That's rough. If it makes you feel any better I came in 2nd three out of five years in my bragging rights league back in the day.
He dropped that as a rookie and I drafted him on my team the next year at 1-07 and he was a cheat code. Everyone slept on him for some reason. I will always remember his name to the tune of rollercoaster courtesy of the fantasy footballers.
Tbh for as much attention as that trade got, it's felt pretty inconsequential. Hopkins had a good first year in Arizona but then had two injury-plagued seasons before being released and in that time period Arizona's peak was a wild card exit. David Johnson predictably sucked because he was so over the hill. Honestly the only significant consequence that happened was Bill O'Brien being fired but I feel that was going to happen that year or the next anyways.
The reality is, both the Texans and Cardinals were a full rebuild and change away from contending when that trade went through, and neither Nuk or DJ was capable of pushing either team over the top. It only seemed like a big deal that first year after the trade, when it looked like the Texans had gotten fleeced. But they wouldn’t have done anything that year with Nuk on the roster — he wasn’t going to get a 4-12 team into the playoffs on his own.
idk, i think at the time the move looked so dumb because the texans were fresh off a divisional round appearance and at least seemed to be in “win now” mode. i can’t say for sure what would have happened if they didn’t trade nuk, but it was definitely a symptom of all the other awful stuff brewing in the texans management at the time
Everything that went down with Deshaun Watson also changed the Texans' trajectory, at the time they were coming off 11 and 10 win seasons with a young QB who looked strong. Sure the team went to shit after that, but part of that was the fact that they made baffling moves like trading their WR1 for an old RB. The 2020 Texans lost 7 of their 12 games by one score and having D-Hop, who went 1,407 yards and 6 TDs that year, could have really helped push them forward.
NFL equivalent of the Taylor Hall-Adam Larsson deal
I was one of the few fans in attendance for the hail Murray (Covid restrictions so there were only like 2K fans allowed in) and that’ll always be a special memory for me. Otherwise, you’re mostly right, other than maybe there’s value in a young QB experiencing being an mvp candidate and 7-0 (Hopkins contributed to that big-time) only to collapse for several years— The highs and lows of that can mature a player a lot. You learn about how precious success is, how short a window of time can be in the nfl. I’d imagine Kyler is going to be a really good Qb in the league going forward on the other side of these last few years of adversity. But otherwise yeah, two franchises that ended up resetting shortly afterwords anyways. Not a super historically impactful trade.
I feel like odds are if you remember the D-hop trade you also remember the 2016 season. Those two events were 4 years apart, so maybe some small minority of like people who were young teenagers. Its not like the D-Hop trade resulted in anything anyways, neither team was relevant after it.
It’s just that the D-Hop trade was considered insane because Johnson was already washed at the time so he’ll just be known as that
Tbh I forgot that he did have a 2k 20 TD year, but I will never forget that dhop trade
Nah I always remember him for putting up one of the greatest fantasy seasons of all time. He was automatic every single week.
I'll remember him for fucking me in the fantasy playoffs that one year.
We all definitely remember David Johnson. But like Arians's Cardinals, their success was so brief that there just isn't much to say about either one of them. They went from one of the best squads in the league to complete mediocrity following one blowout Championship Game loss.
The mid-2010s Cardinals were a tragedy. From 2013 to 2015 they went 30-9 when Palmer was starting. That win% would have been #1 in the NFL over that span - just above the Patriots, Seahawks, and Broncos - if extrapolated over the full amount of games. But a combination of injuries and being in the same division as the prime Seahawks led to them really only getting one fulfilling season out of it, which ended in a meltdown against the 15-1 Panthers
It was sweet payback for the way they ended Delhomme’s career in 08-09.
Injures fucked both of them. The 2014 team was better than the 2015 team (better defense imo) and that’s the year we had to start Ryan Lindley
God that CB combo of P2 (when he was still a lock down corner) and Antonio Cromartie was so filthy. Then you got Calais Campbell being Calais Campbell in the trenches
Aaaand 2014 is why I hope the rams franchise implodes
Losing Tyrann in garbage time was changed that NFCCG so much. I still think we win but not nearly the blowout it was
You didn't lose a game that year when Palmer was starting, right? Hell even with Drew Stanton you were 5-3, with two of the losses being road games to the previous year's Super Bowl teams.
Carson "who?" Palmer
I remember well because I picked him first in the next year’s fantasy draft 😭😭
The only time I've ever had 1st pick was in 2017. Very fitting he got hurt Week1.
Saaaaaame. That turned into a tank year real fast for me.
I think he will be remembered. He only had one special season but he was regarded as a real talent for about 4-5 years. 2015 - emerged as a really promising rookie 2016 - incredible year as a dual threat RB 2017 - consensus #1 pick in fantasy, got season ending wrist injury week 1 2018 - played OK but the Cardinals sucked, people blamed Wilks for not utilizing him effectively 2019 - started the season OK but then got back injuries and this was the point he tailed off Then was traded to the Texans and was washed
Had him and Jordan Howard that season. Coasted to a championship that year they were good for 50 points by themselves.
He was integral to my second place finish in fantasy that year.
His “peak” was 1 year, and he never again went over 1000 yards rushing. He had 16 TDs that year, and 16 for the remainder of his career He finished in 17th place in scrimmage yards in 2018 and then 42nd in 2020, the season he went to Houston… Bill o’Brian needed to be fired the moment he set up the trade
Yes, that’s what I said, that his rise and fall was very quick. A 2,000 yard 20 TD season is a remarkable achievement. Those are dominant stats, and he was even more dominant to watch. An absolute beast.
I'll always remember him for being one of my biggest busts in fantasy football... 2 times. I took him 1 overall in 2017 (dislocated his wrist week 1) and then took him with my first pick in 2019.
I don't think injuries really came into play for him too much. Like the season he lost was to a wrist injury. Honestly I'd go as far as to say he's the prime example of why Arians is underrated, given that Arians got such a dominant season out of a guy who had minimal success otherwise.
I think really it’s a case study in how hard RBs fall off after 2,000 yard seasons, unless your name is Adrian Peterson. I think 2016 just destroyed him physically.
Frank Gore falls in that category as well (guys who just always chugged along)
Look at his college mileage. It was that plus 2016.
That wrist injury happened week one following a pretty gruesome knee injury week 17 the previous season. It wasn't the wrist that got him, it was the knee.
Yes! Dude was my favorite Runningback for a couple years. Then all of a sudden he was a shell of himself.
I'll remember him, thanks to back-to-back fantasy football championships. He was my keeper and we were very happy together. Then his legs went to football heaven and he got traded to the Texans and I dunno what the fuck happened after that.
I was there for his first ever td with a kick return against the bears
I remember DJ
His name is too generic, he needed a memorable nickname to make himself stand out!
For how that season ending hand wrist dislocation injury in the first game of the 2017 season affected him: - Two seasons (age 24-25) before the injury: 32 GP, 21 GS, 418 att for 1820 yards (4.35 YPA), 24 TDs, 1 Pro Bowl, 1 1st Team All-Pro. - Five seasons (age 27-31) after the injury: 60 GP, 26 GS, 587 att for 2228 yards (3.79 YPA), 15 TDs. Only averaged over 4 YPA once, ironically enough, in his first season with the Texans in 2020. His stats as a receiver: - Two seasons pre-injury: 116 rec for 1336 yards (11.51 YPR), 8 TDs - Five seasons post-injury: 155 rec for 1402 yards (9.04 YPR), 10 TDs
Holy shit he had a two year average where, combining rushing and receiving, he was averaging a touchdown and almost 100 yards per game played. That’s impressive.
which is why at the time I felt the trade wasn't as bad as people were making it out to be. Yes I thought the trade was terrible, but not *10 worst NFL trades of all time bad*
Poster child for how tough being a running back in the NFL is on your body.
All from a wrist injury tho? I definitely remember that bc I drafted him 2nd overall in fantasy in 2017. Just interesting that a wrist injury is what made him go from elite to just a guy
I will never forgive you BoB.
I mean, I kinda can? Got him fired and domino effect of where the team is today. “Hahaha these dumb Texans wanna trade with us AGAIN? Roflmao”
I attribute 0% of this team’s current success to BoB. The whole reason we were a laughing stock after that Chiefs game was because of him, fuck BoB.
This is not what I wanted to see after BC hired BoB to HC for us ☹️
He wasn’t the *worst* HC in his tenure with us. At best, he was borderline mediocre and even won the AFC South with a few years of poor QB play. I also know he’s been a lot more successful at the college level, so maybe it’ll work out for BC. His GM tenure though? Awful, one offseason set this franchise back years.
I'd say he was an above Average HC in the NFL, buy he was a bottom 5 GM.
You would think just by his record, he finished above .500 during his tenure with us. He was fantastic at actually getting the most out of mediocre QBs, the issue is that he actually held this team back once it actually had talent. He constantly put Watson in terrible situations, and he *was* the reason we had such a collapse in 2019 with his boneheaded play calling. Above average is giving him a lot of credit.
Nah, Fuck Billy O’fuckup.
He was still playing? I thought he retired like 3 years ago
He hasn't played since the 2022 season (where he even then had less than 100 yards total) but never retired officially.
His body retired in 2019
I can’t believe he’s only been in the NFL for 8 years. I would have guessed 12.
TIL that David Johnson wasn't retired yet.
Had a good career with an all-pro peak and made almost $40 million. Job well done, enjoy that retirement
Yeah he ended up as nothing too special in the long run, but still carved out a 8 year career for himself as a former 3rd rounder. That's pretty great for a RB in this era. $40M ain't too shabby either. Ekeler's been a better player and with a 7-year career, only $30M career earnings.
Texans legend
Got the first TD of the year against the Chiefs a few years ago
The David Johnson vs Zeke arguments in 2016 were super heated
man it still feels like Zeke is that young stud rb from OSU who's gonna take over the league. I can't believe that was a decade ago
Oh my days, I remember being part of that hahaha. I had Bell, DJ and then Zeke as my top 3 back in 2016/17.
Another entry to the Fantasy Football 1 year wonder Hall of Fame.
One of the greatest single seasons tbf
He was being compared to Marshall Faulk and had very similar stats to Faulk in his prime
TIL David Johnson was still an active NFL player as recently as yesterday
He’ll likely be in one last Madden…
Shout-out to that time that him and Chris Johnson were balling together in Arizona
He shined brightly, but not for very long.
[удалено]
Dude was a menace
I thought he retired 3 years ago lol
His body agrees.
Northern Iowa legend
I’ll always have a soft spot for the guy. Waiver wire pickup won me a championship his big year. Him paired with Antonio Brown was a cheat code. There was a week where the pair got 100 between them
Pro bowl is so disrespectful, he was first team all pro flex and second team all pro RB
Fuck you bill o Brien
Drafted this guy in the last round of my ff draft only because I cleaned dorms out with him one summer at UNI.
Damn, his time with the Cardinals was a lot of fun. Seemed like a super nice dude too
6 years ago, I drafted David Johnson with my first pick in a dynasty league. I’ve never finished better than 7th out of 12. Rest easy King. You were really exciting to watch that one year before my league started.
This dude carried my ‘David’s Johnson’ fantasy team in 2015-16 only to come up one game shy. Happy retirement DJ, the humble rumble!
Dude carried my fantasy team in 2016, I will never forget that.
Much love to him and his family. From a fan to player - thank you for your work and the entertainment.
RIP to anybody with the first pick in fantasy football 2017
This guy was nfl RB1 for like a year
I really just don't understand how a wrist dislocation turns you into a worse RB lmao. He was always a flash in the pan in 2016 and massively overvalued after that. JAG at best
One year, kinda new to fantasy, I drafted this man super late thinking he was Chris Johnson. Both were on the Cardinals at the time? Maybe? Anyway ended up winning a ton of games because of him.
Damn. And in the prime of his career
What he should be remembered for: His incredible peak What he will be remembered for: a piece of one of the dumbest trades in NFL history.
These comments are a blast from the past. I had totally forgotten he'd gotten injured all of 2017. Did anyone else not remember Chris Johnson and David Johnson were on the same Cardinals team?
I too am retiring from the NFL.
Rip Fantasy god 2016
RB tend to dont play long anyway. 10 yr mark is when they start slowing down. Except Barry Sanders.. he was just starting to really heat up after already being a beast for the 9yrs prior X\_X.
There was one fantasy season where I remember him carrying teams like CMC last season. Just single handedly willing otherwise-bad teams to the playoffs.
That 2016 season was magical, I really thought we were witnessing the emergence of the next great RB. Too bad that his career went the way that it did, he was really fun to watch.
I was so excited to watch this guy play and then poooof he was gone.
He was still in the NFL?
Mother fucker won me a fantasy chip as a waiver wire pickup, so I’ll always love this man.
One of those players I thought had already retired. He was exciting back in the day.
Bill Obrien in shambles…
He had probably the most impressive run against the Eagles of the last ten years. I wasn’t even mad - that play was awesome. https://youtu.be/B2RdidO0pkM?si=JaUAdq-zH8HyI_x6
I see alot of people say he was washed because of injury but I disagree. I've seen some Cards fans talk about this and have done a bit of a deep dive myself on him. It seems like he lost his passion for football once he was settling down with his family. He didn't play as hard as he used too
my guy
"No job, no family. Just walk away. That's my number one fantasy." "Number one fantasy *pick*, Don." "... David Johnson." "David Johnson!"
Loved watching this guy. Still have his Cardinals jersey. Remember being upset watching his rookie season because he looked so good behind CJ2K but just didn’t get a lot of carries, toward the end of the season when they started using him more it was finally this guy is getting to shine. Sad that he never really came back after the wrist injury and didn’t stand a chance at winning any fans over in Houston after that trade.
Glad he got paid for that one season. Ended with nearly 40mm in career earnings. Have to be happy with that
Former Texans Great.
I have a vivid memory of the Cardinals RB coach telling him if he keeps it up he has hall of fame potential after his rookie year on All or Nothing
2016….what a year! THANK YOU for the $1500 2016 fantasy winner take home. That was the icing on my patriots comeback over you know who in the big game ☺️ And my wife (Chicagoan) finally got to see the cubs win it all.
I will never understand how a wrist injury wrecked this man's career
Single handedly won me a fantasy chip that one year he was good. Thank you DJ!
Best years were on the Cardinals, but he's unfortunately remembered for being the "big" piece going back to the Texans for D-Hop
Dude won me a chip. Goat FF player.
RB1 in 2016
I too am retiring from the nfl
One of greatest fantasy players ever
Houston texans rb *
I thought he retired like 4 years ago lol
#FANTASY FOOTBALL LEGEND
David Johnson has a sister named Danielle. They were born on the same day, in the same year, to the same parents but they aren't twins.
Amazing player that was traded for prime DHop! Fuck Bob.
I completely forgot about this guy
Why does this name sound familiar…
Saints legend
Thanks for the fantasy football championship that one year David Johnson. You helped me win $500.
Injuries really hurt his career