TEMPE, Ariz. -- One David Johnson isn't enough for Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim.
He wants two.
Keim will be looking to find another running back with Johnson’s dynamic and versatile skill set to back up the third-year Pro Bowler when free agency begins March 9. Three of Johnson’s backups -- Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor -- are scheduled to become free agents, making running back depth a priority for the Cardinals.
"With David's skill set, the thing we'd like to do, ideally, is to find another guy who can do all those different things in terms of catching the football, being able to motion out of the backfield, play in the slot," Keim said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "David puts so much pressure on defenses because of the different things he can do, in terms of schematical mismatches. But there are very few players that have David's receiving skills.
"To have a back out there, whether it's in the draft or free agency, who can do those different things, to me, is very important."
But while finding the original David Johnson was like Keim hitting the lotto jackpot, trying to find a running back who can do everything Johnson does -- maybe not at his level but capably -- makes sense. Instead of two or three backups who can combine to fill all of Johnson's roles within Arizona's offense, having one running back to do it all could save Arizona a roster spot or two and give coach Bruce Arians more options with his offense.
To the rest of the league, Keim looks like a genius scientist who knew the secret formula before anyone else did by drafting Johnson in the third round in 2015. But even Keim has been impressed with how Johnson as evolved as a running back.
"The guy has really developed into a great football player," Keim said. "When you watched him in college, you saw his skill set more so on the perimeter, catching the football out of the backfield. What you didn't see as much (was) his ability to run behind his pads with the type of physicality that he has now, with his patience, with his ability to make those lateral jump cuts.
"He's done a great job of developing his skills, not only with his vision but his physical part of the game."
Johnson rushed for 1,239 yards in 2016, his first season as the Cardinals' full-time starter. He complemented that with 879 receiving yards to lead the NFL in yards from scrimmage. He nearly became the third player in league history to have 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
Johnson’s success, along with that of Dallas' Ezekiel Elliott and Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell, has restarted the conversation about the value of running backs.
That trio's success last season might send teams into a deeper dive looking for a star running back to offset their passing game, and this might be the year to draft one. Keim called this a "pretty good year" for running backs.
"I think it sort of peaks and valleys if special guys come out," Keim said. "If you think a guy's going to be special, you take him in the Top 10, if that's the kind of player he is. I think there was a run where some backs weren't potentially as good or have as quite the upside so, so-to-speak, they were devalued.
"People have seen that you can hit on backs in rounds three, four, five and six."
Keim did. But if he had the 2015 draft to do over, knowing what he knows now, he wouldn't have waited three rounds and 86 picks to draft Johnson.
"It's better to be lucky than good sometimes," Keim said. "It's one of those situations where, if I knew what David Johnson is, we probably would've taken him with the first pick."
