Andre Ellington still to be 'focal point' of offense, more RB talk for Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians talked all last offseason about Andre Ellington becoming the featured player in the offense. Injuries limited him from early on and end ended up on injured reserve after 12 games.

Entering 2015, it doesn't appear that Arians will pull back on what they want Ellington to do.

Speaking at the NFL Combine, Arians said "hopefully (Ellington's) role expands" in 2015.

"We didn't do everything we practiced because he couldn't practice Wednesday and Thursday and he'd limp around on Friday," he explained.

Arians has stated before what the team wanted to do with Ellington in the passing game was really hampered by his missed practice time. That being said, the Cardinals were fortunate his foot injury wasn't worse. It was believed at the start of the season he might miss four to six weeks. Instead, "he gutted it up" for much of the season. "It was one of those freaky foot things," Arians said about Ellington's foot injury. "He was fairly fortunate, it's usually a Lis Franc injury that occurred for him but instead of cracking the bone, he split the tendon."

Arians also talked about his other running backs. He said Kerwynn Williams played very well, becoming "a pleasant surprise" for the team. "He ran between the tackles very well for a smaller back," Arians said.

Arians also praised Stepfan Taylor, calling him "steady" and "powerful." He also said Taylor is "a heck of a special teams player."

Arians again noted the team missed Jonathan Dwyer and how the organization "will see if we can find someone" to fill the role of a big, physical back.