David Johnson is Going to Be Really Good According to "Rushing Expectations"

David Johnson is going to be a special talent at running back; at least that what the Arizona Cardinals and their fans are hoping for in the 2016 season.

Well, according to one new advanced metrics model, called "Rushing Expectations" David Johnson exceeded expectations in 2015 and is set to continue on that trend in 2016.

"Rushing Expectations" is a new predictive fantasy model that Joe Holka created and has been toying with, and to understand the technical aspects, check out what Joe says here in his introduction to the process.

While I wholeheartedly recommend you read the entire work of Joe on the David Johnson topic, I will highlight some good information.

Johnson is most successful when keeping things simple, using his rare athletic ability and very good size, strength, and burst. 40% of his rush attempts were through the "Middle Lane" or behind the center, left, or right guard. His vision is above average but can be prone to tentativeness in his decision making between the tackles.

This is really good information, I love to see where guys succeed in the game, because it shows where the truth lies in a player.  One thing I have heard about Johnson was he bounced too much, but this seems to discredit that idea. Also, in the next excerpt, it could even be said that he didn't do it enough.

Before contact yards are something I talk about at length in my introduction. Elusiveness behind the line of scrimmage is an extremely underrated but prevalent ability among the league's best feature backs. Johnson's before contact yards of 6.0 per carry were considerably average in comparison to my initial size.

This is most likely attributed to his average mental processing in which he is no more than solid in trusting his eyes and understanding what he sees as he approaches the line. He also has the tendency to drop his head when facing collisions and needs to be more consistent in keeping his head up to avoid contact.

One of the most important aspects of these types of articles is where a player needs to improve.

If you told me elusiveness behind the line of scrimmage, I would have raised an eyebrow at you.  Yet, here it is, and it makes me want to go back and watch.

That's what these in depth looks can do, is they give you something on a player and make you go back and want to figure out more.

That's what this was here.