David Johnson, Receiving Superstar

by Chase Stuart on August 18, 2016

The great Chris Wesseling at NFL.com published an article this week about Cardinals running back David Johnson. The piece contained lofty praise about Johnson’s receiving ability, so much so that it made me want to re-evaluate his rookie stats.

One place where Johnson’s receiving ability stands out is in his yards per reception. As a rookie last year, he became the first player (rookie or otherwise) in 16 years to average 12 yards per reception while gaining at least 400+ rushing yards and 400+ receiving yards. And just the third in the last 25 years:


						Games		Rushing					Receiving
Rk	Player	Year	Age	Draft	Tm	G	GS	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD	Y/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Y/G
1	David Johnson	2015	24	3-86	ARI	16	5	125	581	4.65	8	36.3	36	457	12.69	4	28.6
2	Marshall Faulk*	1999	26	1-2	STL	16	16	253	1381	5.46	7	86.3	87	1048	12.05	5	65.5
3	Garrison Hearst	1998	27	1-3	SFO	16	16	310	1570	5.06	7	98.1	39	535	13.72	2	33.4
4	Gary Anderson	1990	29	1-20	TAM	16	13	166	646	3.89	3	40.4	38	464	12.21	2	29.0
5	Barry Sanders*	1990	22	1-3	DET	16	16	255	1304	5.11	13	81.5	36	480	13.33	3	30.0
6	Albert Bentley	1987	27	2-35	IND	12	4	142	631	4.44	7	52.6	34	447	13.15	2	37.3
7	James Brooks	1986	28	1-24	CIN	16	16	205	1087	5.30	5	67.9	54	686	12.70	4	42.9
8	Gary Anderson	1985	24	1-20	SDG	12	6	116	429	3.70	4	35.8	35	422	12.06	2	35.2
9	Curtis Dickey	1983	27	1-5	BAL	16	16	254	1122	4.42	4	70.1	24	483	20.13	3	30.2
10	Darrin Nelson	1983	24	1-7	MIN	15	9	154	642	4.17	1	42.8	51	618	12.12	0	41.2
11	Joe Cribbs	1981	23	2-29	BUF	15	15	257	1097	4.27	3	73.1	40	603	15.08	7	40.2
12	Billy Sims	1981	26	1-1	DET	14	14	296	1437	4.85	13	102.6	28	451	16.11	2	32.2
13	Billy Sims	1980	25	1-1	DET	16	16	313	1303	4.16	13	81.4	51	621	12.18	3	38.8
14	Wilbert Montgomery	1979	25	6-154	PHI	16	16	338	1512	4.47	9	94.5	41	494	12.05	5	30.9
15	Greg Pruitt	1977	26	2-30	CLE	14	14	236	1086	4.60	3	77.6	37	471	12.73	1	33.6
16	Sherman Smith	1977	23	2-58	SEA	14	14	163	763	4.68	4	54.5	30	419	13.97	2	29.9
17	O.J. Simpson*	1975	28	1-1	BUF	14	14	329	1817	5.52	16	129.8	28	426	15.21	7	30.4
18	Mike Thomas	1975	22	5-108	WAS	14	10	235	919	3.91	4	65.6	40	483	12.08	3	34.5
19	Mack Herron	1974	26	6-143	NWE	14	14	231	824	3.57	7	58.9	38	474	12.47	5	33.9
20	Larry Brown	1973	26	8-191	WAS	14	14	273	860	3.15	8	61.4	40	482	12.05	6	34.4
21	Larry Brown	1972	25	8-191	WAS	12	12	285	1216	4.27	8	101.3	32	473	14.78	4	39.4
22	Cid Edwards	1972	29		SDG	12	12	157	679	4.32	5	56.6	40	557	13.93	2	46.4
23	Carl Garrett	1972	25	3-58	NWE	10	6	131	488	3.73	5	48.8	30	410	13.67	0	41.0
24	Essex Johnson	1972	26	6-156	CIN	14	11	212	825	3.89	4	58.9	29	420	14.48	2	30.0

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

And while you may remember Johnsons’s game-clinching, 55-yard touchdown catch against the Saints, it wasn’t just one or two catches boosting up his average gain. Consider: there were 40 running backs last year who had at least 25 receptions. Of that group, only Johnson (58%) converted at least half of his receptions into first downs. To find a player with a better conversion rate, you’d have to go down to Arian Foster, who converted 13 of his 22 catches (59%) into first downs.))

Rk	Player	Rec	1D	ratio
1	David Johnson	36	21	58.3%
2	Danny Woodhead	80	39	48.8%
3	James White	40	19	47.5%
4	Dion Lewis	36	17	47.2%
5	Benny Cunningham	26	12	46.2%
6	Bilal Powell	47	21	44.7%
7	Mark Ingram	50	22	44%
7	Ameer Abdullah	25	11	44%
9	Charles Sims	51	22	43.1%
10	T.J. Yeldon	36	15	41.7%
11	Theo Riddick	80	32	40%
11	Chris Thompson	35	14	40%
11	Marcel Reece	30	12	40%
14	James Starks	43	17	39.5%
15	Giovani Bernard	49	19	38.8%
16	Duke Johnson	62	24	38.7%
16	Dexter McCluster	31	12	38.7%
18	Matt Forte	44	17	38.6%
19	C.J. Spiller	34	13	38.2%
20	Darren Sproles	55	21	38.2%
21	DeAngelo Williams	40	15	37.5%
21	LeSean McCoy	32	12	37.5%
21	Fred Jackson	32	12	37.5%
24	Shane Vereen	59	22	37.3%
25	Javorius Allen	45	15	33.3%
25	Chris Ivory	30	10	33.3%
27	Frank Gore	34	11	32.4%
28	Lamar Miller	47	15	31.9%
29	Jonathan Grimes	26	8	30.8%
30	Doug Martin	33	10	30.3%
31	Darren McFadden	40	12	30%
31	Adrian Peterson	30	9	30%
33	DeMarco Murray	44	13	29.5%
34	Devonta Freeman	73	21	28.8%
35	Rashad Jennings	29	8	27.6%
36	Shaun Draughn	27	7	25.9%
37	Melvin Gordon	33	8	24.2%
38	C.J. Anderson	25	6	24%
39	Latavius Murray	41	9	22%
40	Justin Forsett	31	4	12.9%

It’s obviously premature to talk about Johnson as an all-time great receiving back, despite the quotes in Wesseling’s article. But this gives us something else to keep an eye on in 2016.

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