The Arizona Cardinals and millions of fantasy football players alike held their breath when star running back David Johnson left the opener against the Lions with a wrist injury on Sunday. Johnson went down after having 17 total touches for 92 yards on Sunday in the Cardinals’ loss and never returned to the field.
After the game, x-rays came back negative, but according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (as relayed by Adam Schefter) the star back will miss at least a few weeks and could be out for more than half the season due to the injury.
An MRI on Mon will determine whether David Johnson will miss a "few weeks" or "half the season or more" with sprained wrist, per @mortreport
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2017
The loss of Johnson would be huge for the Cardinals, who will have to rely on the relatively unproven Kerwynn Williams in Johnson’s absence as well as lean more heavily on Carson Palmer, who looked rough in the first game of the season tossing three interceptions and only one touchdown in the loss.
As for the fantasy impact, it’s a significant loss for Johnson’s owners, who likely spent a top 2 or 3 overall pick on him (he was the No. 1 overall pick in many leagues) and if he misses significant time that would mean big decisions must be made. Williams could be a stop-gap addition, but his 5 carries for 10 yards on Sunday isn’t exactly inspiring stuff. If Tarik Cohen from the Bears hasn’t already been picked up in your league, his performance against the Falcons showed he figures to be a playmaker out of the backfield in the passing game in Chicago, which lacks weapons on the outside after Kevin White went down again, so he would probably be the top waiver wire choice if still available.
