With free agency less than two months away now, Arizona Cardinals fan are eagerly anticipating what the team will do to shore up the team for the second year of Kyler Murray.
One of the positions that is most in flux at the moment is the running back (as discussed here). With the unknown of what will happen with David Johnson and Kenyan Drake, here are five options for Arizona in 2020, starting with the most obvious:
Kenyan Drake
The obvious choice, should they find a way to deal away David Johnson and should he not cost an excessive amount of money, would be Drake. 643 yards rushing and 171 receiving in eight games would be tricky to replace, but not impossible should someone outbid the Cardinals. If that is the case, they could look to four other names.
DeAndre Washington
A name that makes the most sense, should they move on from Drake, would be Washington, who played for Kingsbury at Texas Tech and would likely know at least some of his system.
Washington has been more of a change of pace back in Oakland, but the aforementioned Drake was considered one as well. Washington would likely be cheap and would allow them to potentially keep David Johnson.
Austin Ekeler
If there is a list of underrated running backs in the NFL, Ekeler’s name is likely on it. It seems highly unlikely that Los Angeles lets him walk, but he would likely not cost as much as Drake and would offer similar production, especially in the passing game, where he had almost 1,000 yards in 2019 for the Chargers.
Lamar Miller
Miller is not likely much more than a one-year rental, given that he is currently 29 years old, but he’s a well-rounded back that would potentially allow Arizona to move on from Johnson and Drake and would help transition the Cardinals to their next feature back, whether it’s Chase Edmonds or a 2020 or 2021 NFL draft pick.
Matt Breida
Cardinals brass should be familiar with Breida, who split time in San Francisco with Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman. And while he is a restricted free agent, it’s not out of the realm of possibility they could let Breida go for the right price. Arizona could certainly do worse.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 257
Ep. 256
