The Arizona Cardinals are getting Carson Palmer back for training camp, as the quarterback has been cleared to work in 11-on-11 drills following his knee surgery last year and this comes as Bruce Arians is going to have Andre Ellington, Stepfan Taylor and rookie David Johnson competing for a chance to start in the offense for 2015.
The Cardinals were one of the best teams in football and were on track to win the NFC West division when Palmer was injured last year and that was devastating for the team. While the Cardinals did end up making the playoffs, things were not quite the same with Drew Stanton, Ryan Lindley and Logan Thomas getting playing time and they lost to the Panthers in the first round. According to Adam Schefter at ESPN, Palmer is on his way back from rehab and now can participate in team drills in minicamp.
This month has minicamps before teams break for training camp in July and getting Palmer back for any amount of time before the main camp is a positive step for the Cardinals. The Seattle Seahawks are expecting to be very good again and with the 49ers and Rams also up and coming after making some changes, the division is going to be tough again. The Cardinals were one of the best teams in the league for the first half of the season and getting Palmer back healthy is key for any success in 2015.
Palmer played in six games last season and had 1626 passing yards and 11 touchdowns with just three interceptions when he injured his knee. Palmer was on pace for a massive season with 4,336 yards and 30 TDs and now he is hoping to stay healthy for a full year like he did in 2013. Palmer had 22 interceptions that season, but now he has been able to master the Arians offense and this year he should be more efficient passing the ball.
Palmer is 35 years old, but Arians thinks that he still has years ahead of him and getting cleared for workouts is a big step in his recovery process. The Cardinals were one of the worst rushing teams in the league last season and part of that was the fact that Palmer was injured, as teams were able to stack the box on the Cardinals quite a bit. Andre Ellington was solid but he did not do enough and now the team has David Johnson coming in to compete along with Taylor.
Johnson started off OTA workouts as the fourth back behind Taylor, Marion Grice, and Kerwynn Williams, but he should get a chance to prove he can contribute in training camp. Johnson was one of the most productive backs in college football last season and he should fit in well as a pass catching option out of the backfield. Arians loves using running backs in space and that is when Johnson is at his most dangerous.
Earlier in the month Mike Jurecki on Twitter reported that Johnson has "impressed coaches and players" with his pass catching and poise in camp workouts. Johnson should be able to get up in the depth chart for the Cardinals, as they were woeful rushing the ball last year.