The Arizona Cardinals will be without Andre Ellington on Thursday for Week 14, making David Johnson a solid fantasy football start option with the running back out again. Johnson is going to be a main part of the offense along with John Brown, Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald for the Cardinals as the team tries to lock up a playoff spot.
The Cardinals are facing off against the Vikings on Thursday night and both teams are looking to get the win to help with playoff positioning in the NFC. The Cardinals come in having won six games in a row and they will once again be without Andre Ellington, as he has been ruled out with a toe injury, according to the team injury report. David Johnson will get the chance to start ahead of Kerywnn Williams and Stepfan Taylor and he could have a big game for the Cardinals after what the Seahawks did to the Vikings defense last week.
Johnson could be in line for a nice amount of carries, as Alex Marvez at Fox Sports reports that head coach Bruce Arians said that he "hopes" to get Johnson around 25 touches against the Vikings. Last week Johnson had 24 touches in the game against the Rams and he ended up with 120 total yards on the day. Johnson has stepped in nicely with Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington banged up and over the past three games he has three total touchdowns, including two receiving scores.
Ellington has not played since Week 12 and if the Cardinals continue to keep winning, there is a chance they could hold out Ellington a bit more until he is fully healthy. Ellington has not done much this season for fantasy owners while dealing with injuries and he was passed over on the depth chart by Chris Johnson before he was injured. Ellington has only had one game with double digit carries this season and that came all the way back in Week 1. Johnson is a solid fantasy option to hang on to for the playoffs.
The Cardinals passing offense has been productive this season with Carson Palmer staying healthy and the team is hoping to have Michael Floyd at full strength this week. Floyd was limited in practice on Tuesday, but that more of a precaution, as he is not listed on the injury report and is expected to play for Arizona. Floyd has had at last 100 yards receiving in three of his past four games and is a solid option for this week after putting up seven catches for 104 yards against the Rams.
Larry Fitzgerald has had a great season this year for the cardinals and along with John Brown and Floyd, Palmer should have plenty of chances to put up numbers. The Vikings defense has been solid overall this season, but against the Seahawks the team was a mess and now Arizona will try and take advantage of that.
