Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offenses at Texas Tech made heavy use of shotgun formations and he said at the league meetings that he hasn’t “found a reason not to be” reliant on those looks during his coaching career.
That suggests there will be a lot of shotgun in use in Arizona this season and that’s a big change from last year. Only six teams used the shotgun less often than Arizona and the shift in philosophy is far from a problem for running back David Johnson.
“I actually love that,” Johnson said, via the team’s website. “I did that in college. That’s all we did in college is the gun, a read-option-type thing. I think it really opens up more space for me and makes me able to read the defense a little bit more.”
After Johnson averaged 3.6 yards per carry last season, anything the team can do to create more space for him to operate should be a plus for the Arizona offense.