Cardinals' Arians: David Johnson has 'earned the right now to be the bell cow'

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Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Arizona Cardinals have an enviable problem on their hands: To whom do they give the football in the running game?

Last season, the team watched rookie David Johnson explode onto the scene as a potential superstar after veterans Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington were hurt.

All three will be back next season, which means competition for touches should be fierce.

According to head coach Bruce Arians, the two vets will have to prove they deserve to steal touches from the youngster.

"David's earned the right now to be the bell cow," Arians said, according to ESPN's Josh Weinfuss. "Everybody's got to take it from him. But Chris ran for 800 (yards) and probably would have had 1,200 had he stayed healthy. Andre can break the game open."

Some kind of timeshare appears inevitable, but it seems David Johnson will at least be given the chance to handle the bulk of the carries. That should be music to fantasy owners' ears, as some analysts have already pegged Johnson as an early first-round pick in 2016 drafts.

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