David Johnson UNI's highest NFL Draft pick in 15 years

Based on everything he'd heard in recent weeks, David Johnson suspected he'd know where his football career was headed sometime during the NFL Draft's second day.

The Arizona Cardinals made sure Northern Iowa's all-time leading rusher didn't have to wait another afternoon.

Arizona selected Johnson in Friday night's third round with the 86th overall pick, making Johnson the highest-drafted Panther since Jacksonville selected Brad Meester in the second round in 2000.

"Ready and blessed to be a part of the #AZCardinals organization!," Johnson tweeted after receiving the news.

Johnson is Northern Iowa's first draft pick since offensive tackle Chad Rinehart went to the Redskins in the third round of the 2008 draft and just the second running back in school history to get selected.

"He's a 225-pound back, but he's got what I call good slalom-cutting ability and acceleration," Arizona coach Bruce Arians said. "His pass-receiving skills are off the charts, but if you wanted to hand it to him 20, 25 times, he's used to that."

The Clinton native finished his college career as Northern Iowa's most prolific running back. He topped the 1,000-yard plateau during his final three seasons with the Panthers and finished with 4,687 yards rushing and 49 touchdowns on the ground, both school records.

He also caught 141 passes for 1,734 yards and 14 touchdowns during his career at Northern Iowa.

"I think pass-catching and the passing game is his best skill set — that's where he excels," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. "He's not an overpowering runner. His running instincts are still developing, but … he's a big back with good speed and agility for the position."

Consistent productivity on the FCS level only goes so far with professional front-office types, however, and Johnson strengthened his draft stock in recent months.

He impressed coaches and scouts in January at the Senior Bowl with his receiver-like hands and linebacker-like size rolled into a 6-foot-1, 224-pound running back. He racked up 159 all-purpose yards in the showcase against top draft prospects and then backed up that performance with a sparkling performance at the NFL Combine.

Johnson finished in the top five among running backs in five categories: the 40-yard dash (4.5 seconds), the three-cone drill (6.82 seconds), vertical jump (41.5 inches), broad jump (10 feet, 7 inches) and bench press (25 repetitions at 225 pounds).

"The unique thing about (Johnson) is there aren't many backs who are 6-1 and have the explosiveness he has," Arizona general manager Steve Keim said. "To have that length and be able to drop that weight and do some of the things laterally that he does is really impressive."