In Detroit, last year, Ben Johnson utilized a two-headed backfield, including former Bear David Montgomery, to rush for 2488 yards on 534 carries. Detroit ran the ball 49.2% of the time; that was good for 31 rushes per game. The Bears only ran the ball 43.2% of the time; 25 rushes per game. Johnson will want Chicago's offense to run more in 2025 and they must improve on the 4 yards per carry, and 1734 yards, that 2024 produced.
Chicago, of course, already has one good running back on the roster, but D'Andre Swift only managed 3.8 yards per carry in 2024. Swift has a $9.33m cap hit in 2025 but, even if the Bears do draft a RB in RD1, there's no chance of him being cut as the dead money is too high. Coach Johnson will want to use Swift as a complementary back in the same way he used Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. Roschon Johnson can still have a role in the offense as a short-yardage/goal-line back.
The Bears have hosted a handful of RBs on
top-30 visits in the past few weeks. Kaleb Johnson and Omarion Hampton are intriguing prospects. Kaleb Johnson should be available in RD2, but Hampton is likely to be drafted in RD1. Pick 10, however, might be too high for Hampton. Another visitor, Ashton Jeanty, is the most obvious selection if he does make it to the Bears' pick. The Boise State star ran for 2601 yards in 2024 at 7 yards per carry, he also scored 29 rushing TDs. A backfield of Jeanty and Swift would be ideal for Ben Johnson and take some pressure of Caleb Williams.
- David Payne, DraftTek Senior Analyst