No, the Chicago Bears don’t have the worst running back group in the NFL – They’ll be just fine

No, the Chicago Bears don’t have the worst running back group in the NFL – They’ll be just fine

we need to stop talking about the Chicago Bears running back room like it’s the worst backfield in the NFL they’re not you are Locked On Bears your daily Chicago Bears podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day this is Locked on Bears and I’m your host Lauren Cox i’m here to bring you your daily in-depth Chicago Bears news and analysis you can follow me on Twitter Cox Sports1 and you can follow the podcast at Lockdown Bears on Tik Tok Instagram Facebook Twitter and the Locked OnBars YouTube channel where you can keep up with all of our video podcasts as well thanks for making Lockdown Bears your first listen today we’re part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook America’s number one sports book right now new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins on the show today I want to look at how this Bears backfield actually compares to other running back groups in the NFL because I feel like Bears fans spent so much time this offseason looking at free agent running backs and then running backs in the draft and now trade targets at running back and all it does is pile on this Bears backfield as though somehow DeAndre Swift Roshan Johnson and now Kyle Nungai are the worst backfield in the NFL and the Bears can’t possibly have rushing success with the backs that they have under contra down they have to do something right well no they don’t this is a good enough running back room not a great running back room no one’s putting them in the top 10 dare I say even top 15 but like this is a group that Ben Johnson and this Chicago Bears offense can be very successful with and so I want to look at how they actually stack up and what kind of the range of outcomes could be for this Bears’s backfield as it currently stands right now one of the impetuses for this for me was that PFF is doing their ranking of every team’s different position groups across the NFL and and notably as they went through the running backs the Bears were not in last place and I think that’s like something to note here right it’s not just people in and around Chicago saying “Hey the Bears backfield isn’t the worst but certainly no one’s trying to defend it as being good or great.” I just think we’ve kind of gone overboard on the criticism of this backfield to the point where like I I find myself having to somehow defend DeAndre Swift even though I’m not that big on DeAndre Swift i don’t think he’s a particularly great running back but like the Bears are doing fine in the backfield when PFF went through their running back room rankings they had the Chicago Bears 30th out of the 32 teams and the the an analysis there from one of their analysts was quote “If there’s a remaining weakness for Chicago’s offense after a stellar offseason it’s their running back unit.” DeAndre Swift averaged just 3.8 yards per carry last season while earning a 65.7 PFF rushing grade roshan Johnson garnered a 76.0 0 PFF rushing grade but he’s only tallied 136 carries through two NFL seasons the Bears also didn’t draft a running back until the seventh round picking up Ruters Kyle Manungai so they had two different backfields worse than the Bears we’ll get into some of the other teams comparatively here but like it’s worth noting on the front end that just like hey this is not the worst backfield in the NFL and that other outside you know organizations don’t see them as the worst backfield in the NFL because as much as we complained about the Bears lack of running game at times last season and wanting more from DeAndre Swift and how he felt like he underachieved and certainly Roshan Johnson had 150 yards right felt like less than what the Bears needed from their running backs they still weren’t even the worst running group last year right and and part of the criticism is that they didn’t add anything but even if they brought back the exact they they produced at the exact same level like the Bears as an offense were 25th in rushing yards last season this was not 32nd again not saying that they’re top 10 but this is not the worst unit in football even DeAndre Swift if you want to just say starter how he how he stacks up to other running back starters like DeAndre Swift was 18th in rushing yards last season deandre Swift had more rushing yards last season than a lot of the running backs that Chicago Bears fans have been fantasizing about the team acquiring this offseason i mean he only had what 50er rushing yards than James Cook of the Buffalo Bills who’s kind of the pie in the sky trade candidate but DeAndre Swift had more rushing yards than JK Dobbins who was a free agent from the Chargers that a lot of Bears fans wanted to see them sign before he went to the Broncos just a couple of weeks ago deandre Swift had more rushing yards than Bree Hall of the New York Jets who Chicago Bears fans have been kind of speculating and going through trades and on what might be able to take to get him out of the Jets backfield in Chicago he had more rushing yards than another trade candidate like Kenneth Walker although Kenneth Walker was injured only played 11 games so it’s not as fair of a one toone comparison there but like again top 20 in rushing more rushing yards than Alvin Kamar of the of the of the of the Saints uh more rushing yards than Devon Achan of the Miami Dolphins more rushing yards than Raandre Stevenson of the Patriots or Brian Robinson of the Commanders like this was not the worst starting running back in the NFL last year when we felt like he was having a down year and underperforming based on expectations for DeAndre Swift so of course we expected like almost no matter who the Bears coach was or what what differences were going to be this year that DeAndre Swift was we were expecting him to have a better 2025 season regardless of everything else the Bears have done this off seasonason to help him and the rest of the offense be better but even if he was exactly the same like exactly the same last year was 18th leading rusher in football and I get that we all want better we all should want better and I I’m not here to say that like an upgrade wouldn’t have been beneficial for this Bears team but I I’m just trying to kind of bring us back from the overboard analysis of like oh this backfield is going to be so bad and the Bears are not going to be able to run the ball much at all and they’re just going to be struggling to be a well balanced offense because Ben Johnson wants to run the ball and how are they going to run the ball with with these running backs back there like and and that was with out getting much production at all from from Roshan Johnson i mentioned the 150 yards like we’re all expecting Roshan Johnson to be able to do a bit more this season he had 350 yards as a as a rookie right his first season like we know he is capable of more and absolutely can do more and then you add in Kyle Manungai as a seventh round rookie who yes it’s a seventh round pick so how high can the expectations be but like we talked on this podcast multiple times now about how I think Kyle Manungai is primed to be a real contributor here and someone who makes some noise in this Bears backfield someone who can help out right away and not just be a special teams player not be a healthy scratch not be a practice squad guy but someone who’s getting meaningful snaps in games and in the rotation so to to me this feels like a little bit of a like Bears echo chamber kind of thing where it’s like you know if you’re a Bears fan on Bears social media and Bears Facebook groups and Bears Twitter circles and Bears Reddit threads or whatever right you’re so you know you end up getting only Bears stuff which of course if you’re a Bears fan that that’s going to be what you seek out but then you don’t get as much context with what other backfields look like and how you you might be down on what the Bears have but compared to other running back rooms like you don’t have to feel like this is the worst group in the league and that you can feel like I mean that you could put a good handful plus below the Bears here i think there’s you know four or five running back rooms that I feel pretty strongly like yeah these guys probably won’t be better than the Bears and there’s another four or five that I think could be worse than the Bears to the point where you could start sniffing maybe even the top 20 on the higher end of the spectrum here for Chicago so I want to compare this Bears backfield some to some other running back rooms around the NFL next on Locked On Bears [Music] this episode of Locked on Bears is brought to you by our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook America’s number one sports book and FanDuel is the best way to get in on all of your favorite sports action all summer long the MLB season is heating up and every game brings clutch hits stand out pitching and unforgettable moments so from walk-off homers to no hitters in the making there’s no shortage of drama on the diamond and no better time to get in on the action with FanDuel you’ve also got the upcoming NFL season you can bet ahead on Bears Vikings in week one Ben Johnson’s coach of the year odds Caleb Williams’s passing yards and so much more all in the FanDuel app that’s safe secure and super easy to use how could a $200 bonus in bets add to the excitement if your first $5 bet hits because now is the perfect time to sign up if you’re new to FanDuel head to fanduel.com place that first $5 bet and if it wins you’ll get $200 in bonus bets added on to the winnings from your $5 bet make every moment more with FanDuel official sports betting partner of the MLB NBA and NFL [Music] so yes the Bears backfield has some weaknesses and it may be the certainly the biggest weak weakness on offense and you know a spot that I in an ideal world would you like to upgrade yes but we’ve talked before in this podcast that I don’t think the Bears are planning any kind of major moves in the backfield because I think it’s a group that could be good enough and that can be better than a lot of other running back rooms or not a lot but can be better than other running back rooms around the NFL that make you feel like okay this group can absolutely get by cuz you look at some other teams and a good handful of other NFL rosters have running backs who don’t I should say they don’t have a running back who has been as productive as DeAndre Swift you’ve got a few backfields that are relying heavily on rookies which can work out great we’ve seen plenty of rookie running backs come in and have success early in their careers and then you’ve also seen sometimes it takes rookies a little longer to really break out and emerge and if you’re plan A and B are rookies there’s a volatility there of like you’re not sure exactly what you’re going to get right away out of the gate and that’s what makes it a tricky thing to predict but why it makes me feel better about this Bears running back room that plenty of other teams including like pretty good contending playoff caliber teams in this conversation as well not you know don’t have spectacular backfields i mean heck the Kansas City Chiefs have gone a long time without having a great back i think Pacheco and Kareem Hunt have emerged now but there was a while there where they were kind of just moving running backs around and still being able to find success when you have the best quarterback at football and best coaches have football of course but the point being like running backs don’t have to be make or break for your team but when I look at some of the other backfields to compare Chicago to that I think are are notably either worse or right at the same level as the Bears I think a couple teams stand out right away first of all if you want to like if you want to go off of how how PFF had ranked them in their uh top 32 running back rooms they said the Bears were 30 the two teams they put below them in their rankings that I would definitely agree with the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys the Giants have Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singleary they drafted Cam Scabbo but like that is not a group of proven rushers like we’ve seen Tyrone Tracy have a couple of big games but he hasn’t been like a Belcow thousand yard kind of guy and then like Devin Singleary had so many flashes in Buffalo but in New York like never really took that next step they kind of have been piece milling it together then you hope Cam Scabbo can come in as a fourth run pick who was great at Arizona State and we all liked in the draft but like it feels like you got three you know 500 yard rushers there and and no thousand yard rusher and I’m not sure that that running back room is a super talented group that’s really going to lead that offense the way that the Giants might want them to and the Cowboys have been really skimping on the running back position ever since they decided to not pay Ezekiel Elliott to kind you know they had Rico Dao last year had a thousand yards for them but they let him walk to the Carolina Panthers and of course they they brought back Zeke Elliot on a much cheaper contract late in his career now and that didn’t really produce a ton for them but they let both of those guys go and so they brought in Javvante Williams from the Denver Broncos and then Miles Sanders as a free agent from the from the Carolina Panthers and like yeah there’s there’s a lot to like about Williams especially who had some some big year early you know what was his rookie season I think in Denver but like the last two years as a Denver starter he had 774 yards and 400 or sorry and 513 yards he’s averaged less than four yards a carry each of the last two seasons i’m just not convinced that Javvante Williams is going to come to Dallas and all of a sudden be a great workhorse lead back and my Sanders had that one good year with the Eagles a while ago and hasn’t really done much of anything since they drafted Jaden Blue in the fifth round and Phil Mafa in the seventh but like Cowboys just don’t have a lot at running back and I would take the Bears backfield over those clearly just like PFF would as well but I’d throw in you know a team like the Cincinnati Bengals to me are right there in this same tier of like bottom of the barrel NFL backfields below what Chicago has they got Chase Brown and Zack Moss are their two leading rushers they brought back Sam Perine this year but like man this is just not a backfield chase Brown had 990 yards but he’s not like a gamechanging lead back i mean I think he’s just kind of a volume carrier you give him the ball 230 times he’ll get you 900 yards and but like to me he’s just not a real differencemaker and I think somebody like DeAndre Swift as much as I’m just not a big DeAndre Swift guy there is more of a you know a home run threat kind of ability there who I just feel like Swift had enough of those big plays that you’re like you know that there’s more that you can tap into there and I just don’t feel like Chase Brown has that kind of ability that Swift has shown us before i’ll throw Cleveland into this mix too only because they’re going to be so heavily waiting on on rookies there that you know they drafted Quinchon Judkins from Ohio State in the second round and then they doubled down and got Dylan Samson from Tennessee in the fourth round but Jerome Ford is kind of their bring back starter from last year and I mean unless Judkins has a huge breakout rookie season but I wasn’t a huge fan of him coming out of the draft I think there’s some some limitations there that I I think he’ll be a good running back but I don’t know that he’s going to come in and get 1500 yards and emerge as this super great backfield option so like between those four team we already put like four teams I think pretty clearly behind the Bears in terms of how much I trust their running back rooms and then you can throw in teams like the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers and maybe the the Jacksonville Jaguars and I I’m not super high on on the New Orleans Saints now that Alvin Kamar is in his 30s and and they don’t have much depth to really like around him i I think there’s a lot of teams in this conversation that just aren’t that great in the back field i mean it’s it’s it’s that simple i I I just think DeAndre Swift is can be on that same level as guys like Warren from Pittsburgh or even where Kamar is at this stage of his career or the Jaguars with ETN and and Tank Bsby like ETN’s been kind of falling off there and they need him to bounce back and Bby kind of took some playing time from him but I don’t think he’s a special running back either they drafted Toutin from Virginia Tech this year but I I’m not I don’t see a a DeAndre Swift caliber player in that backfield plus I’m high on the likes of Manungai and Roshan Johnson stepping up and being better than some backups on some other teams denver is probably the most borderline here because I do like JK Dobbins for them and then they drafted RJ Harvey from UCF in the second round like I think those two can give them a more potent backfield than what they had last year with Javvante Williams so I a couple of these teams are borderline but I’m still looking at the Bears right in this tier with eight or 10 other teams that it’s like yeah running back’s not a strength these are not going to be top 10 rushing units necessarily in the NFL right they’re not going to be up there with the Ravens and the Lions with some of these loaded backfields around the NFL but like they’re not that great and the Bears are not that far behind from where these other teams might be it doesn’t mean there’s not room for improvement but I think when you think about what the potential is for these Chicago Bears running backs you can see where the ceiling is much higher and that last year kind of felt like the floor right like I don’t think we’re going to see DeAndre Swift as a number one running back be worse than what he was last year i don’t think we’re going to see Roshan Johnson as a backup running back do less than what we saw last year and then you add in add in K Manungai and and and like if that if last year is the floor and that was the 25th ranked rushing attack you can see where if everything improves this season the way we fully expect it to excuse me if everything improves this season the way we fully expect it to you can pretty clearly see a path towards this this Bears’s running room being not only better but like good dare I say certainly reliable at the very least maybe not special but reliable and and the thing I keep coming away with is like this is why you hired Ben Johnson and I want to go through how much the coach and the rest of the offseason is really going to shift the perspective on this next on Locked on Bears everyone looked at the Detroit Lions backfield and Ben Johnson drafted Jir Gibbs in the first round and and you know brought in David Montgomery and how much Detroit loaded up on running backs and so we then immediately point to Ben Johnson and say “Oh Ben Johnson must really want to load up on running backs for the Chicago Bears.” And I think it’s why we were surprised a little bit that they didn’t draft one before the seventh round or add any veterans in free agency but I think this can be sometimes a little bit of like a it’s not quite correlation causation but I I think there’s a different way of looking at this that I think we’re kind of missing the force for the trees a little bit it’s not either of those but it’s like it’s in this conversation of there’s like a logical a logical mechanism at play here where it’s like Ben Johnson and the Lions didn’t didn’t build the best backfield in the NFL perhaps because they felt like they really needed to have the most talented running backs in the NFL but because the ability to do so presented itself and the team was wellb built enough that they had the luxury to do so but it’s not as though Ben Johnson requires or needs to have the best running backs in the NFL in order to run his offense successfully and have a strong running game like there’s sort of a directional challenge here that I think we’re that gets overlooked here like the Bears hired Ben Johnson for his ability to of course develop Caleb Williams and work the offensive hole but like he’s a running game based offensive coordinator first and foremost and you build the passing game off of that like his his appeal or a big part of his appeal as a head coach is how he’s going to scheme the running game right it’s not his appeal as a head coach isn’t he had Jir Gibbs and David Montgomery like you didn’t hire Ben Johnson for Jamir Gibbs and David Montgomery those are the players like I realize this is this is sort of obvious but like Ben Johnson’s skill is separate from the talent they had in the backfield there and the talent they have the backfield there is what helped them have perhaps the best rushing attack in football and helps them win 15 games and of course like that’s all good and a big part of this right but it’s not as though Ben Johnson can’t have success without running backs like Jir Gibbs and David Montgomery he has had success with him and it’s not as though Ben Johnson can’t have success with DeAndre Swift because he has had success literally with the running back in the Chicago Bears backfield already like I know he traded him away and and etc etc replaced him but like there’s literal precedent here for Ben Johnson being able to get production out of DeAndre Swift not number one running back production at the time but it was different stage of both of their careers and different backfield different situations but like we’ve seen Ben Johnson in Detroit go from Williams and Swift and then they bring in Gibbs and they bring in Montgomery they have transitioned across multiple running backs and styles of running backs across multiple seasons with Ben Johnson at the helm running this backfield and they’ve been able to be a consistently strong running team regard not regardless of who the running back is but like across a different a variety of different sets of running backs can go from Jamal Williams being the number one back with 1,000 yards and NFL leading 17 touchdowns and then you can bring in somebody like David Montgomery and have him be the starter and he goes for 1,000 yards with Jir Gibbs as a rookie spelling him but then Jir Gibbs can take over as the number one running back with with Montgomery kind of behind him and you can have success and Ben Johnson has had success with different styles different orders different varieties of running backs because he’s had good offensive lines he knows how to scheme a running game how to sequence play calling to build off each other to run play action and a passing game off that then then when the passing game has success it can make the running game easier and like all of this is to say like you didn’t bring in Ben Johnson to Chicago so that you would then also need to upgrade the running back room drastically right bringing in Ben Johnson was going to allow you to not need to upgrade the running back room drastically because coaching and play calling and scheming can elevate this group alone without needing to add more and again like the Lions added a running back of course like even when they had 1,000 yards from Jamal Williams and then David Montgomery had 1,000 yards like they still grabbed Jir Gibbs right it’s not as though Ben Johnson doesn’t want better running backs but it doesn’t have to be a priority for Ben Johnson the Bears decided hey this running back group is good enough for Ben Johnson to work with especially when you go out and make the offensive line the priority right when they go out and trade for Joe Tuni and Jonah Jackson and sign Drew Dolman in the in the free agency that was your running game upgrade the running game upgrade this offseason was not about adding to the backfield was about improving the offensive line so when you add in the improved offensive line plus a play caller who’s has had consistent success across a variety of types of running backs in the running game that’s what’s going to make this Bears backfield better and not the worst backfield in football now I don’t know that that makes them a top 10 rushing offense in 2025 that’s probably a little bit too rich but like we should fully expect DeAndre Swift assuming he’s healthy and plays you know full season or whatever be a thousand yard running back again dare I say easily i mean he’s going to be more efficient more effective and and back over a thousand yards we should expect the combination of Roshan Johnson and Kungai to be a really solid spell to Swift a good backup combination it’s hard to put a number of yards on both of them cuz we’ll see exactly what the splits are in terms of carries and pass catching opportunities but like those guys can combine for a good what 600 700 yards in the back field i mean that doesn’t seem out of the question at all for Chicago to get up and then you add in Caleb Williams’ rushing yards and everything else to be in a team that could rush for 2,000 yards as a as a team right not any individual running back but as a team get you up over 2,000 yards which is not even like that much 2,000 yards last season would have ranked you 13th in the NFL it’s not that crazy high of a bar even to get up to 1,800 yards would put you at 20th like that that feels all pretty within reach cuz the Bears last year were at 1734 again they were 25th in rushing last season ben Johnson’s going to make them better they’re going to jump up into that top 20 likely into that top 15 just purely without upgrading the running back room much at all from everything else they’ve done around it this is like half of the point of hiring Ben Johnson was to make your running game better without needing to add running backs because if Ben Johnson can only be a good run game coordinator with elite running backs then you might not be that great a run game coordinator and that’s not that’s not the case for Ben Johnson right of course a lot of coaches can have a successful running game with running backs like Jir Gibbs and David Montgomery both in their back field obviously I think Ben Johnson is able to take that and maximize that in a way that other coaches might not but of course like you give most NFL coaches some good running backs they’re going to be good but part of why you hired Ben Johnson is that is that you trust that he can be good even when your running backs aren’t ideal and you know if the opportunity presents itself to upgrade your running back room in a way that is smart and affordable and team friendly and all that stuff they absolutely will do so right there’s not like this hubris of like oh we can make any running back work so we don’t need to upgrade that room like they the Lions use the first round pick on one like Ben Johnson’s on board with adding more at running back but it’s about opportunity and team building and there’s more to decide than just should we trade for X player should we sign X free agent cuz you got to think about what the alternatives are in terms of who else you could sign who else you could trade for who else you could draft and make the best team Y decision and this offseason that meant not drafting a running back early that meant not signing a free agent running back early because you had other fish to fry you needed to upgrade the offensive line needed to upgrade the pass rush needed to get playmakers in this offense and there weren’t running backs that were best player available in the draft and it just didn’t work out that way for the Bears and they’ll be okay the running back room is going to be fine the Bears should be able to run the ball effectively enough for the offense to succeed and then maybe next offseason you can make a big splash at running back or whatever you want to do but like they’ll be fine the offense assuming the current running backs stay healthy this running back room will be just fine maybe the Bears will still go out and add a veteran backup i mean the affforementioned Jamal Williams is still a free agent so maybe they want some more veteran depth but I keep insisting on this podcast they’re not going to make the splash trade for Kenneth Walker they’re not going to make the splash trade for Bruce Hall or James Cooks like I think they’re going to think they’re going to take the slow and steady approach here in the backfield and I don’t think we’re going to see much of a negative consequence from that this upcoming season if they make any changes to the roster you can be sure we’ll break it down for you right here on the Lockdown Bears podcast so make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts because that’s going to be the best way to keep up with all of our Chicago Bears news and analysis thanks for making Lockdown Bears your first listen today we’re part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day now we’re not quite every day this time of year in our slow season but we’ll be ramping back up to a full 5 days a week in the leadup to Bears training camp to make sure we’re ready for when the team gets back to house hall and really starts practicing for real so that’s why you got to get subscribed stay subscribed like rate review leave comments all the good stuff and in in exchange I hope that tuning into Lockdown Bears helps make it just a little bit easier for you to bear down

Criticism of the Chicago Bears running backs has gotten carried away. They’re not great, but they’re not the worst group in the NFL.

D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson and Kyle Monangai can absolutely provide Ben Johnson enough to have a strong running game.

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