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It appears that the Chicago Bears are facing differing viewpoints about their young quarterback. But they likely hit one out of the park with their second-round pick. However, the Bears took chances in the 2025 NFL offseason, and here is their riskiest move.
The Bears didn’t address their running back situation. It started with the Bears failing to make a trade up to get Ashton Jeanty. They could have pulled the trigger with the Cleveland Browns at No. 5, but they didn’t and watched Jeanty go to the Raiders at No. 6.
Then, with their first-round pick at No. 11, they opted to go with tight end Colston Loveland. It’s hard to argue fervently against that pick, but Omarion Hampton was on the board. Certainly the Chargers are happy the Bears didn’t go that direction.
Bears HC Ben Johnson may have to work with current RBs
A lot of people expected the Bears to make a move for a running back in the draft, according to espn.com. The team’s 4.0 yards per carry wound up as the third-worst effort in the NFL in 2024.
“When Chicago hired former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as its new coach, many people began fantasizing about him replicating Detroit's run game with his new team,” Dan Graziano wrote. “The Lions have crushed opponents in recent seasons with a one-two running back punch of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
“And after the Bears beefed up the interior of their offensive line in free agency, mock drafts bent over backward to find a way to get Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to Chicago to form a similar thunder-and-lightning duo with D'Andre Swift.”
The Bears didn’t get a running back until the seventh round. They grabbed Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers, which seems like a dart throw at best and a throwaway pick at worst.
Furthermore, the draft strategy seems even more risky because the Bears didn’t address the running back position in free agency. It looks like they are prepared to roll with Swift, Roschon Johnson, and Travis Homer.
Making this situation even more difficult is the way things went for teams that added running backs in 2024. Most notably, the Eagles ran all the way to the Super Bowl title thanks in a big way to signing Saquon Barkley. Other notable improvements came with the Ravens getting Derrick Henry and the Packers signing Josh Jacobs.
Also, Johnson won’t look as creative as a head coach without a strong running game. Now, Swift may have a decent year. And that’s the prediction from ESPN’s Mike Clay.
Clay tabbed Swift for 245 carries and 1,003 yards with eight touchdowns. It's a yardage total that would trail his career-best season by just 46 yards and equal the most single-season touchdowns he's ever had.
However, running for 1,000 yards isn’t as big of a deal these days with 17 games. A more impressive figure would be 1,500 yards. So here’s the kicker for that. Clay doesn’t project Swift and Johnson to COMBINE for 1,500 yards. And Homer and Monangai are given just marginal totals.
Furthermore, Williams’ projections of 3,439 yards with 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions aren’t awe-inspiring. It looks like a rather mundane year for the Bears’ offense.
Maybe Johnson will turn the Bears’ offense into something it hasn’t shown before. Perhaps Rome Odunze could be a star, at least that’s what Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog thinks, according to sportsmockery.com.
“Ben thinks he’s going to be a superstar in the league,” Hughes said. “And Ben is going to design a lot of that offense for him. I’d be buying stock in Rome right now.”
The Bears seem to be banking an awful lot on Johnson creating good players. That usually doesn’t work in the NFL. Sometimes it takes more than just good players. They need to be great. But good is what the Bears seek, according to nytimes.com.
“The goal at the end of the day is get good football players in here,” Bears director of college scouting Breck Ackley said. “The creativity on offense that this is gonna allow … like, this is one of those things where when you add a guy with (Luther Burden’s) skill set, you find a way he competes, and what he does is he opens things up for everybody else. Now, they have to worry about more things at the end of the day.
“So, yes, one ball, one player getting the ball at all times. But I think what you’ve seen in the league, really, the more weapons that are on the field, it changes the way the defense plays you. That’s the mindset now of Coach Johnson.”
