NEWSLETTER
During one of those stretches where I was doing nothing but mindlessly scrolling through social media pages, this tweet about the Chicago Bears running backs room stopped me in my tracks:
Oof. The Bears ranking last among NFC North teams in Pro Football Focus’ rankings for running backs rooms stings. I could talk myself into a silver lining being that Chicago doesn’t have the worst RBs room in the league. That is a distinction that belongs to someone else whose team isn’t our problem. And I suppose I could work my way into convincing myself that things aren’t that bad, seeing that the Bears’ checking in at No. 19 puts them in the middle tier of teams. But I ultimate found myself asking: Is this a fair ranking? Let’s discuss.
Who are the Chicago Bears running backs?
When I was a kid growing up going to baseball games, I’d always ask my grandma to buy me a scorecard so I knew who the players were. As a Bears fan, you might want the football equivalent because of the wide array of changes that were made this offseason. Thankfully, the running backs room remains mostly intact from last year, save for one exception.
D’Andre Swift is the newbie in the bunch. And, yes, Swift set career highs in games played (16), carries (229), and rushing yards (1,049) last season for the Philadelphia Eagles. All that work and production helped him earn a Pro Bowl roster spot. And while the uptick in volume certainly helped matters, I think chalking up the numbers Swift put up in 2023 to volume feels like an oversimplification. Swift’s 4.6 yards per rush was the eighth best among running backs with enough carries to qualify for the rushing title. The combination of volume and success rate seems like one you’d like for someone in your favorite team’s backfield to have. Or maybe I’m just a Swiftie apologist.
Khalil Herbert makes for a nice sidekick for Swift. Although, I’m not sure how he gets “dark horse” consideration from PFF when the rising fourth-year back is just one season removed from averaging 5.7 yards per carry. In 2022, ripping off 5.7 yards per rushing attempt was the highest per-carry average among all running backs who qualified for the rushing crown. It was better than 2022 first-team All-Pro Josh Jacobs and better than what Madden ’25 overbuy Christian McCaffrey posted that season.
In short, Herbert was running in good company. Herbert followed that season by averaging 4.6 yards per carry in 2023. But unlike Swift, Herbert didn’t get the volume of touches (only 132 carries) because a stint on injured reserve caused him to miss five games last year. Given that bit of context, the Swift-Herbert tandem is perfect for one another. Neither player has a strong track record of being able to stay healthy. So perhaps the best way to create a successful running backs room in the aggregate would be to go the volume route. Otherwise, you’re putting the onus on one guy to stay healthy at a position that sees gobs of turnover because of the injury risk.
The third back to consider is Roschon Johnson, who was an interesting draft pick in 2023. There are a lot of reasons to believe that Johnson can tap into his upside. Unfortunately, a concussion and players ahead of him on the depth chart performing well kept Roschon from playing to his potential. Even when he did get touches, the lack of explosive plays when he got the ball was notable. This isn’t to say things will continue to be that way. Instead, it is just an observation based on a limited snap share that saw him get a total of 115 touches.
Pro Football Focus ranks Chicago Bears running backs unit
Far be it from me to tell someone where they should put a group in their own personal rankings. I’m a big “to each their own” kind of guy. However, that isn’t going to stop me to try and provide a full picture in an attempt to most accurately depict the state of the Bears running backs room.
So … how did PFF come to the conclusion for ranking the Bears where they did? Here is the explanation from Trevor Sikkema:
The Bears added D’Andre Swift to a group already containing Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson. Swift racked up the most rushing yards of his career last year, but that was mainly due to volume instead of a major breakout. He, Herbert and Johnson form a nice trio.
Herbert might be the dark horse of the group, having averaged 0.24 and 0.25 missed tackles forced per attempt in the past two years with yards per carry averages above 4.5. The depth of this group feels more valuable than its ceiling.
All things considered, the explanation seems to fit how I’d best describe the collection of running backs Bears General Manager Ryan Poles has brought together for the 2024 NFL season. It is a “nice” group. And it is a group that has strength in numbers. Considering we’re ranking running backs as a unit, I feel as if the ranking for Chicago’s backs should still be higher. Because while this team might not have a star in the backfield, this group could be one where it would make sense to deploy the old adage of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Isn’t that why they’re getting ranking as a group in the first place?
