Bear Digest

D'Andre Swift's Rating Fits Offseason Pattern for Bears Backfield

A trend has developed regarding the way critics feel about Chicago Bears backfield options and a CBS rating for backs fits into this narrative.

Gene Chamberlain

Mar 14, 2024; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift speaks during a press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2024; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift speaks during a press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears sought a running back with big-play capability in free agency and think they found one in D'Andre Swift.

In the view of one analyst, they only marginally upgraded their running back corps by bringing in Swift. A new rating has Swift individually far back among players capable of making an impact at the position.

CBS Sports' Garrett Podell has listed his top 20 running backs and although Swift cracks the top 20, he's well down the list at No. 18 overall.

"His 5.3 career yards per touch average ranks as the seventh most in the NFL since he was drafted in the second round by the Lions in 2020, and perhaps Swift factors as more of a receiver in Chicago than he did in Philly, where he totaled 214 receiving yards on 39 catches," Podell wrote.

This is part of the fascination the Bears have with Swift.

It's ironic because Swift dropped the game-winning pass in the closing seconds while wide open against the Bears in his NFL debut with Detroit in 2020. The Bears went on to win the game 27-23 in comeback fashion. Since then, Swift has gone on to show he's one of the more sure-handed backs as a receiver with catch percentages of 80.7%, 79.5%, 68.6% and 79.6%.

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The Eagles only threw to him a career-low 49 times last year, but felt they had another dual-purpose back in Kenneth Gainwell and threw to him 37 times. He has 116 targets for his three-year career.

The Bears view Swift as the all-purpose threat they didn't have in Khalil Herbert and D'Onta Foreman. In particular, it's Swift's speed to get open downfield they covet. It's the goal of coordinator Shane Waldron to have the passing attack and running attacks as versatile as possible.

"He's a weapon out of the backfield which is outstanding for our passing game, and it's going to create some mismatches for us," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "He can do a lot of things from the backfield. He can split them out wide and run the full route tree. He’s exciting to watch."

The rating puts Swift one spot ahead of Chiefs back Isiah Pacheco and one behind Miami's De'Von Achane.

The drawback for the Bears is every other team in the NFC North has a back rated above this. And their overall running back group has been downgraded significantly throughout the offseason.

PFF has their running back group graded 19th overall. CBS had them in a similar spot in grading backfields overall according to tiers.

Wherever they rank, their use within the offense overall is not declining as much as it is morphing. With the arrival of a dynamic wide receiver group and Caleb Williams as QB,t they're going to be receivers more often but are unlikely to lose as many rushing attempts to the QB as they did when Justin Fields was QB. They averaged 140 carries a season by the quarterbacks since the start of 2021.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.