Balancing Out Bears Backfield

Fantasy Football Projection: Khalil Herbert gives Bears benefit of balancing out the running attack if they so choose.

Bears running back Khalil Herbert knows what's coming based on the way the Green Bay Packers ran their offense last year.

"I'm excited," the second-year running back said. "I definitely think we're going to use our run game this year and it's gonna allow us to open up the rest of the offense."

It would be hard to picture an offense with a tighter lid on it than last year's Bears attack, which was 30th in passing but was last for 14 weeks.

If the offense opens up, it could mean more opportunities for Herbert to show his skills. Either way, he's seen things during the offense installation and the past for this attack involving coordinator Luke Getsy that indicate more of an emphasis on multiple backs.

"I definitely do, especially this day in age in the game, you need two or three backs that can get the job done and go at any time," Herbert said.

The Packers used two backs extensively and eve three backs at times in the last three years when Getsy was their quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

"Up there they use both those backs really well and balance them out a lot," Herbert said. "It's definitely exciting that they know how to do it and in this offense I definitely think we'll be able to do that."

Winning the Brian Piccolo Award for rookies in year when Justin Fields was also a rookie spoke to Herbert's effort and popularity among teammates who voted on it.

The numbers Herbert produced last year when he came in for an injured Justin Fields also spoke loudly about his skill set. Like most backs, he performed better when he had more chances, although he wouldn't be the kind of back fantasy football owners would be looking for due to insufficient0 carries.

Herbert ran for 433 yards on 103 carries for the year, a 4.2-yard average. He caught 14 passes for 96 yards and had one rushing TD as David Montgomery's backup.

However, when Herbert replaced Montgomery following a knee sprain, and backup Damien Williams was also out, the yards per carry went up.

In five gaes as a replacement for Montgomery, Herbert rann for 351 yards on 81 carries, a 4.33-yard average, and made his only rushing TD. The rest of his carries came sporadically and in minor amounts, never exceeding four in a game. For those nine games he averaged 2.4 carries and only 3.7 yards a rush. He had 82 yards on 22 carries in those games.

Obviously Herbert's performance offers hope he can be more productive with a bigger role, one he might get in an offense with a shared backfield concept.

He also seems to complement the style of play Getsy's attack emphasizes.

"To me, he's kind of shown up and made some good runs and good decisions with the ball and he's a decisive young man," running backs coach David Walker said. "There's not a lot of, when he's got the ball some guys try to pick and poke and wait to see what's going to happen. He's very decisive."

This is important because the wide zone blocking scheme works best if the back picks his choice of a hole as the play develops, and quickly runs through it.

Walker also likes Herbert's mental approach.

"The moment won't ever be too big for him, he's got that kind of makeup," Walker said. "I expect him to be able to go out there, if D-Mo (Montgomery) is on the sideline and he has to be in the game. He will do a good job, as well as he did last year."

What remains to be seen is how well a job he'll need to do. The use of two backs last year in Green Bay on nearly a 50-50 basis was extreme, but it would be surprising if the Bears reverted back to the Matt Nagy aproach and relied three-quarters of the time on Montgomery to carry it.

Last year Herbert supplemented his contribution by returning kicks, at least when he was not the starter or being relied on as the chief ball carrier.

The 24.1 yards he averaged for 27 returns was actually better production than the 23.5 yards return specialist Jakeem Grant gave them for 21 returns.

It seems unlikely they would need to rely on Herbert for returns this year after drafting Velus Jones and Trestan Ebner. It doesn't make as much sense because the backup running back carries greater importance, especially if anything happened to Montgomery again.

Also, they have no real NFL experience behind Herbert so risking him on returns seems unwise. The multi-back approach requires more than one back and they can't afford to be sending their backup in on a duty as risky as bringing back kicks.

Ultimately, Herbert's stats might look a good deal like last year at season's end but that could be the result more of last year's injury to Montgomery expanding the role of a rookie beyond normal parameters.

Khalil Herbert at a Glance 

Vitals: 5-foot-9, 212 pounds, sixth-round pick in 2021 (Va. Tech).

Career: Second year, 103 career carries, 433 yards, 1 TD, 4.2 yards an attempt; 16 targets, 14 receptions, 96 yards, 6.9 yards per catch; 27 kick returns, 24.1-yard average, 50-yard long.

The Number: 9. Herbert made nine runs of 10 yards or longer and eight of them came in the four games when he replaced injured David Montgomery as the No. 1 ball carrier in Weeks 5-8.

2022 FanNation Projection:  112 carries, 490 yards, 4.4 yards per carry, 4 TDs; 14 receptions, 112 yards, 2 TDs. Six kick returns, 22.8-yard average.

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