Bear Digest

Rating exact draft fits for Chicago Bears at running back and why

Analysis: A look at the best draft fits for the Bears among running backs based on all qualties, their personnel situation and blocking scheme.

Gene Chamberlain

SMU running back Brashard Smith could rate among the best Bears running back options based on fit.
SMU running back Brashard Smith could rate among the best Bears running back options based on fit. / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
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Only one team is going to pull in Ashton Jeanty in the NFL draft and the jury remains out on how far up the ladder North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton might come off the board.

For the Bears, specific need ranks right up with a candidate's talent level when they consider a player to put into a backfield mix with D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson.

If a team can't acquire the top two for raw talent, then fit for the scheme and within the mix needs to rate as high as anything for deciding which of the remaining backs to choose.

A back used to playing behind multiple blocking schemes helps, and so does one with multiple skill sets, based on what Ben Johnson asked of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Not only are the two complementary but they both contribute to the offense in multiple ways.

Another key is their ability to maximize their moments.

Johnson placed extreme emphasis on using two backs. It wasn't lip service.

They also need the all-around back first before they need the speed threat because they already have a speed threat, although this could exist for only one season.

Last year Bears coordinator Shane Waldron called it his idea to have a real shared backfield experience and in the end Swift had 253 carries and Roschon Johnson 55 carries.

Rest assured, it won't be this way in Chicago in 2025 with Johnson and the back they draft will need to come with the idea he'll be limited to touches by the rotation and by Johnson's desire to be creative with the offense to keep defenses off balance.

A player used to the idea and even ego blow of splitting carries rather than being the load back is more desirable.

Here is a ranking of the running back class according to a fit for the Bears' situation, taking into account talent, blocking scheme and experience with a shared situation.

1. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

Nothing has changed even after the Bears didn't send top people to Jeanty's pro day. He still rates high in their view because they have him coming to a 30 visit at Halas Hall and no one can deny the insane things he does on a field. The 374 carries last year doesn't say how he'll fit in a shared situation, but the talent is so pervasive and he ran behind a near split of zone and gap blocking, which is exactly what he'd face with the Bears. He even appears to be a willing, though inexperienced blocker.

2. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina

Another situation where the talent is so pervasive but he hasn't had to maximize his touches much in a shared situation. The scheme experience isn't there but the talent fit for either scheme is, meaning, scouts see a player who has run a lot behind gap schemes—over 60% of his attmepts--but his particular style of testing the water, so to speak, heading into the line without fear and then exploding through the first opening he finds there instead of cutting back to find outside room is a real indicator he could run the same way in a zone scheme if given more carries in it. With his size/speed/strength ratio, he figures to be a quick learner as a pass blocker and already shows some of this ability.

3. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

Judkins is Hampton style pounder, except without quite the same power quotient and with more balance in running behind either style blocking scheme. The other real asset Judkins has brought out in an interview Ohio State coach Ryan Day did with NFL Network's Stacy Dales about the lack of selfishness between his two backs, Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. Both ended up with over 1,000 yards in much the same style of approach as Johnson used with Montgomery and Gibbs.

"And they both knew that the one was going to push the other one and it was, also, in a 16-game season was also going to help them in terms of their health," Day told Dales. 

4. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

The problem with drafting Henderson for the Bears would be they don't have the every down back who relies on power, unless they can count this time on Johnson to deliver this. Henderson would be a less speedy but more powerful version of what Johnson had in Gibbs. He ran 53.1% behind gap and 44.1% zone scheme, so there was balance. And his willingness to split time with Judkins was obvious. Maybe the best thing about Henderson is his experience in a big-time program in big-time moments. He has no problem stepping up and performing in the clutch, whether running, receiving or even blocking. With both Henderson and Judkins, there should be an automatic elevation in the eyes of scouts because of the high level and success of their program, and their established success within it.

5. Cam Skattebo, Arizona St.

His lack of breakaway speed keeps him from being the option some other backs are but his power style is undeniable and what the Bears lacked last year between the tackles. He'll be entirely unafraid to step up and take on a linebacker or stunting defensive lineman to protect Caleb Williams. His gap-zone experience is sufficient at 56.1% gap and 43.9% zone. Skattebo might prosper in a shared backfield but he showed up more as a load back last year with 293 carries but he had just 164 caries his previous Sun Devils season in a shared situation.

6. Damien Martinez, Miami

Although he hasn't been as highly regarded by some, he fits what the Bears are looking for in many ways except for receiver experience. He never had more than 194 rushing attempts, yet had 982 yards or more in each of his three seasons as he maximized his touches in a rotation at college. The former Oregon State back ran behind a perfect zone/gap balance last year and has ideal size at 217 pounds with 4.51-second speed. Maybe his ability to make tacklers miss at the line, and then punish the defense is his best quality.

7. Kaleb Johnson, Iowa

A back with the kind of explosive talent Jonathan Taylor brought to the league but very limited in his versatility. He ran 80% behind zone scheme and is more of an upright runner than many teams would like. Then again, Taylor had that same issue and look how he turned out. Lack of pass catching with only 29 total catches in his career, further sets his limitations but the breakaway running ability is undeniable and he has the power to accomplish the type of runs coach Eric Bieniemy talks about needing from his backs, with tough, between-the-tackle runs and forward lean. The one big problem with watching Johnson film is the number of times he's getting 10 yards up the runway before a tackler ever gets near him. Good luck finding a run like that in the NFL.

8. Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech

Another speed option but one who would provide more actual running game experience than many of those available and he has maximized carries with only 173 and 183 attempts the last two years while piling up 2,022 yards. A receiving threat with 50 catches and 320 yards in two years and 29 total TDs scored, his height-weight ratio is just big enough to keep him from being considered a receiving back and he can break tackles as well as make tacklers miss, but his incredibly quick 4.32-second time at the combine in an official clocking means he'd be in the "Sonic" role and not "Knuckles." His 1.49-second 10-yard split might be his biggest accomplishment. The big problem here is his exposure to gap scheme has been only on 25% of carries. A real big-play threat, whether out of the backfield or on returns.

9. Dylan Sampson, Tennessee

Proven as a ball carrier but lacking ideal zone/gap experience and last year his 258 carries suggests he's more load back style. But his 5-8, 200-pound size says he's more of the change-of-pace back and he hasn't had that kind of receiving experience with 40 career catches. The 22 rushing TDs and 1,491 yards last year is hard to ignore, though. The way he bounces off tacklers at his size, he's almost like a mini version of Jeanty but can he get away with that at the next level against stronger, bigger, faster tacklers?

10. Brashard Smith, SMU

The speed guy who would challenge Johnson to come up with new ways to be used, because he used to be a wide receiver. He really could contribute as the third-down back, but there would be concerns over his blocking at 5-10, 194. There's no question he lacks the running experience behind zone or gap regardless of ratio because he only had 21 college carries at Miami until last year when he had 235 for 1,332 yards for the Mustangs. Still, there is this fun thought of all the mad scientist things Johnson could do with a running back this fast (4.39 at combine) who can run routes far downfield and catch passes in stride there like a wide receiver and not a running back. Imagine him matched up on a linebacker running the wheel route.

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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.