Bear Digest

Respect for Bears Running Back Trio Takes Sudden Downturn

Khalil Herbert, D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson were viewed among the league's best by one NFL insider a few weeks ago but further analysis has the Bears behind other NFC North teams.

Gene Chamberlain

Khalil Herbert looks to break out against the Browns last season. Can Herbert, D'Andrew Swift and Roschon Johnson keep the Bears among the best running teams?
Khalil Herbert looks to break out against the Browns last season. Can Herbert, D'Andrew Swift and Roschon Johnson keep the Bears among the best running teams? / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
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D'Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert earned plenty of respect only a few weeks ago.

In fact, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio had them rated among the top three backfields in the league.

Suddenly the Bears running back group is being questioned. Considering offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's history with running attacks, it can't be a positive sign for their ability to balance out the attack.

The running game is the mortar holding the passing game in place but two analysts see the Bears backfield lacking proven talent.

CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan puts the Bears backfield well down in the middle of the league in rankings. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus' rating of the league's top 32 running backs is out and suggests the Bears' three-headed backfield monster should scare no one.

The CBS Sports article rates backfields according to tiers. The Bears rate in Tier 4, which doesn't sound especially bad but there are seven tiers. So they're in the middle of the league. This is for a team that led the league in rushing two years ago and was second last year.

The tier approach had 16 backfields rated ahead of the Bears, and every NFC North team has backs rated ahead of the best Bears running back.

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Sullivan sees the Bears and Minnesota more "involved in the musical chairs of free agency," as they sought to improve their running attacks. In other words, they were merely shuffling the deck chairs without doing much to actually keep the ship afloat. They actually have the Bears running attack rated behind Seattle's after Waldron left the Seahawks to come to the Bears.

PFF's Thomas Valentine has three NFC North starting running backs ranked higher than Swift. In fact, Minnesota's Aaron Jones (eighth), Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs (ninth) and Green Bay's Josh Jacobs (10th) are all in the top 10.

Swift is ranked only 19th in the league, while Herbert, who led all NFL backs with at least 100 attempts in yards per carry in 2022, isn't ranked among the top 32.

Valentine does give Swift some credit for his explosiveness.

"Swift led all running backs in the percentage of his yards to come before contact (47.4%), an indicator of how good the Eagles' offensive line is, but also of his burst," Valentine wrote.

It's going to be on the Bears offensive line to elevate its play and give this group of lower-rated backs an opportunity to maintain the Bears' lofty rushing rank in an offensive system not known for rushing. Waldron's running attacks in Seattle went from 11th in 2021 to 18th in 2022 to 28th last year, so it could be up to Caleb Williams and the three receivers to carry the offense instead of the three backs.

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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.