Bear Digest

The Missing Element to D'Andre Swift's Versatile Game

Analysis: The Bears brought D'Andre Swift in as a free agent and immediately made him the starter but one problem seems to prevent a projection of big numbers for a $24 million back.

Gene Chamberlain

D'Andre Swift is off to the races in a big game against Tampa Bay last season, but this level of play has been elusive for him.
D'Andre Swift is off to the races in a big game against Tampa Bay last season, but this level of play has been elusive for him. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
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Normally coaches talk in generalities and players get a little more specific about their roles.

It was flipped a bit when the Bears signed running back D'Andre Swift, as coach Matt Eberflus specified why they needed him and Swift has only talked about shared duties and all the backs together as one.

"Just a weapon back," Eberflus said. "We really needed that guy that can really operate on third down and even on first and second down to be a weapon in the deep part of the field and the short part of the field and be able to take it the distance. He's got a lot of gas."

Swift is coming into a backfield with a power back/receiver/blocker in second-year player Roschon Johnson, and former starter Khalil Herbert. Last year Herbert got his chance to be the back Eberflus wanted and produced nice numbers at times but also came up with one undesirable number. That would be the number five, as in missed games. He had four the previous season.

"Nowadays, you need that one-two, two or three, you need multiple guys," Swift said. "It's a long season and there's long games played. You need kind of multi-back system for the season to keep guys fresh and that sort of thing."

It's Swift the Bears entrust with starting while both Johnson and Herbert contribute. Besides Herbert's missed games, they have found he also doesn't provide much in the passing game. Johnson has, but in Swift they have a true all-around type with that extra gear that Johnson lacks.

The Eagles wanted this quality enough last year for GM Howie Roseman to trade a fourth-round pick in 2025 and also swap seventh-round picks with the Lions to bring Swift back home to Philadelphia. Yet, they now have let him leave after a year.

It was reported by ESPN that Philadelphia made an offer to Swift to keep him. The Eagles weren't totally displeased with his production, just not pleased enough to give him $8 million a year like the Bears were.

What the Bears look like they have in Swift is the explosive player Eberflus described, but one who rarely achieves a level of consistency carrying the ball out of the backfield.

  • As a rookie in Detroit, he hit 116 yards rushing against Jacksonville for his first 100-yard game in his fifth career game. Then he went above 67 yards only once the rest of the year.
  • After he went 12 games with three more missed due to injuries and didn't gain more than 67 yards rushing Swift seemed to break through with 130 yards and 136 in back-to-back Lions games in 2021. Then he went the rest of the year with four games missed due to injuries and three more without gaining more than 32 yards rushing.
  • It looked like it could be different in 2022 as Swift tore up the Eagles for 144 yards rushing in a wild 38-35 Lions season-opening loss, thereby gaining Roseman's attention for the 2023 trade. After his big game, Swift never again went over 62 yards again in 2022 until Week 17 with 78 yards against the Bears.
  • Finally, last year Swift exploded again with back-to-back efforts of 175 yards and 130 in Weeks 2 and 3 with the Eagles. However, even behind a formidable Philadelphia offensive line he did not have another game over 70 yards until Nov. 20. While he did have this rapid drop, at least he was able to gain 61 yards or more seven times with a high of 92 yards.

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This seemed to prove how Swift might be productive behind the right offensive line, in the right offense. Yet, the separation for him from top all-around backs like Saquon Barkley or Josh Jacobs, again was piling up big, consistent numbers repeatedly for an extended period.

The Bears think they have backs to fill those gaps that can occur in Johnson and, at least for this season, Herbert. 

The other unknown factor entering into this is how offensive coordinator Shane Waldron handles backfield usage.

Like many coordinators, Waldron has talked about committees and sharing duties. In Seattle they did this one year. Then the Seahawks drafted Kenneth Walker and entrusted him with 228 rushes and 219 rushes, to go with 35 and 37 targets in the passing game.

Walker wasn't a one-man committee, but was definitely hauling the load. The rest of the running backs on the roster carried it only 122 and 118 times combined in the last two seasons.

This points more toward Swift as load back, Johnson a situational replacement and Herbert picking up occasional carries or as a replacement in case of injury.

This Bears backfield committee has the potential to be what they say, or it may become a solo act with some minor support players filling in carries and receptions.

It's guessing time and it might come down to whether Swift is ever able to find the consistency he lacked in both Detroit and Philadelphia.

D'Andre Swift at a Glance

Vitals: 5-foot-9, 215 pounds, fifth season.

Career: 593 rushing attempts, 2,729 yards, 23 TDs, 4.6 yards per carry; 254 targets, 195 receptions, 1,412 yards, 7.2 yards per catch, 8 TDs, 76.8% receiving ratio.  

2023: 229 rushes, 1,049 yards, five TDs, 4.6 yards per carry; 49 targets, 39 receptions, 214 yards, 5.5 yards per catch, 1 TD, 79.6% receiving ratio.

Fantasy Scoring: Last year Swift brought in 179.8 points on FanDual's scoring system, 206.3 on DraftKing's and 160.3 on a standard system 160.3 points on FanDual's scoring system.

2024 Bears On SI Projection: 169 rushes, 760 yards, 4 TDs, 4.5 yards per rush; 58 targets, 41 receptions, 268 yards, 6.5 yards a reception, 1 TD, 70.7% catch rate.

Michael Fabiano's SI Fantasy Ranking: No. 19 among all running 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.