Windy City Gridiron
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson gets the offensive genius and offensive innovator label dropped on him from time to time, and yes, he is those things, but he’s also an old-school smash-mouth football guy. His Lions teams were always near the top of the league rankings in running the ball, so it’s no surprise he improved that aspect of the Bears in year one.
In year two, the Bears lost running backs coach Eric Bieniemy to the Chiefs, but they hired Eric Studesville, who is not only a well-respected teacher of the position but also had just spent the previous four years working for Mike McDaniel in Miami. McDaniel’s running game was one of the most innovative in the NFL, and Ben Johnson is ready to add some new wrinkles to his run game.
“He’s [Studesville] got a wealth of experience from a number of different places,” Johnson said about his assistant coach in June. “I can’t wait to dive into his cutups that he’s got for Miami. They did some unique things, particularly in the run game, over the last few years.”
The Bears had a better scheme, a revamped offensive line, and a commitment to multiple tight end sets in 2025, and all of that helped D’Andre Swift’s average yards per carry increase by over a yard from 2024. Swift also matured as a runner, taking what the defense gave him and lowering his shoulder when he had to. Swift, who turned 27 earlier this year, still plays with quickness and speed, and I expect another outstanding season from him.
Kyle Monangai was a nice complement to Swift last year, but his second season should bring a bigger impact.
“There are a lot of things I can improve on for sure,” Monangai said via the team site after the season. “I was just coming into this thing, just trying to gain the trust of the organization, gain the trust of my teammates, make them feel like they made the right decision in bringing me here, and then trying to help us win games at the end of the day.”
While I believe Swift will remain the starter, I wouldn’t be surprised if their snap counts were closer to split in 2026.
I think it’s wide open behind Swift and Monangai.
With Travis Homer gone, Roschon Johnson will try to become the Bears’ top special teams running back, but injuries have hit him each of his first three seasons.
Brittain Brown spent most of last year on the Bears’ practice squad, but in his one game, he had more rushing yards (37) than Homer and Johnson had combined the entire year (15).
Salvon Ahmed spent 2020 to 2023 in Miami with Studesville, but the last two years he was on the Broncos, then the Colts’ practice squad.
Rookie UDFA Coleman Bennett was a physical runner at Kennesaw State, but that might not translate to...
