Windy City Gridiron
Ben Johnson likes to use two running backs, who will get the carries behind D’Andre Swift?
As we move forward with our training camp battles, we pivot back to the offense, and we look at the running back room. Let’s first address the rhinoscurious in the room.
I say rhino because it’s not quite an elephant, and that is if the Chicago Bears are going to add a veteran running back before the start of the regular season.
If they do, and let’s say it’s someone like Kenneth Walker, Walker and D’Andre Swift would become the duo that eats the carries, and this training camp battle won’t matter too much.
But it’s going to be the performances of Swift, Roschon Johnson, and Kyle Monangai that will decide whether the Bears make a move and add someone like Walker in August.
It’s my opinion that D’Andre Swift is a solid RB2 and that Roschon Johnson is an excellent RB3. We need to see what Monangai is before we can assess him, but I think Monangai’s ceiling is a between-the-tackles RB2, and we will see if he can reach that level.
But while Swift might be a good RB2 and Johnson a good RB3, there isn’t an RB1 on the roster, so it’ll be up to Swift, Johnson, and Monangai to prove my opinion wrong and settle the Bears' backfield.
For the sake of this conversation, let’s assume the Bears are moving forward with this backfield. Heading into training camp, Swift will clearly be the RB1 on the team, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that if Johnson (or possibly Monangai) really stand out in camp, they grab the RB1 duties and Swift becomes the change-of-pace RB2 on the team.
Why do I say that? History. When we look at Ben Johnson’s first year as offensive coordinator in Detroit, he inherited a roster where that same Swift was the team’s main running back. But they also had Jamal Williams, who had always been considered an RB2 or RB3. In week one, Swift had the lion’s share of the carries, but by week two, it was pretty even. By week three? Williams had 20 carries and kept the RB1 role the rest of the season.
Perhaps three years later, Swift and Ben Johnson will have a different relationship, but it did not fit too well. If it still doesn’t fit well three years later, Johnson is going to be looking for a running back to unseat Swift, but they’ll have to earn it.
I would be shocked if Monangai, a seventh-round pick, would be able to grab that type of role early in the season, but I would not be shocked if Johnson can do it.
Johnson comps similarly to what Williams did in Detroit. A guy that can run between the tackles, hit holes hard, block (we know critical for Ben’s offense), and even catch a little.
We don't know what Monangai is going to be. In...
