Windy City Gridiron
Can Roschon Johnson be Ben Johnson’s Jamaal Williams, or is short-yardage back and special teamer his ceiling?
When Roschon Johnson was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2023, I thought they were getting a low-mileage back with three-down potential who also had special teams experience. He could catch and block, and while he lacked breakaway speed, he ran hard enough to break arm tackles and get tough yards. At the very least, I figured he could develop into a viable RB2, but I thought he had a real shot at eventually becoming a starter.
In his rookie season, he showed promise by appearing in 15 games, making 81 rushing attempts for 352 yards (4.3 ypc) and two touchdowns, with 34 receptions for 209 receiving yards. He also chipped in on special teams for 152 snaps. The two games he missed were due to a concussion.
Last season, he had a toe injury during the preseason and was inactive for week one. He suffered another concussion later in the year, which kept him out of two more games. In the 14 games he appeared in, RoJo had 55 carries for 150 yards (2.7 ypc) and six touchdowns, with 16 catches for 104 yards. His third phase usage was down to 132 snaps.
If he had enough attempts to qualify, his 56.4 rushing success rate would have placed fourth among running backs, so he was effective in what he was asked to do. Pro Football Reference defines success rate as a run that gains at least 40% of the yards required on 1st down, 60% of the yards required on 2nd down, and 100% on 3rd or 4th down. Since he was given the role of short-yardage back, many of his carries only needed to go a short distance for that success, which likely contributed to his low yards per run last year.
As the unofficial depth chart stands now, Johnson is RB2 behind D’Andre Swift, with veteran special teamer Travis Homer, rookie draft pick Kyle Monangai, second-year UDFA Ian Wheeler, and rookie UDFA Deion Hankins rounding out the depth chart.
Unless a move is made, Johnson figures to be the number two tailback, and based on Ben Johnson’s previous years as a play caller, his RB2 will see plenty of snaps. Ben had the Sonic & Knuckles tandem the last two years in Detroit, but even in 2022, his primary RB2 saw the field for 393 offensive snaps with 147 touches in 14 games.
Or perhaps Roschon will finally ascend to the RB1 job under the new regime, and Swift will be the third-down complement.
Swift was the Lions RB2 in ‘22, and he posted a career high 5.5 yards per carry working behind Jamaal Williams (6', 224), who has a similar physical running style as Johnson (6', 225).
Here’s how they stacked up coming out of college.
I was high on RoJo after year one, but I didn’t see him get better last season. Now, that could have stemmed from...
