The Bears let David Montgomery walk in free agency, so their backfield is in need of a new lead back. There are a trio of possibilities; an incumbent, a free agent signing and a rookie. All three could potentially seize the role.
Khalil Herbert (pictured) might be the guy. He was awfully impressive with limited work last year, rushing for 731 yards on just 129 carries; that's 5.7 yards per attempt. The former sixth-rounder is entering his third season and on dynasty rosters everywhere. It would seem he'd get the first crack to start.
D'Onta Foreman is the free agent signing, having worked his way back from a torn Achilles suffered way back in 2018. He was really impressive filling in for Derrick Henry two years ago, then went to Carolina and made their running game better after they traded away Christian McCaffrey. He rushed for 914 yards and 5 TDs for a pretty limited offense in basically a little more than half a season as a starter. I was surprised he didn't generate more interest in free agency. He might be the best back on the roster right now.
Then the team drafted Roschon Johnson in the third round. Johnson was stuck behind Bijan Robinson in Texas last year, but averaged 6.0 yards per attempt (93 carries for 554 yards and 5 touchdowns). Most likely he'll be 3rd among these players as a rookie, but nothing is set in stone in this backfield.
Recently, the team praised Johnson's work in the passing game. He can catch, having caught 14 passes for 128 yards and a score last year -- not much, but again he wasn't playing much behind Bijan -- but it's the other responsibilities that got the GM's attention. "He pass protects really well," says Ryan Poles.
Perhaps that will be enough to get him the third-down role in the offense, because neither of his competitors have done much in that regard.
I took a look at all the running backs who played in at least 10 games last year and were involved parts of the offense (I went with 100 rushing yards as the cutoff). Of those 76 running backs, 21 averaged fewer than a catch per game. The Bears have two of them; two of the nine lowest producers in this regard. David Montgomery didn't set the world afire, but he was up in the top third of those backs, averaging slightly over 2 catches per game.
| RUNNING BACKS CATCHES PER GAME (10-PLUS GAMES), 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Run | No | Rec | TD | No/G |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 17 | 915 | 107 | 722 | 18 | 6.3 |
| Christian McCaffrey, 2TM | 17 | 1139 | 85 | 741 | 13 | 5.0 |
| Leonard Fournette, T.B. | 16 | 668 | 73 | 523 | 6 | 4.6 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 14 | 814 | 60 | 441 | 9 | 4.3 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 17 | 1040 | 69 | 421 | 6 | 4.1 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 15 | 897 | 57 | 490 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 16 | 1312 | 57 | 338 | 10 | 3.6 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 13 | 782 | 46 | 300 | 8 | 3.5 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 17 | 1121 | 59 | 395 | 7 | 3.5 |
| D'Andre Swift, Det. | 14 | 542 | 48 | 389 | 8 | 3.4 |
| Jerick McKinnon, K.C. | 17 | 291 | 56 | 512 | 10 | 3.3 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 17 | 1653 | 53 | 400 | 12 | 3.1 |
| Antonio Gibson, Was. | 15 | 546 | 46 | 353 | 5 | 3.1 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 17 | 481 | 50 | 290 | 3 | 2.9 |
| Michael Carter, NYJ | 16 | 402 | 41 | 288 | 3 | 2.6 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 11 | 861 | 28 | 143 | 4 | 2.5 |
| Melvin Gordon, Den. | 10 | 318 | 25 | 223 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Tony Pollard, Dall. | 16 | 1007 | 39 | 371 | 12 | 2.4 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 17 | 1034 | 41 | 229 | 10 | 2.4 |
| Devin Singletary, Buff. | 16 | 819 | 38 | 280 | 6 | 2.4 |
| Samaje Perine, Cin. | 16 | 394 | 38 | 287 | 6 | 2.4 |
| Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 13 | 939 | 30 | 165 | 5 | 2.3 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 17 | 1173 | 39 | 295 | 10 | 2.3 |
| David Montgomery, Chi. | 16 | 801 | 34 | 316 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Latavius Murray, 2TM | 13 | 760 | 27 | 132 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 16 | 1538 | 33 | 398 | 13 | 2.1 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 17 | 1125 | 35 | 316 | 5 | 2.1 |
| Kareem Hunt, Cle. | 17 | 468 | 35 | 210 | 4 | 2.1 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 16 | 891 | 31 | 202 | 5 | 1.9 |
| Deon Jackson, Ind. | 16 | 236 | 30 | 209 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 15 | 1050 | 27 | 165 | 9 | 1.8 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 16 | 379 | 28 | 214 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Dontrell Hilliard, Ten. | 12 | 145 | 21 | 177 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire, K.C. | 10 | 302 | 17 | 151 | 6 | 1.7 |
| Darrell Henderson, LAR | 10 | 283 | 17 | 102 | 3 | 1.7 |
| Eno Benjamin, 3TM | 15 | 313 | 25 | 193 | 2 | 1.7 |
| AJ Dillon, G.B. | 17 | 770 | 28 | 206 | 7 | 1.6 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson, Atl. | 13 | 695 | 21 | 122 | 9 | 1.6 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 10 | 233 | 16 | 68 | 1 | 1.6 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 17 | 1525 | 27 | 239 | 13 | 1.6 |
| Damien Harris, N.E. | 11 | 462 | 17 | 97 | 3 | 1.5 |
| Kenyan Drake, Balt. | 12 | 482 | 17 | 89 | 5 | 1.4 |
| Jeff Wilson, 2TM | 16 | 860 | 22 | 185 | 6 | 1.4 |
| Kenneth Gainwell, Phil. | 17 | 240 | 23 | 169 | 4 | 1.4 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 16 | 507 | 21 | 180 | 3 | 1.3 |
| Chase Edmonds, 2TM | 13 | 245 | 16 | 157 | 3 | 1.2 |
| Miles Sanders, Phil. | 17 | 1269 | 20 | 78 | 11 | 1.2 |
| Matt Breida, NYG | 17 | 220 | 20 | 118 | 1 | 1.2 |
| Jamycal Hasty, Jac. | 17 | 194 | 20 | 126 | 3 | 1.2 |
| Dare Ogunbowale, Hou. | 17 | 123 | 20 | 104 | 1 | 1.2 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 15 | 876 | 17 | 92 | 12 | 1.1 |
| DeeJay Dallas, Sea. | 15 | 186 | 17 | 126 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Joshua Kelley, LAC | 13 | 287 | 14 | 101 | 2 | 1.1 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 16 | 1035 | 16 | 139 | 4 | 1.0 |
| James Robinson, 2TM | 11 | 425 | 11 | 51 | 5 | 1.0 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 15 | 466 | 14 | 171 | 2 | 0.9 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 10 | 139 | 9 | 76 | 0 | 0.9 |
| Sony Michel, LAC | 10 | 106 | 9 | 53 | 0 | 0.9 |
| Alexander Mattison, Min. | 17 | 283 | 15 | 91 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Cam Akers, LAR | 15 | 786 | 13 | 117 | 7 | 0.9 |
| Zack Moss, 2TM | 13 | 456 | 11 | 39 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Justice Hill, Balt. | 15 | 262 | 12 | 58 | 0 | 0.8 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 17 | 830 | 13 | 130 | 5 | 0.8 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 12 | 797 | 9 | 60 | 3 | 0.8 |
| Justin Jackson, Det. | 16 | 170 | 12 | 101 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Jamaal Williams, Det. | 17 | 1066 | 12 | 73 | 17 | 0.7 |
| Ty Johnson, NYJ | 17 | 160 | 12 | 88 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Khalil Herbert, Chi. | 13 | 731 | 9 | 57 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Jonathan Williams, Was. | 13 | 152 | 7 | 40 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Malik Davis, Dall. | 12 | 161 | 6 | 63 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Pierre Strong, N.E. | 15 | 100 | 7 | 42 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Boston Scott, Phil. | 15 | 217 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 0.3 |
| D'Onta Foreman, Car. | 17 | 914 | 5 | 26 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Gary Brightwell, NYG | 17 | 141 | 5 | 39 | 1 | 0.3 |
| Caleb Huntley, Atl. | 12 | 366 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Jordan Mason, S.F. | 16 | 258 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
As I mentioned, I like Foreman, and Herbert also has his fans. But Johnson will be a rookie to watch in the preseason, see if he can carve out that third-down role. Somebody will need to catch some passes at the position for Chicago.
--Andy Richardson