Why Ben Johnson will give Bears RB D'Andre Swift less carries in 2025

One of the biggest questions about the Chicago Bears heading into the 2025 season is how they will approach the run game.

Bears HC Ben Johnson has made it clear that the run game has equal priority in his offense. Last season in Detroit, Ben called runs on 49.2% of snaps. The Lions averaged 149 rushing yards per game, making up 36% of total yards.

His strong commitment to the run game has many benefits:

• Helps make third downs more manageable (or avoidable) to keep the sticks moving.
• Enables play action to open up the passing game. Ben called play action on 36% of pass plays last season for the Lions, which led the NFL.
• Reduces the load/pressure on the QB.
• Wears defenses down more quickly.
• Helps win the time of possession battle. Lions were 2nd in the NFL with an average of 31:46 in 2024.

The Bears head into the season with four projected RBs on their 53-man roster: Swift, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer and rookie Kyle Monangai.

While some have argued that the Bears should trade for a RB to upgrade the room, I don't believe they will. Ben will look to optimize the combination of RBs by playing each to their highest and best use. A concept we saw too little of in the Bears' offense last season.

So what does that mean for Swift, who carried the ball on 59% of running snaps for an underwhelming 3.8 yards per carry in 2024?

As a runner, Swift requires top-tier run blocking and space to thrive

Unlike his production in Philadelphia with their top offensive line in 2023, Swift struggled behind the Bears' 15th-ranked run blocking last season. He ran for 959 yards, but the 253 attempts to achieve that was inefficient. While he certainly wasn't helped by the poor play calling, his advanced statistics were also concerning.

Part of this stemmed from Swift being misused as if he were a bell cow back.

• He isn't a north-south power runner.
• He isn't known for his ability to create holes out of slivers of daylight.
• He can be too hesitant to plant a foot and turn upfield.
• He had difficulty converting on 3rd and short/4th and short multiple times last season.

Certainly, the significantly upgraded Bears' interior offensive line will improve the run blocking this season. However, even behind the Eagles and Lions' top run blocking, Swift's challenges above remained.

Swift is at his best when he can weave through defenders in more open space with runway. He has the ability to rip off explosive breakaway runs, like the one below.

However, the challenge is that Swift's breakaway runs (15+ yards) are too few and far between. Johnson saw this in Detroit in 2022, where over 40% of his 549 yards came from just eight breakaway runs of his 99 carries. In 2024, their frequency on a percentage basis was even lower, with only 9 breakaway runs on 253 carries with the Bears.

As a pass catcher, Swift gets into open space sooner where he shines

That's a big reason why Ben limited Swift's carries to seven per game in 2022 and, at the same time, increased his pass-catching targets. The goal was to get him running in space more frequently for bigger gain opportunities.

This resulted in Swift having his career-best 5.5 yards per carry under Ben Johnson while also averaging 8.1 yards per reception in 2022. Johnson then shifted the bulk of the carries over to Lions RB Jamaal Williams.

Given this, Johnson will likely follow a similar usage pattern with Swift in 2025. I'd expect Ben Johnson will split the primary RB running workload carries between Roschon Johnson and Kyle Monangai, with the ratio for each determined at camp.

What might be reduced from 2022 is the number of targets Swift will receive this season. With so many capable pass catchers to feed on the Bears, Swift will need to earn his share of targets.