Will D’Andre Swift remain the main ball carrier for the Bears?
Ben Johnson is going to run the football.
There are plenty of unknowns about exactly what Ben Johnson plans to do with his offense this year. We can expect certain parallels with the offense he ran in Detroit, but at the end of the day, Johnson has stated multiple times that he wants to take elements from other successful NFL offenses and create an offense around the talent he has on his roster.
But the one thing that Johnson’s offense did in Detroit, and he has stated is important to him to continue with the Chicago Bears, is that he wants his team to run the football successfully. It’s the engine that makes his offense run.
Question of the Day: Who will get the most carries in the Bears’ backfield this year?
The easy answer here is D’Andre Swift. And perhaps it’s the right answer. Swift, at the moment, is definitely the most talented back in the Bears’ backfield. Travis Homer is more of a special-teams player, Kyle Monangai, while promising, will most likely not be an impact rookie coming out of the 7th round, and Roschon Johnson is entering year three and is averaging 3.7 yards per carry for his career.
My answer: I’m going to go with a bit of a wild answer and pick a player that isn’t even on the roster. I say Nick Chubb leads the Bears in carries this year. Let’s go through this. First of all, even if the Bears sign Chubb, I still think they keep their current stable and go with 5 running backs. If you want to see my reasoning, check it out here on my 53-man roster projection.
As we mentioned previously, it won’t be Homer. I can’t see it being Monangai, as much as I would love it to be. Perhaps Monangai could be the thunder in the backfield in 2026, but let’s give him a year to develop. Roschon Johnson can be a versatile player and has special-teams value, so while I think he has a role on this team, I can’t see that role as the primary ball carrier.
Let’s get to Swift. Swift is the most talented back out of these four, at least currently (we’ll see where Monangai ends up). But his performance last year was not at the level it needed to be to be a primary back. Was that on Swift, or was that on a broken offense? Certainly, either argument could be made.
But the other issue with me is how Swift’s tenure in Detroit went once Ben Johnson took over. The year before Johnson was OC, Swift had a major role in the offense. once Johnson took over, he vastly reduced Swift’s role and pushed Jamaal Williams into the primary role.
That season was Williams’ only season as a primary, and he had a tremendous season for Detroit. After one year of Swift with Ben Johnson, Swift was moved out of town, and Detroit pivoted towards their duo of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
While that doesn’t mean that Swift and Johnson aren’t compatible, it certainly could suggest it, and I believe there’s something to it.
I believe that Johnson would like to avoid Swift as the primary ball carrier this season. If that’s the case, I don’t see a back currently on the roster that can handle those duties.
The Cleveland Browns have drafted two running backs in the draft, and they restructured Jerome Ford’s contract so he will remain a part of their backfield. Those moves mean that Chubb’s time in Cleveland is over.
Cleveland media have tied Chubb to the Bears pretty heavily. Chubb hasn’t been great, and his best days certainly seem like they are behind him. But he’s been rehabbing hard, and you have to wonder if Johnson thinks he can squeeze some success out of him in his scheme.
If it’s not Chubb, I would think the Bears could go out and trade for someone like Kenneth Walker. But for now, it’s my guess that the Bears try to make it work with Chubb and look to rework their backfield in 2026.
What do you say, Bears fans? Will D’Andre Swift be the primary back, or can you make the argument for someone else? Sound off in the comments section below!