When the Bears picked up running back D’Andre Swift in the first half-hour of free agency last year, there was an immediate thought that he could be their most explosive playmaker. For all of wide receiver DJ Moore’s credentials and quarterback Caleb Williams’ potential, Swift was a great candidate to be the focal point of the offense.
That showed up only in flashes, like virtually everything the Bears hoped for last season. Playing under an inept offensive coordinator in Shane Waldron and behind a shaky offensive line, Swift dipped to a career-low 3.8 yards per carry, while the Bears finished in the bottom quarter of the NFL in rushing and tumbled to 5-12.
As the Bears opened training camp under new coach Ben Johnson, Swift was quick to point out that his combined rushing and receiving yards were a career-high 1,345. But it was inconsistent. While he had 18 runs of 10 or more yards, including runaway touchdowns of 36, 39 and 56, he ran for no gain or negative yards 48 times.
That’s the backdrop for one of the biggest questions of the Bears’ upcoming season as Johnson implements his offense: Can Swift give them the steady, between-the-tackles effectiveness they need while maintaining his extraordinary big-play capability?
“Just staying within the scheme and the system, and when the opportunity presents itself for me to be myself, then that’s when I’ll do that,” Swift told the Sun-Times regarding his approach this season. “It’s not even so much hunting for a big play. It’s just that if stuff is broken down, I’m trying to score every time I touch the ball.”
Things fell apart frequently last season, leaving Swift scrambling to create something out of nothing. It was a far different experience than he had with the Eagles the season before when he ran for a career-best 1,049 yards (at 4.6 per rush) behind a stacked offensive line that included three Pro Bowl selections.
The frustration of last season seemed to wear on him. He consistently took accountability publicly rather than point to the offensive line’s struggles or chirp about Waldron, but when asked recently about teaming up with a revamped offensive line that includes Pro Bowl guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, as well as highly rated center Drew Dalman, Swift said, “I can’t wait.”
General manager Ryan Pace’s overhaul of the line, which could include all new starters other than right tackle Darnell Wright, was an admission of how substandard the unit was last season.
It’d be hard to blame Swift if he viewed that as the predominant factor in his underperformance. Perhaps the same style that got him to this point will look a lot better amid those upgrades.
Nonetheless, last season didn’t sit well with him. After signing for $24 million over three years, giving him the 11th-highest salary at his position, he finished 18th in yards rushing (959) and 24th in touchdown runs (five). His yards per carry average ranked 28th among the 31 backs who rushed at least 150 times.
Moore, a childhood friend of his from Philadelphia, said Friday that “some of the talk is getting to him” and he’s out to prove he’s still in the top tier of NFL running backs. Johnson, who overlapped with Swift on the Lions, has seen him as fiery as ever.
“He has always been highly motivated on the inside, so there’s a lot of things about him that are the same as what they’ve been,” Johnson said. “He’s not happy with how last year went for him production-wise, team-wise, everything-wise… I see a very hungry individual.”
Johnson is endeavoring to jolt the Bears’ offense in his first season, though the team didn’t add much at running back. Swift remains far and away the most talented of the group, and no one else has much of a resumé.
The Bears don’t know what they have in Roschon Johnson after Waldron ignored him last year and he got just 55 carries in 14 games. Rookie Kyle Monangai is a seventh-round pick from Rutgers who was chosen 22nd at his position after the Bears narrowly missed some preferred targets early.
“The perception out there is that maybe it’s not the most talented room in the world,” Johnson said. “They like to hear that noise. We’re going to be just fine.”
That really hinges on Swift. No one else has as high of a ceiling.
His reunion with Johnson is interesting. Johnson was a low-level assistant with the Lions when they drafted Swift in the second round in 2020. After one season with Johnson as offensive coordinator in 2022, the team unloaded Swift for a fourth-round pick and drafted Jahmyr Gibbs to replace him.
The Lions were top six in rushing the last two seasons with Johnson calling plays for Gibbs and former Bear David Montgomery out of the backfield.
Johnson and Swift have both spoken glowingly of each other this year: Swift called Johnson “amazing” and “what we need,” while Johnson raved about Swift being driven and in great shape.
The Bears need that mutual admiration to materialize on the field.
They’re looking for Johnson to ignite the offense immediately and maximize a roster that’s built to compete for a playoff berth.
Swift, meanwhile, is playing for his paycheck in addition to his pride. The team can get out of his contract after the season for a dead salary-cap hit of just $1.3 million rather than keep him on the books for 2026 at $8.3 million.
If he and Johnson click this season, it’ll solve a lot of problems for both of them.