Bears running back D’Andre Swift is having his best season and set a career high in rushing yards Sunday with his eight-yard run against the Lions in the first quarter. That pushed him to 1,055 for the season, passing the 1,049 he put up in 2023 with the Eagles.
It was especially sweet for Swift to do it against the Lions, who drafted him in the second round in 2020 and bailed on him three years later by trading him to the Eagles.
Swift’s resurgence has been one of the Bears’ biggest success stories under new coach Ben Johnson, who was the Lions’ offensive coordinator when they dealt Swift. Swift adapted to a Johnson and Bieniemy’s demands for him to make his running style more vertical and ditch the dancing around in the backfield.
The result was Swift jumping from one of his worst seasons in 2024 to one of his best.
Going into the game, his yards per carry had jumped from 3.8 last season to 4.9. He gained no or negative yardage on 19% of his runs last season, then dropped that to a career-best 12.7% . He also went into the game with a career-high 29 runs of 10-plus yards, sixth in the NFL.
The Bears have a decision looming with Swift’s contract as he’s set to make $8.8 million next season, or they could cut him for a dead salary-cap hit of $1.3 million. But after a season like this, he certainly looks like part of their future.
