The Bears made an effort to retain longtime starting running back David Montgomery this offseason, but Montgomery eschewed the club’s offer and elected to join the division-rival Lions. Chicago then added D’Onta Foreman to the RB room in free agency and selected Roschon Johnson in the fourth round of this year’s draft. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune believes that there will be a “real competition” for the RB1 role, with incumbent Khalil Herbert, Foreman, and Johnson all having a legitimate shot to land the gig.
Herbert, a 2021 sixth-round choice, has flashed plenty of promise during his first two professional seasons, mostly working as a complement to Montgomery. Over 30 games (three starts), Herbert has accumulated 1,164 rushing yards on 232 totes, which represents a sparkling 5.0 yards-per-carry average. He has added 23 catches for 153 yards and has scored seven total touchdowns.
Foreman, meanwhile, has taken a little longer to realize his potential. A third-round pick of the Texans in 2017, Foreman had a decent showing in his first year in the NFL (78 carries for 327 yards and two TDs), but a torn Achilles cut his rookie season short and forced him to miss most of 2018. He was waived in advance of the 2019 season, with poor work habits reportedly accelerating his departure from Houston.
After sitting out all of 2019, Foreman caught on with the Titans’ practice squad in September 2020 and ultimately appeared in six games for Tennessee that year. In 2021, he got his first extended opportunity to shine since he was a rookie, as he carried the ball 133 times for 566 yards (4.3 YPC) as an injury replacement for Derrick Henry.
Foreman signed with the Panthers last March, and following the Christian McCaffrey trade in October, Foreman became Carolina’s feature back. He ended the 2022 season with 203 carries for 914 yards (4.5 YPC) and five touchdowns and was rumored to be a hot commodity should he and the Panthers fail to agree to a new contract before free agency opened this year.
Of course, Foreman and Carolina did not come to terms on a new deal, so the Texas product became a free agent once again. While the suppressed running back market and his lack of receiving prowess limited him to a one-year, $2MM contract with the Bears, he is well-positioned to have a sizable role in Chicago’s offense, even if he is not the official starter.
Johnson, another Texas alumnus, enjoyed a 5.6 YPC average over his four years with the Longhorns. It stands to reason that he would start his career behind Herbert and Foreman on the depth chart, though Biggs believes Johnson’s draft status puts him firmly in the mix to receive the lion’s share of the carries right out of the gate.
The Bears’ heavy investment into their running attack this offseason did not stop at Foreman and Johnson. Chicago also added Travis Homer in free agency, and the club is still rostering 2022 sixth-rounder Trestan Ebner. While Ebner, who carried the ball 24 times for 54 yards last year, would be hard-pressed to earn many rushing attempts if the Herbert/Foreman/Johnson/Homer quartet remains healthy, Biggs believes the second-year pro could nonetheless retain a roster spot due to his receiving and special teams abilities.
I think their QB is the RB1. Everyone else is just playing backup to him.
Alexander Mattison is better.
Mattison plays for the Vikings… this article was about Bears RB’s
And he isn’t better either.
Khalil Herbert has fumbled just once in 232 carries while the other backs on the depth chart are turnover machines. I don’t see a competition for RB1 at all unless the rookie Johnson proves the scouts rated him too low.
Its like you have no clue what your’e talking about.
Foreman fumbked once last year, twice the hear before, six for his career.
Both homer and ebner have never fumbled.
Johbson fumbled once on basically 400 carries in college.
Foreman 6 fumbles on 443 carries. Homer 1 fumble on 83 carries. Ebner 2 fumbles on 24 carries. None of them can compete with Herbert in the area of ball security.
I’m guessing ball security is one of many boxes, the true RB1 has to check.
Tiki barber would like a word with you.
Roshawn is so underrated. There’s no mystery to Foreman. Good back but not great.
I’m the end – I think it’s Herbert but Roshawn has a lot of potential.
Why did they go so hard at RB?
Fields is going to run until he gets hit so hard his soul ejects from his body. Montgomery left because even he knew Herbert is better fit for what they’re building around Fields. I get signing Foreman because you never know how the Draft will shake out; and Roschon is better than his draft spot
… and I have doubts that Moore, Mooney, Claypool & Kmet
But that’s why they play a 19+ games lol
We shall see
I think they went so hard at RB to protect Fields from hurting himself. With 4 RB options he can just hand the ball off rather than try to do it himself every other play. The more weapons they surround him with the easier it will be to properly evaluate him this year. If he is a guy you don’t want him ejecting his soul from his body. If he isn’t a guy they want to find out through a 17 week performance and not just have him get hurt week 1 leaving the question marks still lingering going into the next draft.
Moore is a legit WR1, I have no doubts about that guy’s ability. Kmet is a good TE, it really just depends on how well Fields can throw it this year. Claypool is a question mark I agree with you on that, but Mooney should be fine. Mooney would be a solid WR2 in almost any offense. It’s on OC Luke Getsy to call the right play and for Fields to make the play.
Bears RB’s are all solid and go 4 or 5 deep with not much drop off. Ebner really hasn’t had much of a shot to even evaluate him yet. The Bears are paying all of them about the same money Detroit foolishly gave Montgomery. They’ll find out out soon enough. Poles protected himself by signing PJ Walker to back up Fields. At least if Fields does get hurt they have a QB who can come that you don’t have to change the whole offense on the fly to match his style. He doesn’t run as well as Fields but he’ll be steady if not flashy. The WR’s will be fine barring a ton of significant injuries. There always seems to be oe position group that gets shredded with injuries on every team during the year and I’m afraid WR might be that group. I still expect Poles to re sign Houston-Carson and I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t happened but it will make the safety group even deeper. Plus some adds will happen after cut down day. I wouldn’t expect a big expenditure but he still has 30 million left to spend. Don’t know how good the current team is but I already see it’s way deeper than last years team. Roschon Johnson and Homer are special teams aces so Ebner will have to prove himself to keep all those guys on the team. But it’s a promising group.
Lmao very funny comment. Fields will probably have more Carrie’s than all three backs and if they lose 9 games or more he probably will hit the trade block or be released. I don’t think Eberflus is too big on fields anyway and Caleb Williams is drawing big draft stock leading into 2023 college season
They didn’t go hard at rb. They didn’t pay Montgomery, drafted a fourth rounder and signed a guy in Foreman.
Atlanta and Detroit went hard at rb not the Bears.
Morons draft RB’s in the first round. Elliott, Cook, Barkley, Jacobs = ZERO titles. Henry led the league in rushing= No title. That’s why Ekeler, Cook, Barkley are all crying about money. Because they realize they aren’t really all that important. Dumb A**es all.
Barkley RD 1 Pick 2 No Super Bowl
Elliott RD 1 Pick 4 No Super Bowl
Jacobs RD 1 Pick 24 No Super Bowl
Cook RD 2 Pick 41 No Super Bowl
Henry RD 2 Pick 45 No Super Bowl
Austin Ekeler was an undrafted free agent, earned his spot on the team by beating out Melvin Gordon for the starting role and got paid a decent contract eventually. Chargers offense wouldn’t be what it is without Austin Ekeler. 1st rounders get nice rookie contracts with guaranteed money, Ekeler earned his money the hard way by actually being good at his job.
Austin Ekeler NFL records:
Ekeler is one of two players in NFL history to have 10 or more rushing touchdowns and five or more receiving touchdowns in consecutive seasons. The only other guy was Marshall Faulk.
Ekeler is one of two players in NFL history to be an undrafted player with 1,500 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns in consecutive seasons, the other guy was Priest Holmes.
Ekeler has the most catches by a running back in a single season in Chargers history.
I don’t believe you
In football a “competition” at a position means you’ve got basically nothing at that position – even after the “competition” ends.
That can be true in some cases but coaches always have to evaluate players coming back from injury rehab to determine if they still have what it takes to be a starter. If depth chart status was always a foregone conclusion, there would be little point in even having a training camp.
Fields is the #1 RB. Good one.
Obviously it’s a REAL competition.. “The Real Back-Up RB’s of Chicago” .. it’s drama too , This season, a handful of Back-ups will compete to see who will finally be the lead back (on 1st and 2nd) then watch everybody’s favorite back up 3rd down back Travis Homer catch some passes.. stay tuned