NextGen Revelations for D'Onta Foreman
The acquisition of D'Onta Foreman by the Bears looked on the surface like an attempt to add more experience and possibly a complementary type running back.
There's more to it than this.
Foreman's stats overall show someone who hasn't gained a great deal of yards, and his injury past had something to do with this. He went out with a torn Achilles as a rookie in 2017 and then a torn biceps in 2019.
Basically, he was a backup and David Montgomery was a Bears starter, but Foreman flashed the type of production starters do. He needed the chance to prove himself.
When he finally was healthy he was behind both Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey, and it's difficult to find two backs who better fit the workhorse classification through their careers—Henry for his rushing attempts and McCaffrey for his total touches.
So the Bears have a running back who really hasn't had the chance to explore his potential, but when he did for parts of two seasons while starters were injured he was extremely productive.
"I think I'm a tough runner, hard-nosed runner," he said. "I also feel like I've got a little finesse. I can make some guys miss. That's another part of my game that I want to instill is getting better in the open field, making guys miss in the open fields, but I think breaking tackles, setting up my runs, setting up the blocks, getting really what I want is the big part of my game."
Foreman the Runner
He gained 4.3 yards a carry in 2021 while Henry was hurt and 4.5 in Carolina while McCaffrey was out. Averaging 4.3 yards a carry for a career like Foreman has is no insignificant accomplishment.
Because of the injuries early in his career and then being a backup, Foreman definitely hasn't had the tires worn down so to speak. He has averaged only 88 carries a season.
Whether he can help catching passes is really a great unknown, as well. He says he can. Foreman has been targeted only 31 times in his career, but caught it 74.1% of the time (23 receptions) and had an outstanding 11.5-yard total per catch with only one career drop. The catch statistics show he has great ability to turn screens or short passes into big gains. Included in his 265 yards receiving are gains of 34, 39, 20 and 23 yards.
The most interesting numbers Foreman has, though, might be the figures compiled by NextGen Stats. They reflect something about his style of play and also the style of play the Bears want from their backs.
It says something about former Bears back David Montgomery, as well.
The first positive stat Foreman has is from the past two seasons and it is the percentage of times he had to run against an eight-man box.
He still had two very productive seasons rushing the ball, but did it in 2021 facing a league-high eight-man boxes 46.6% of the time according to NextGen.
This high eight-man box percentage could be expected considering the Titans love going with the tailback deep and the fullback on the field in run-heavy formations. However, Foreman faced the same thing last year in Carolina. He was up against eight-man boxes 35.47% of the time, the fifth-highest percentage in the league.
With his production the last two seasons, it's natural to wonder what Foreman could do if opponents don't dare load up the defense between the tackles to stop him.
If Justin Fields is the quarterback and is running the ball on bootlegs off fakes against a loaded box, the possibility for long touchdown runs to the outside can open wide up. Also, the play-action deep ball by one of the league's more accurate deep passers can open up if teams try to load up the box on Foreman.
NextGen Shows Perfect Fit
Last year Foreman spent the fifth least amount of time running behind the line of scrimmage on plays at an average of 2.64 seconds. He was going upfield and trying to get there in a hurry.
Foreman's run efficiency number says this, as well. It was 3.28, third lowest in the league.
Run efficiency divides the number of total yards the ball carrier actually travels with the ball on a given play by the number of yards from scrimmage gained.
So basically, Foreman is not messing around. He is gaining.
What's interesting about this stat is the running back who was fifth most efficient in the league last year.
It was Khalil Herbert at 3.29.
What the Bears want are backs running upfield, the one-cut types or as few cuts as possible behind their wide-zone blocking scheme.
Montgomery last year ranked 32nd in running efficiency. He's a different type of runner, one who can make his own space at the line by dancing or moving laterally if need be. He'll make tacklers miss or get them out of position and run through tackles.
It's not that it is less effective, but it's better to have a back like this behind a different type of blocking scheme. It's a style more conducive to inside zone blocking schemes.
It's probably not accurate to say Foreman complements Herbert's style of play as much as it is safe to say he complements Luke Getsy's offense better.
Foreman is better suited to the style of blocking and type of runs the Bears want made in this attack, and his strength is one they can use to complement Fields' strengths.
Back in the same division too!
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