Bear Digest

The surprise position Ben Johnson says Bears can 'augment'

Whether Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles think it's a top priority isn't known but the new Bears coach threw out a position they could stand to "augment."
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson mentioned a position the Bears could stand to augment, and GM Ryan Poles sees the position's importance, too.
Ben Johnson mentioned a position the Bears could stand to augment, and GM Ryan Poles sees the position's importance, too. | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

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It can't be interpreted as great news for the Bears running backs when the new coach is looking at the position two days after officially signing and saying they could stand to improve there.

New coach Ben Johnson is focused on the passing game but in Detroit his attack was based on the play-action pass, which requires a strong running game. He was looking at that position while talking to Colin Cowherd on FS1's The Herd. 

"The No 1 deciding factor of winning and losing games right now is quarterback success and quarterback efficiency but the best way you can help that for a young player, especially, is to have a great running game," Johnson told Cowherd. "And so listen, that's something that we are going to hang our hat on. We'll see how well we improve up front.

"I like the backs that we already have on the roster and we can certainly look to augment that position group, as well, but it's going to start there and it's going to take everybody not just those two (backs)."

To bring up augmenting the position without being asked is going to stir excitement among Bears fans who have looked at the draft and decided running back Ashton Jeanty is someone they ought to pursue even if they do need linemen.

"We need great blocking, we need our perimeter players so that we can spring long runs and that's something that we've been able to encourage and get done in my past," Johnson said. "So I'm looking forward to bringing that here to Chicago, as well."

In Detroit, Johnson had the 1-2 punch of backs with different styles in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson are speed and power but whether they're exact fits for what Johnson wants to do remains a question.

Johnson is going to have at least joint ownership in the Bears' pursuit of talent, as GM Ryan Poles pointed out.

"Yeah, we're going to spend a lot of time together," Poles said. "That was part of our interview process, how do you handle discrepancies when it comes to player acquisition? And he answered it perfectly.

"It's spending time and watching tape together to figure out what direction we need to go in. We're going to have different opinions. We're going to see players differently, but it's coming together, watching tape and figuring out what's best for the organization. So I think that part is going to come easy."

Will it mean finding help in the running game?

"That balance has to be there, especially for us," Poles said. "There are going to be parts of the season where Caleb has got to throw it 50 times and we’ve got to air it out, and that’s awesome.

"But we all know when we get late in the seasons–and I would love to have some home games in January–we’ve got to be able to run the football. Just turn on the playoffs right now. Everyone is running the ball in bad weather, so that has to be a part of your identity."

The question going forward is which back or backs would be part of the identity.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.