Bear Digest

Why the Bears need to think draft for backs and not free agency

It's back to the normal way of thinking when it comes to acquiring backfield help after the 2024 free agent crop yielded big dividends for teams.
Gene Chamberlain|
North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton tries to elude North Carolina State linebacker Kamal Bonner.
North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton tries to elude North Carolina State linebacker Kamal Bonner. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

A phenomena of the season past might stay there.

This would be the sudden overemphasis on signing backs in free agency.

The Bears were one of those teams who valued a free agent running backs last year more than in recent years, when they gave D'Andre Swift a three-year, $24 million contract. The other top ones available then included Aaron Jones, Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.

All produced decent results to some extent but the trend doesn't appear sustainable over a year.

It wasn't so much a trend as it was an isolated situation when a group of healthy backs with plenty left became free agents in an otherwise down year for the position in the draft. Because there were so many, the price wasn't too high.

It's abnormal and unlikely to be repeated.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer surmised the same about this  year's backs in free agency.

"The top names are Aaron Jones, Najee Harris and J.K. Dobbins—good players, but not the needle-movers that last year’s best were," Breer wrote.

Jones was in there each of the last two years, but is now in his 30s and that often is a brick wall for running backs. Dobbins has never been a big-time gainer but does have ability to break tackles. And Harris is worthwhile but would be expensive, and at 241 pounds is more of a power back for another style of offense than Ben Johnson uses.

The Bears will be looking for versatility to move from the running game to the passing game. While they could use a back with power to break tackles, they most likely would just be looking for all-around skill and not a third-down back per se for long-range career purposes.

When Johnson was in Detroit, running backs were targeted 324 total times in the passing game and never less than 102 times in a season. The Bears have tried to have their backs involved as targets but over the same three years they managed only 242 backfield targets and Caleb Williams only threw to backs 74 times last year, with Swift getting 52 of those.

It's likely the Bears will be looking at backs with all-purpose ability to be here as a top runner after this season, when they would more easily be able to move on from Swift's contract.

Here's the treasure trove they can find available in the draft.

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

A top-10 pick on many big boards, he is a true multi-purpose back with special all-around skills and perhaps the best all-around threat to come into the league since Barkley was selected. He'll outrun people like Jahmyr Gibbs does or bounce off tackles the way Dobbins, and James Conner do. A team with an offensive line in place would do well to draft Jeanty, but the Bears obviously do not have the offensive line in place.

Omairon Hampton, North Carolina

He gained 3,164 of his 3,565 yards the last two years and also had 67 of his 73 receptions then. A true dual threat and capable of big plays in the passing game as a 9.8-yard average per catch last year indicate.

Kaleb Johnson, Iowa

A 6-foot, 225-pound true power back and cruiser who might lack the versatility after only 29 catches in three years. However, he did average 8.3 and 8.5 yards on catches the past two years when they did get him involved as a receiver. Also, his big contribution in the running game was confined to last year when he led the Big Ten with 1,537 yards on 240 carries. He's more like the one-cut workhorse backs of old but doesn't seem a fit for what Johnson did in the past. Then again, Johnson did say he didn't want to duplicate the Lions offense but Johnson would be showing heretofore untapped skill sets to do something close to what the Bears might want to see from him.

TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

Of all the backs in this draft, he looks the most Johnson-ish. Henderson is a threat to go all the way on any play like Gibbs was for the Lions, but he's a bit bigger than Gibbs, who was only 200 coming out of college. Henderson had a decent number of targets (77) for the Buckeyes while facing top Big 10 defensive talent.

Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

A power back with plenty of speed at 219 pounds with all-around skills, who could be well suited to be a starting type or workhorse in the Bears' style offense. He had 59 catches for 442 yards and broke 1,000 yards ever year as a runner at Ole' Miss two years and then a year at Ohio State carries with Henderson. He's less the receiver than Henderson but more capable between the tackles.

Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State

He comes in as a durable, potential workhorse type who had 80 catches for 585 yards and also ran for 1,732 yards on 285 carries at a school known in the past for running backs. At 6-2, 225 pounds he is a big back with big-time breakaway skills, much like Kaleb Johnson.

Corey Kiner, Cincinnati

Although he has the size and speed to get out into the open field in the passing game, he caught only 32 passes in four college seasons and averaged just 5.4 per cath when he did. A 5-9, 210-pounder, he played first for LSU. He had over 1,000 yards each of the last two years carrying the ball.

Woody Marks, USC

This is the guy you want if you're looking for a classic pass-catching back for passing downs or formations. At 5-10, 208, he had a phenomenal 261 catches for 1,546 yards and five touchdowns for Mississippi State and one year at USC. He made 214 of those receptions at Mississippi State. In 2021 alone for Mississippi State, he had 83 receptions for 502 yards. He also was a big-time running threat with 608 rushes for 3,016 yards but never got so much running game work that he was overloaded as he never reached 200 carries.

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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.