The Bears had by far the NFL’s most run-heavy offense last season, and even with the many upgrades they’re banking on for the 2023 season, it’s unlikely they’ll flip completely to a pass-dominant attack a la the Chiefs or Chargers.
As they hope for improvement in pass-blocking on the offensive line and strides as a passer by quarterback Justin Fields, the Bears probably will remain attached to the ground-based identity that worked for them at times last season. The difference, theoretically, is that Fields will be running much less than he did in 2022, when he rushed for 1,143 yards.
Fields said flatly that he didn’t plan to scramble for 1,000 yards again, and the Bears don’t want him to. But they do want someone to. If they’re going to maintain an imposing running game while asking less of Fields, they’ll need a lot from running backs Khalil Herbert, D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson.
“We all want to do the same thing he does, so he doesn’t have to do it all,” Herbert said Wednesday after an organized-team-activity practice. “You’ve got this explosive quarterback that can make a play anytime he has the ball in his hands, and you want to be there to do the same thing, help him out. We’ve got the guys for it.”
Herbert is the leading candidate to bring that dimension to the Bears after they moved on from David Montgomery.
He ran for 731 yards and four touchdowns despite missing four games last season and led all NFL running backs at 5.7 yards per carry. He had 22 runs of 10 or more yards, including game-changing gains of 63 and 52.
“He can really do a great job of hitting the home run,” coach Matt Eberflus said.
So can Fields, who was second in the NFL with 10 rushes of 20-plus yards last season, but Eberflus wants to shift him to a “run it when we need it” mentality. That means saving those sprints for third downs, red-zone plays and touchdown opportunities, while leaving the bulk of the mileage — and hits — to the running backs.
While Herbert is the leader for now, Foreman and Johnson are intriguing, as well.
Most of the league seemed to have given up on Foreman, a 2017 third-round pick who is in his sixth organization at just 27, before the Panthers signed him last year. He barely played behind All-Pro Christian McCaffrey, but when Carolina traded McCaffrey in Week 7, Foreman took over and averaged 4.6 yards per carry and 79.7 per game the rest of the season.
The Bears drafted Johnson in the fourth round this year, fully expecting him to grow into a key role and perhaps replace Herbert, whose contract runs out after 2024.
For Herbert to hold his ground as the primary back and have a shot at becoming a star, he must get better at pass-blocking. Montgomery left the Bears with pedestrian rushing numbers but was incredibly valuable as a pass-blocker for a team with a struggling offensive line. He was a clear level above any other running back on the roster in that department.
“My pass-blocking is pretty good,” Foreman said when he signed, adding that he believes he has never allowed a defender to beat him for a sack in 43 games.
“It’s something I’ve been working on to fix,” Herbert said.
The Bears are hoping they’ll get what they need from that trio, or maybe from Trestan Ebner or Travis Homer emerging to overtake one of them. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said he hadn’t sketched out a plan for how he’ll use the running backs, but however he pieces it together, the goal is to take as much of the burden as possible off Fields, so he can focus on becoming dangerous as a passer instead.
