Bears former 4th-round pick named 'player to watch' during training camp
One position group on offense that the Bears failed to upgrade this offseason was the running back room, adding only Rutgers' Kyle Monangai in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.
One running back that has been with Chicago the last two years is Roschon Johnson, and he has a chance to take over as the lead back. Gene Chamberlain from Bears On SI thinks Johnson is a player to watch during training camp.
"D'Andre Swift's skillset is well known after his 295 touches in the Bears offense last year and Ben Johnson knows him well from being together in Detroit. It's the power back who is a lesser known quantity and entirely necessary in what his coach wants to do," Chamberlain. "Roschon Johnson has barely been used in two seasons--a paltry 136 carries and 50 receptions in two seasons. He pass blocks well and this will be critical. Rookie Kyle Monangai is a player the Bears would like to see deliver but a seventh-rounder is at least as likely to wind up cut and on the practice squad as on the roster, and a position of prominence in the attack is definitely not a given. The only Bears running backs from Round 7 since the seven round draft started in 1993 were Kerrith Whyte Jr. in 2019 and Michael Hicks in 1996. Hicks gained 106 yards in is Bears career while White got cut, put on the practice squad and then pilfered off it by Pittsburgh. He lasted part of a season in the NFL. If a back is that good, why did they go in Round 7, and why were 21 other backs taken before Monangai? It's Johnson to watch at camp, and maybe Monangai is a back to watch in preseason games when the new players at the bottom of the roster get more playing time."
The Bears drafted Johnson in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and should be able to help take control of the offense in his third NFL season.If Johnson could be the No. 1 running back for the Bears, the team could make the playoffs.
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