After suffering a concussion, Chicago Bears running back Roschon Johnson looks like he is feeling healthy and showing that he should be the future starter in this offense.
In 2022, the Chicago Bears had the best rushing attack in the NFL. They ran for 3,014 yards, almost 300 more yards than the next team. This season, they are on nearly the same path. They have 1,547 rushing yards, good for third in the league. They are 50 yards away from second place, and 356 away from the top spot.
While the NFL is a passing league, teams that have a strong running game have a big help in their passing game. If a defense has to worry about the ground attack, the space downfield becomes open. An effective quarterback can take advantage of that and make big plays throwing the ball.
Last season, the Bears had David Montgomery as the starting running back. However, it was quarterback Justin Fields who led the way with 1,143 yards. It was the second-highest total by a quarterback in a season in league history.
This season, Fields leads the way again. However, he does so with just 400 seasons. The running backs unit has been hit hard with injuries. Fields has missed four games with an injury and the coaches lowered the number of planned runs. Montgomery is now in Detroit, making Herbert the starter. However, he was on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He returned last week, but his explosiveness is not the same yet.
Herbert’s backup, Roschon Johnson, himself suffered a concussion. He missed two games because of it. He has played a few games but he also seemed like he had some cobwebs to clear.
D’Onta Foreman has been great at stepping up. He has settled the running game and made some big runs. He, however, has also suffered an injury. The Bears deactivated him in Week 12 because of an ankle injury.
Johnson, a rookie, looks like he is coming back to his old self. During training camp and early in the season, he was wowing people with his elusiveness, tough running, and ability to catch passes out of the backfield. He was doing that in Week 12.
While Johnson only had 35 yards on 10 carries, he also contributed 40 yards on 5 catches. He made some key runs that extended drives. For the season he has 363 total yards from scrimmage and 4.7 yards per touch.
Additionally, he made some great blocks. After a defender got past him and blew up Fields for a sack on one play, he later came back and actually blocked two rushers at the same time.
Johnson getting healthy at this time is huge. With Foreman now dealing with an injury, and Herbert not completely healthy, Johnson can now show that he could take over the running back spot and play well.
Johnson spent his years at the University of Texas as a backup to Bijan Robinson. He did a great there and is ready to show that he can be a starter, though. He was on his way to showing it before the concussion slowed him down.
The Chicago Bears have a lot of decisions to make this upcoming offseason. It will be Year 3 of the rebuild and quite possibly the most important. Last year they blew up the roster. This season they strengthened it some. Next year they have to improve it even more.
The team should be able to fill a lot of the holes they have left. While there is not a hole at running back, they have to decide who stays and who goes. Herbert is a good running back but he missed nine of 29 games. That is 31 percent of the games played. He cannot help the team if he continues to spend his time in the trainer’s room instead of the field.
Johnson wants to show that he is the guy to lead.
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