Chicago Bears 20 Most Important Players: Roschon Johnson

We start a new series profiling the 20 Chicago Bears players who need to step up for a successful season. First up is Roschon Johnson

The Chicago Bears worked very hard to overhaul a team that finished 3-14 in 2022. Many viewed the struggles as a means to the goal of building a consistent contender.

General manager Ryan Poles plugged a lot of holes and added good depth to this team. No matter what people think about the players added this is a better team with a greater number of highly-talented players.

What constitutes “success”

With that in mind, we start a series on the most important players who need to step up for the Bears to have a successful season. However, what constitutes a “successful” season?

While the Bears managed only three wins last season, there was success. The team ended up with the top pick in the draft. Poles’ strategy of replacing big contracts with one-year, team-friendly deals also worked. It gave the Bears almost $100 million in salary cap space, the most in the NFL.

Additionally, we saw some of the young players develop. It wasn’t just someone like Justin Fields, who had a historic season. We also saw someone like Dominique Robinson, a project who wasn’t supposed to play much but ended up earning more snaps. The experience he gained in his rookie season gives him a lot of confidence going into 2023. He should be even better this season leaning on what he learned.

With all the talent added to this team, an increase in wins should be the measurement, right? Well, getting to at least four should be fairly easy. Getting to eight wins, though, should be a good start. Add that to the development of the young players and that is pretty successful. It would show that the team is on the right path.

Most important players in 2023

These players have to step up and perform so we can see that the team is headed in the right direction.

Each day we will come up with a name of a player who is a key player this season. The first one up is running back Roschon Johnson.

Johnson is one of the talented rookies drafted by Poles. He spent his college career backing up one of the most highly-rated NFL prospects in recent memory — Bijan Robinson.

Playing in Robinson’s shadow wasn’t a problem for Johnson. He gained 2,190 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry and scored 23 touchdowns. Additionally, he added 420 receiving yards and 3 touchdown receptions. Those are excellent numbers for a backup.

With the Chicago Bears, Johnson has a chance to step out of the shadow and make a mark of his own.

The running back unit is packed. Khalil Herbert, who has a career average of 5 yards per carry, returns. He was a backup himself, to David Montgomery.

Now that Montgomery is playing for the Detroit Lions, Herbert hopes to be the starter. He has competition, however. The Bears signed D’Onta Foreman. Foreman had 914 yards last season.

Johnson will make his presence known and could battle for that top spot as well. While Herbert has the speed and explosiveness to make big plays, he lacks the ability to be a good blocker. Additionally, he hasn’t added much to the passing game.

Foreman is a bruising back who just wears defenses down. He doesn’t have the speed or elusiveness of Herbert. Also, like Herbert, he isn’t much of a pass catcher out of the backfield.

Johnson, on the other hand, is a good mixture of the other two players. He is more quick than fast. He has great vision and hits the hole quickly. His elusiveness is very good and he shows great balance when he gets hit.

The difference between Johnson and the other two is in the passing game. Johnson shows soft hands. He snatches the ball out of the air. His pass-catching skills should show up better with more snaps in the league.

Johnson can be a great complement to Fields. He could be Fields’ safety valve. If no one is open or the pass rush gets in the backfield quickly, he can dump the ball off to Johnson and know that Johnson can make a play.

If Roschon comes roaring out of the gate in training camp and picks things up quickly, he could be a dark horse candidate to start. Remember, last year Braxton Jones, the fifth-round rookie, came out of nowhere and played every snap of the season.

Johnson was the Bears’ fourth-round pick. If he rises the ranks in a fast manner and carries it over to the regular season, the offense will be in a good position.

Johnson may start the season behind the other two, but it won’t be a surprise if he becomes the starter before the end of the season.