Bears running back D’Andre Swift was just as disappointed with his first season in Chicago as many fans were.
“A lot of stuff didn’t end how I wanted to — selfishly for me, how I played,” Swift said Tuesday after the first mandatory minicamp practice. “As a team, it was kind of the same thing. We won [five] games last year. So everything is under a microscope when you don’t have no team success.”
Swift started slow in 2024. His 1.8 yards per carry over the first three games were the fewest among all NFL starting running backs. He finished the season with 3.8 yards per carry — last among the 22 running backs with more than 200 rushes.
“I’m being very critical about how I played last year,” he said. “Excited about this year.”
He was supposed to have more competition this season. Instead, he stands — for now — as one of the few running backs expected to get an overwhelming majority of his team’s carries.
The Bears considered adding someone to push him. They seemed set to draft a running back with the No. 39 pick until Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, two of the top prospects left at the position, were drafted shortly before the Bears’ selection. The Bears instead settled for Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers in the seventh round; he’ll compete with Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer for a backup role.
They always could add a veteran before training camp, too. J.K. Dobbins, formerly of the Ravens and Chargers, and four-time Pro Bowl selection Nick Chubb, who spent seven seasons with the Browns, are among the free agents still available.
“Whatever [the Bears] were going to do, my mindset wasn’t going to change — if they brought somebody in, if they do, [if] they don’t,” Swift said. “My mindset, like I said, is [to] go to work and be undeniable.”
He seems destined to get the bulk of the carries — provided he makes the changes the Bears desire. They want him to hit the hole in the right spot and to stay on the track each play calls for. Too often last season, he tried to hit a home run when the Bears would have been content with a short gain. Among the same 22 running backs with more than 200 carries last season, Swift finished 20th in rushing success rate, which measures how often players gain what each play calls for — 40% of yards required on first down, 60% on second down and 100% on third and fourth downs.
The Bears are banking on Eric Bien-iemy, whom they consider one of the game’s best running backs coaches, to help Swift adjust.
“Here’s what I know about [Swift],” said Bears coach Ben Johnson, who was the Lions’ offensive coordinator during Swift’s final season in Detroit in 2022. “He is a fierce competitor. And that’s what I love about him. When the lights are bright, you’re going to know exactly what you’re going to get. If you tell him that you’re going to need one yard, four yards, he’s going to find a way to put his shoulder down and move the pile and get that done for you.”
It would be too simple to say Swift is motivated by last season’s struggles. He’s not the kind of person who watches his own highlights. But he knows things didn’t go the way he wanted. He’s eager to change that.
“I’m excited about this season,” Swift said. “I know who I am and what I’m about.”
