This Chicago Bear could have a surprisingly good season in 2022

The Chicago Bears have added many new faces to the team this offseason. Whether it be the entirely new coaching staff or the abundance of new players, there has been a lot of turnover to the roster this offseason.

With a lot of turnover comes question marks. Even more so with the completely new coaching staff and scheme. There is already a lot of speculation going around about multiple positions and playing times due to the new schemes.

However, I think this player will immediately benefit from the new scheme. His name is Khalil Herbert. Most Bears fans are already familiar with Herbert and the type of production he was able to produce in his limited opportunities last season.

Herbert was a 6th-round pick in the 2021 draft. Even though Herbert was a later draft pick, he ended up making an immediate impact in multiple areas.

Herbert ended up appearing in all 17 games for the Bears either carrying the football or fielding kickoffs. He finished the season with 103 rushes for 433 yards, 2 touchdowns on the ground, 14 catches for 96 yards in the air, and 27 returns for 650 return yards. Not a bad year for a rookie.

Herbert also ended up starting 2 games for the Bears at RB for the injured David Montgomery. In those starts, Herbert averaged 98.5 rushing yards on 5.3 YPC.

Most would agree that 2021 was a successful year for Herbert but there is a chance that this new coaching staff and scheme could elevate his play even more.

New Bears OC Luke Getsy was the quarterback coach/passing game coordinator for the Green Bay Packers over the last 2 seasons. During those seasons, the Packers utilized multiple running backs in both the run and pass game.

Khalil Herbert could be someone that has an amazing year for the Chicago Bears. 

In 2021, Aaron Jones accounted for 1190 scrimmage yards and AJ Dillon picked up 1116 total yards. The system the Packers utilized showed that you can be effective when having multiple running backs getting touches.

With David Montgomery already being a solid starter in Chicago, Herbert could be that change of pace back the Bears have been looking for.  The new offense is also rumored to look more like the San Francisco 49ers with there being more play-action concepts and outside zone runs.

If so, this could also be a positive for Khalil Herbert. Last season, the 49ers also used multiple running backs and at times would even stick Deebo Samuel in the backfield. The 49ers’ offense also had packages that contained both Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel in the backfield at the same time.

If the Bears do end up adopting this type of play, Herbert would be that secondary runner that Deebo Samuel turned into late in the season. This would be great for not only Herbert’s career but having a reliable second running back is very valuable.

At the end of the day,  there are many questions that still need to be answered before the 2022 season but when you take a deeper look into the possible schemes and concepts, Khalil Herbert looks like he could benefit from all the changes in Chicago.