Bears Have Obvious Draft Target After Big Coaching News
By Chris Schad
When Ben Johnson became the head coach of the Chicago Bears, he had a lot of work to do. Many of the items are typical for new head coaches. They have to assemble a staff, find some old connections and get used to their new surroundings. But when Johnson finally fills his staff, he’ll focus on how to make the Bears a better team.
The Bears came into last season with high expectations and No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. But they fell flat after a 4-2 start, finishing the year with a 5-12 record. While the final result was a disappointment, it paved the way for Johnson to come to Chicago and his most recent hire may have tipped his hand to a potential target in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Eric Bieniemy Has Proven RB Track Record With Adrian Peterson & Kareem Hunt
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported on Saturday that the Bears will hire former UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as Chicago’s new running back coach. Bieniemy has had plenty of buzz during his career most notably serving as the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022 but his specialty has been developing running backs.
Bieniemy was a star running back at Colorado during his playing career, running for 1,628 yards and 17 touchdowns to help the Buffaloes win the national championship in 1990. After a nine-year career with the San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles, Bieniemy began his coaching career as the running backs coach at his alma mater in 2001 and took the same position at UCLA from 2003 to 2005.
Bieniemy broke into the NFL as the Minnesota Vikings’ running backs coach in 2006 and got to work with Adrian Peterson when Minnesota made him the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Peterson ran for 5,782 yards and 52 rushing touchdowns while making the Pro Bowl in all four seasons with Bieniemy before the 55-year-old returned to Colorado as the offensive coordinator in 2011.
After two seasons on Jon Embree’s staff, Bieniemy joined Andy Reid and the Chiefs as running backs coach in 2013. Four years later met his next star pupil, Kareem Hunt and the third-round pick out of Toledo broke out immediately, leading the NFL with 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017.
Eric Bieniemy’s Addition Could Lead Bears to Target Kaleb Johnson in NFL Draft
Bieniemy’s track record is enticing and puts a spotlight on Chicago’s backfield this offseason. The Bears signed D’Andre Swift to a three-year, $24 million contract last offseason but his first year with the Bears was underwhelming, running for 959 yards, six touchdowns and 3.8 yards per carry.
The Bears also have Roschon Johnson, but the 2023 fourth-round pick struggled in his sophomore season, running for just 2.7 yards per carry albeit with six touchdowns and a 56.4 percent success rate.
This won’t cut it for Johnson, who rode the Lions backfield to success with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. While Swift could be Johnson’s version of Gibbs, he still needs a workhorse like Montgomery. The free agent market is either filled with aging options or former high draft picks who may not solve the problem, which could lead the Bears to target Kaleb Johnson in April’s draft.
The Hawkeyes standout was a workhorse last season, carrying the ball 240 times for 1,535 yards and 21 touchdowns. Pro Football Focus also charted positive grades in zone (82.6) and gap (83.5) running schemes.
Perhaps the biggest reason the Bears could target Johnson is his comparisons to Montgomery coming out of Iowa State in 2019. The former Cyclone had a similar workload with 256 carries for 1,216 yards and 13 touchdowns but he also had 3.5 yards after contact and a 127.8 elusive rating, which takes into account yards after contact, missed tackles forced on carries and on receptions that measure how difficult a running back is to take down.
For what it’s worth, Johnson averaged 4.42 yards after contact and posted a 131.5 elusiveness rating last season.
We won’t know a full comparison between Kaleb Johnson and Montgomery until he tests at the combine. But there’s enough there to suggest that Ben Johnson could find his foundation for Chicago’s running game.
With Bieniemy guiding the way, Swift in a complimentary role and Kaleb Johnson in the Montgomery role, the Bears’ offseason plan is coming into focus and could have an emphasis on the ground.