The Chicago Bears need offensive line help in the worst way, but that doesn’t mean the team will draft for need over talent with the No. 10 pick this April.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported Sunday, March 2, that Chicago will host Boise State standout running back Ashton Jeanty to a pre-draft meeting following his near-historic collegiate campaign in 2024.
“[Jeanty] is lining up Top 30 visits, including the Bears and Cowboys,” Fowler wrote. “Jeanty did not perform drills at the combine, but he got encouraging results from his medical testing in Indy, I’m told. He had an elbow injury last season that shouldn’t affect him long term.”
Ben Johnson Part of Lions Staff That Drafted Jahmyr Gibbs With 1st-Round Pick in 2023
GettyHead coach Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
Jeanty isn’t the offensive guard, center or edge rusher that top the list of Chicago’s needs.
However, he is an elite playmaker who could help flip the franchise’s fortunes, just like Jahmyr Gibbs did for the Detroit Lions when they selected him with the 12th overall pick in 2023. New Bears head coach Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator of the Lions at that time and presumably had a strong say in the direction Detroit ultimately chose to go.
Johnson now has even more sway in Chicago and first-hand knowledge of what an elite running back can do for an offense. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Field Yates described Jeanty as a “zero-weakness” player while broadcasting from the NFL combine in Indianapolis last week.
“The short story is he is a zero-weakness player. There’s not an area of deficiency in his entire game,” Yates said. “I think he’s actually under-appreciated as a pass-catcher because they didn’t really need him to catch the ball much this past year, but he had over 550 receiving yards in 2023.”
Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards last season — just 27 yards shy of the all-time NCAA record held by Barry Sanders — and added 29 touchdowns on the ground as well.
“[Jeanty has] the unique ability to break tackles at a borderline unprecedented rate. Check this out, last year he had 88 broken tackles — 19 more than Cam Skatteboo,” Yates continued. “Jeanty runs with this anger and this ferocity to him.”
Bears Could Replace D’Andre Swift With Ashton Jeanty, Pair Them Up
GettyRunning back D’Andre Swift of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago paid D’Andre Swift to join the roster on a three-year, $24 million contract last offseason, though that was a different coaching regime than the one in power now. However, the front office group was the same.
Ironically, the Lions and Johnson moved on from Swift during the same offseason they acquired Gibbs, shipping him to the Philadelphia Eagles where he put up a Pro-Bowl season.
But Swift regressed with the Bears in 2024, producing just 3.8 yards per carry after breaking 1,000 yards rushing on 4.6 yards per haul in Philly the season prior. Swift’s numbers weren’t abysmal by any means, but they weren’t offense-changing, either.
Swift will play next season at 26 years old, and Detroit employed a two-running back system with Gibbs and former Bears rusher David Montgomery to great success in each of the past two seasons.
If Jeanty blows Johnson away on tape and in their meeting, and Chicago has the chance to draft him 10th, he would represent an opportunity to create a dynamic duo alongside quarterback Caleb Williams for the next five — or even 10 — years.
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