D’Andre Swift ran for 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns last season, both career highs, and his head coach still thinks there’s another level in him.
Ben Johnson was asked directly about Swift’s ceiling and didn’t dance around it. “He’s a dynamic player,” Johnson said, via the Bears’ website. “I’ve known that about him since he came into the league, firsthand up there in Detroit, and certainly last year I wasn’t surprised about the year he had. So, is he capable of more? Absolutely. He absolutely is. He’s a vital part of what we do here.”
The two go back further than one season in Chicago. Johnson was Detroit’s offensive coordinator when Swift entered the league as a Lions draft pick, and he ran the Detroit offense during Swift’s early years there before the Lions moved Swift after drafting Jahmyr Gibbs. Johnson has said he always rated Swift as an elite playmaker with the ball in his hands.
Where Swift could grow is in the passing game. He’s a natural pass-catcher out of the backfield, with more than 2,000 receiving yards over his career. Johnson gestured at that when he talked about how the offense could use him. “I mean, we could certainly target him more in the passing game, but there’s probably a number of guys I could say that for, as well,” Johnson said.
That’s a fair caveat given what Chicago has added around him. Rookie receiver Zavion Thomas has drawn attention as a versatile piece who can line up in several spots, and Luther Burden III is another young pass-catcher in the mix. Defenses that tilt coverage toward those threats can leave the underneath areas open, which is where Swift has done a lot of his damage.
Swift is heading into the final year of his contract, and back in February he told the Chicago Sun-Times he wants to stay, saying he doesn’t want to play anywhere else. Johnson’s comments came without any prompting about Swift’s future, which reads as a coach who still sees the running back as central to what he’s building.
