Bears add Johnson to backfield

The Bears added RB Roschon Johnson in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Living in the shadow of Texas teammate Bijan Robinson, it’s difficult to say precisely how good Johnson is. Not only did he initially commit to Texas as a QB and change positions, but he’s the only prospect in this class we profiled who was never the leader of his college backfield. It’s tough to point to Johnson’s stats because of that, but you’ll like what you see if you dig into his film. At 6’0, 219 pounds, Johnson is a brick house with plenty of versatility. He’s an excellent pass protector, a capable receiver out of the backfield, and even matched Robinson with a 1.52-second 10-yard split. With his quick burst and well-rounded skill set, there’s an outside shot that Johnson could blossom into being a reliable depth piece on fantasy rosters with a tantalizing three-down upside at best. He joins Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman in a relatively up-for-grabs backfield. Johnson is a candidate to carve out a significant role as a rookie.

Though Week 12's showdown between the Bears and Vikings didn't provide much entertainment, it did shed some light on Chicago's backfield situation. Rookie RB Roschon Johnson ended Monday night with a season-high 75 scrimmage yards on 15 touches. He played on 74.6% of the team's snaps, including all 13 third-down situations. Before this contest, Johnson had never played on over 50% of the Bears' offensive snaps and had just two games with more than 10 touches. His teammate and typical starter Khalil Herbert took a back seat and only played on 15 snaps in the game, seeing 6 carries and 2 catches for a combined 38 yards. Herbert did start but got less than half as many snaps as he played in his Week 11 return from IR -- despite D'Onta Foreman being inactive -- and lost work as a runner and receiver. And there's been no indication of a re-injury or other physical limitation for Herbert. It's just one game, but we'll have to at least enter Week 14 (after the bye) assuming Johnson will now work ahead of Herbert. We'll see about Foreman's availability, after he managed two limited practices ahead of Monday night's game.

Bears RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) put in a full week of practice and isn’t listed on the final injury report. He’ll be back for Sunday night’s game vs. the Chargers. We’re expecting RB D’Onta Foreman to lead Chicago in carries, but Johnson should be the No. 2 RB and likely play in passing situations. He’s a borderline RB3 option in PPR leagues.

Bears RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. Barring a setback, he should be cleared to play vs. the Chargers on Sunday night. Considering how well RB D'Onta Foreman has played over the last two weeks, Johnson figures to return in a change-of-pace, passing-down role.

Bears RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) will likely practice on Wednesday, HC Matt Eberflus said. Johnson has one more stage of the concussion protocol to pass through, Eberflus added. Barring a setback, the rookie is on track to return for Sunday night's game vs. the Chargers. It's unclear what kind of role he'll be returning to, though, with RB Khalil Herbert out but RB D'Onta Foreman coming off a big Week 7.

Bears RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Raiders. He's yet to return to practice, despite sustaining his concussion over two weeks ago. With RB Khalil Herbert (ankle) on IR, the Bears are down to RBs D'Onta Foreman, Darrynton Evans, and Travis Homer, who is set to return from his hamstring injury. Foreman is the favorite for carries after handling 15 of them last week.