Was This a Bad Signal for D'Andre Swift's 2025 Outlook?

What They're Saying

Reiss on the Bears' intentions: "The assumption is that they wanted running back TreVeyon Henderson."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

We're, of course, unlikely to know for sure whether Chicago was targeting Henderson. But there are inferences we can make from the mere assumption.

First, this aligns with another draft-time rumor: that the Bears were interested in landing RB Ashton Jeanty in Round 1. They, of course, didn't. But the more RB narratives floating around about the team, the more likely there's some truth in there.

How does any of that impact the 2025 Bears, after the team added only seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai to the position?

Bears lead RB D'Andre Swift played under new HC Ben Johnson with the 2022 Lions. Swift drew a career-low 7.1 carries per game for that season and saw his receptions per game (3.4) decline vs. his previous two seasons (3.5 and 4.8).

Swift also averaged 5.5 yards per carry that season, which remains a career high and stands 1.1 above his career average. Swift's 8.1 yards per catch that season also improved over his first two Detroit campaigns.

So there are two possibilities here:

1. There's something Johnson doesn't like about Swift's game that makes him want to limit the RB's touches.
2. Johnson believes that Swift can better approach peak efficiency -- and thus help the offense more -- on smaller workloads.

What Are the Bears' Options Now?

Either of those potential explanations could alter Swift's workload outlook for 2025 -- which we should probably expect to come down regardless of Johnson's particular preferences.

Swift has never looked like a true workhorse type, and his career-high 14.9 carries per game last season met with a career-low 3.8 yards per rush. (The receiving went much better.)

Roschon Johnson should be in for some more work than last year. How much? We'll see. And we'll see how Monangai factors in.

The free-agent market also still features J.K. Dobbins, Jamaal Williams, Gus Edwards, and Nick Chubb (among others).

Best Ball Impact

If you're drafting right now, it's probably into best ball tournaments. And Swift makes for a fine value there. He's RB27 in current Underdog Fantasy ADP. Just don't over-trust him there.

Johnson at RB52 seems like a solid shot to take as well.

Williams, of course, led the NFL in rushing TDs in that aforementioned Detroit season and more than doubled Swift's carries per game (15.4).

I wouldn't bet on that being in Johnson's range of 2025 outcomes. But a work split between him and Swift would be less shocking than those 2022 results.

Other Winners & Losers

The fact that New England turned down two trade offers -- including one that would have moved them down just one spot -- reinforces how much the Patriots like Henderson.

The rookie looks like an easy bet to lead his new team in fantasy scoring -- at least in PPR and half-PPR formats. But you'll likely need to pay up for him.

Henderson sits 21st among RBs in best ball ADP at the moment. His flashy style makes him a strong candidate to climb the board once camp and preseason highlights start flowing.

Does This Matter for Luther Burden?

After not trading up, the Bears took Missouri WR Luther Burden III 39th overall.

It's worth reiterating that Reiss called it merely an "assumption" that Chicago was targeting Henderson in the move-up. We can't know for sure who the team would have taken.

But if Burden was more best player available than specific target at 39, that could tell us something about his likely early role -- and the impact on other Bears receivers.

Of course, traveling too far down this path of assumptions and forming specific player expectations around them doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

My bottom line for the first year of Ben Johnson's Bears: Be careful not to assume too much about any player's role and outlook, especially this far away from September and this early in the coach's run.