NEWSLETTER
Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment.
Or maybe I’m just into a good “started from the bottom, now we’re here” story.
Whatever it is, I love writing about the climb NFL players make. Seeing someone go from being a Day 3 draft pick to a starter is such a fun arc to follow. And it is one Chicago Bears running back Khalil Herbert is angling to make in 2023.
Last year, Herbert shared RB1A duties with David Montgomery. And if you’ll recall, Herbert was shining in that role. The Virginia Tech product finished the 2022 season with 731 rushing yards on 129 carries in 13 games. If you were to extrapolate those numbers over a full 17-game season, they’d look something like this: 169 carries, 956 rushing yards, and 5 touchdowns. I think that’ll play. Particularly that 5.7 yards per carry average, which was the most among running backs with enough carries to qualify for the rushing title. That per rush average put him ahead of Tony Pollard, Miles Sanders, and Josh Jacobs — all of whom were given the Franchise Tag by their respective tams.
Given that set of data, you’d think Herbert would be a lock to be RB1 after David Montgomery’s departure in free agency. And yet, Herbert might end up splitting carries again with another back. But this time it would be free agent addition D’Onta Foreman cutting into Herbert’s touches. I don’t expect one back to get significantly more reps than the other. However, one way Herbert can get a slight edge is by being a factor in the passing game. Not only does it sound like Herbert is cognizant of that, it seems as if there is one thing, in particular, he is working on:
Ahhh, this is wonderful to hear. Not just because I love players who have the self-awareness to keep working on their game. But also because Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus mentioned that Herbert had stuff to work on, too. So it is good to hear that Herbert is taking it to heart as he tries to round out his game. We love it when our team’s top players take to coaching.
FWIW: I fully expect the Bears to divvy up the playing time evenly throughout the year. Herbert, Foreman, and (eventually) Roschon Johnson should each get a fair share. Ideally, it could look like something the Packers were doing in 2021. If you’ll recall, current Bears play-caller Luke Getsy was an assistant on Matt LaFleur’s coaching staff at the time. So even though Aaron Rodgers got the shine for winning MVP, I’ll acknowledge the ground game with AJ Dillon (187 carries, 803 rush yards, 5 TD) and Aaron Jones (171 carries, 799 rush yards, 4 TD) was enviable.
In the end, Herbert’s 54.4 pass-blocking grade wasn’t much to write home about. Hence, it comes up as something he needs to work on. Even still … Herbert’s grade was better than what Aaron Jones put up in Green Bay last year. And far better than D’Onta Foreman’s league-worst 14.8 grade. In other words, Herbert can probably wrangle some extra game reps if he can prove to be a worthy protector for quarterback Justin Fields.
