Allowing David Montgomery to walk in free agency was one of Ryan Poles' more controversial decisions of the 2023 off-season. The Detroit Lions secured him for only $6 million per year, so it couldn't have been about the money. Then again, maybe it was. The Chicago Bears GM has always preached the idea of saving money for the premium positions. He feels running back is easy to maintain without the need for expensive veterans. That is why he replaced Montgomery with a bargain free agent and a 4th round draft pick.
Now the Bears have gone through training camp featuring a significant roster battle between three names. There is incumbent Khalil Herbert, who performed well as a runner last year. Next is D'Onta Foreman, the former 3rd round pick fresh off a career year in Carolina, where he topped 900 yards despite not starting until around midseason. Last is Roschon Johnson, the promising rookie from Texas. Before training camp, Bears coaches stated Herbert was slotted as the starter. However, they left that wide open to change depending on what happened in the coming weeks. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, something may have changed.
"One thing I noticed: Foreman has been featured heavily in the passing game, which wasn't his calling card in Carolina. He made several catches Sunday, including a nifty one-hander in traffic. Clearly he has improved in that area. He got plenty of first-team reps, too."
The Chicago Bears believe Foreman may have more to offer.
One of the problems about Herbert isn't his running ability. It's everything else. He was a weak link in pass protection last season and wasn't much better as a receiver out of the backfield, struggling to make even routine catches look easy. One of the reasons the Bears drafted Johnson was because he's proficient in both of those areas. So to hear Foreman being used that way is a big surprise. Keep this in mind. Between his college and pro careers dating back to 2014, Foreman has made 36 total catches. When it comes to the passing game, he has never been a significant factor.
Part of this comes from his origins. The offensive system at Texas in college didn't tend to involve running backs in the passing game much. Then when Foreman joined the Houston Texans in 2017, they had Pro Bowler Lamar Miller in place. He was one of the better receiving backs in the league. So they didn't need Foreman to do that. It's entirely possible it was never that he couldn't be a pass-catching threat. It is more that teams never bothered to explore the possibility. Now the Chicago Bears have done exactly that, and they like what they've seen.
This development might be Foreman's decisive edge to steal the starting job.
