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Shaw Local is counting down the top 25 most important Bears for the 2023 season.
What makes one player more important than another? That’s subjective, of course. But for our purposes it comes down to this: Are the Bears worse off if this player can’t play? Does this player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?
The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be. We will release one player every day between now and the start of training camp.
No. 15 D’Onta Foreman
Position: Running back
NFL experience: Seventh season
Last year’s ranking: N/A
Looking back: The Bears led the NFL in rushing in 2022 with 177.3 rushing yards per game. That was largely thanks to the efforts of quarterback Justin Fields, who totaled more than 1,000 rushing yards. Lead running back David Montgomery totaled 801 yards, while Khalil Herbert finished with 731. In March, the Bears let Montgomery walk away in free agency and signed D’Onta Foreman to a one-year contract.
Foreman’s breakthrough came in 2021 when Titans running back Derrick Henry suffered a foot injury halfway through the season. The Titans signed Foreman, who went on to rush for 566 yards and three touchdowns in nine games. That strong second-half of the 2021 season landed Foreman a one-year contract with Carolina ahead of the 2022 season.
When the Panthers traded lead running back Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco at midseason, it left Foreman as the lead running back. He finished the season with 914 yards and five touchdowns.
Looking forward: Even though the Bears have the goal of vastly improving their passing attack with new weapons like DJ Moore, this is still going to be a run-first offense. This team’s identity under head coach Matt Eberflus isn’t going to change overnight. Eberflus still wants to lean on his defense and play mistake-free offense. Ideally, though, Fields will not be running as much. The more they can limit the hits Fields takes, the better.
That means this offense is going to rely on its running backs. Foreman is expected to be a huge part of that, along with Herbert and rookie Roschon Johnson. The Bears could share the touches between Foreman and Herbert. More and more teams are employing two-running back systems. It’s also possible that one will emerge as the lead back. If so, Foreman could very much be in contention for the lead running back spot.
If Fields is going to run less, his running backs are going to have to catch passes. The QB needs an outlet when things break down in the pocket. Foreman has caught a grand total of 23 passes in his entire career. He will have to prove he can catch the football. The Bears need Foreman to stay healthy and play well in order to relieve some of the pressure on Fields.
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