When the Chicago Bears signed D’Andre Swift to a three-year, $24 million contract, fans anticipated a dynamic playmaker who could add speed and versatility to their offense. However, through the 2024 season, the reality has been disappointing, and the numbers highlight just how much he’s struggled to live up to expectations.
Swift’s performance has been most concerning in the run game, where he’s fallen from being a highly efficient rusher to a significant liability. This season, Swift ranks near the bottom in rushing DVOA, with a dismal minus-23.1%—31st among 33 qualified backs. DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) calculates a team’s success based on the down-and-distance of each play during the season, then calculates how much more or less successful each team is compared to the league average. This statistic reflects a dramatic decline from his respectable 6.3% in 2023 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Swift’s rushing production has become inconsistent and inefficient, often placing the Bears in unfavorable down-and-distance situations and forcing rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to shoulder the load.
Adding to the disappointment, Swift’s yards per carry have taken a sharp dip. After averaging 4.6 yards per carry in 2023, he’s barely reaching 3.6 yards per carry, until his recent 56-yard touchdown run that padded his stats. Without that big play, Swift’s average would be even lower, signaling that he’s struggled to break through defenses consistently. Advanced stats further expose his struggles: his Rushing Yards Over Expected (RYOE) is now at minus-0.35 per carry, a figure even lower than his 2023 mark, confirming that he’s getting fewer yards than expected based on his blocking.
Interestingly, it’s hard to blame the offensive line for these issues. The Bears rank fifth in run block win rate, meaning Swift’s blockers often do their job effectively. However, Swift has not been able to make the most of these opportunities, which raises questions about whether his success in Philadelphia was more a product of his former team’s offensive line than his talent. This disparity has cast doubt on Swift’s value as a rusher and underscores the high risks of investing heavily in running backs who may struggle without an elite line.
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While Swift has shown some spark as a receiver, recording a 19.3% DVOA in the passing game and averaging 10.2 yards per catch, his contributions haven’t been enough to offset his poor rushing performance. Although he’s provided a few explosive plays in the air, these moments don’t compensate for his overall lack of consistency on the ground. The Bears signed Swift expecting a reliable, dual-threat player, yet his struggles on the ground have only added pressure on the team’s rookie quarterback and forced the Bears to rethink their offensive strategy.
The brutal truth is that Swift’s signing, once filled with potential, looks more like a costly mistake. As his struggles persist, whether he can turn things around—or if the Bears will end up regretting this high-stakes investment in a player whose best days may be behind him.
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@Tred
Why have the Bears not fired their position coaches, or coordinators?
Loyalty is great, but the development of players is measurable, and the use of improving players is measurable, and the ability of both teams, players and coaches to adapt is visible. Every step of coaching should be under scrutiny.
We already comment on the player’s every statistics, but that isn’t the problem until you have a system that works.
Look, I get that the coaches likely wanted him. But we had a very reliable RB, David Montgomery, who Poles let walk to Detroit for ZERO. He has 19TDs in 19 games, partially because Detroit built their OL – Poles has not. Since then Poles has drafted or added Trestan Ebner, Roschon, Velus Jones, Travis Homer and Swift. Only Roschon has come close to being decent. I’m not ready to pin 100% of this on Poles, but he doesn’t get a free pass, either. Sometimes when your coaches don’t want to work with a guy, you need to tell them… Read more »
Swift has all the tools, makes some splash plays but just looks like he has no feel for the game somehow.
Blaming Ryan Poles for each free agent signing is partially justified. Hiring head coaches and coordinators who aren’t keeping a tight ship on their position coaches to coach players to greater techniques and flexibility (within their positions), doesn’t allow the coordinator to call more creative plays. Maybe the coordinator is vacant with the calls anyway (goal line offensive lineman in the 4th quarter is pretty vacant). But WHY are the running back coaches coaching offensive linemen, instead of running backs to be more versatile? For three years, Khalil Herbert is being labeled as, “no hands, no block,” at the same… Read more »
Swift has been better, but so has Kenneth Walker III in Seattle after Shane Waldron moved on. The Bears knew, or should have known, that Waldron’s offensive concepts weren’t the same as Luke Getsy’s. And after trading Justin Fields, defenses would key differently on the running backs. But the main issue is that Roshon Johnson is basically being unused, the same way Kenneth Walker was unused by Waldron. Without a long and extensive track record of how an offensive coordinator coordinates, it is hard to anticipate how they work – when they are with a single team, the players on… Read more »