Ben Johnson’s latest comments show he has found his dream duo in D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai with the production to back it up
Th Chicago Bears RB duo is starting to be special.
The Chicago Bears have found the winning formula under head coach Ben Johnson and it’s fueled by an old-school approach on offense that Johnson has had in his DNA going all the way back to his high school days at A.C. Reynolds High School in Western North Carolina.
“That’s how I kinda grew up in football,” Johnson told Peter Schrager on Tuesday. “I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina and we were very much a run-first operation and we had a ton of success doing it… In my DNA, that’s kinda what I believe in.”
Johnson took that approach to Detroit in his first offensive coordinator role with the Lions and found immediate success working with Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift. After that first season, Johnson took it to an entirely new level with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in the backfield.
Now in Chicago, it’s safe to say Johnson has his new dream duo in the backfield working with Swift again alongside rookie Kyle Monangai to execute on his offensive DNA.
D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai receive high praise from Ben Johnson after monster game
During Friday’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles, both Swift and Monangai totaled 100 yards on the ground and each back managed to find their way into the end zone. It’s the first time Chicago had two players with 100+ rushing yards in the same game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did so in 1985. It’s also something Johnson never accomplished in two seasons with Gibbs and Montgomery.
Both Swift and Monangai continue to impress and it’s more than just running the ball. Both players are excelling in pass protection and catching passes out of the backfield, allowing Johnson to keep the playbook wide open regardless of who’s on the field.
Swift, in his second season with the Bears, is up to 774 yards and five touchdowns on the season, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, his highest mark since he last played for Johnson in 2022. Compared to last season, Swift looks a lot more comfortable running the ball and his vision has greatly improved.
“I got a history with Swifty and high level player, super explosive,” Johnson explained. “What we’ve seen this year, we’ve seen a guy that really is starting to trust the scheme more the longer he’s in it.”
That trust in the scheme and trust in the reads is really what held Swift back in 2024 as the Bears’ lead back, despite running for 959 yards. It always felt like there was more meat left on the bones when looking at the totality of his carries and not just the big hitters.
As for Monangai, the rookie has developed into quite the revelation that no one saw coming. Chicago landed Monangai in the seventh-round with their final pick in the draft and the biggest knock on his tape was the 40-time despite leading the Big Ten in rushing.
“Not only is he a hard runner, willing to lower the shoulder and tough to bring down, but like this guy can do it all,” Johnson added about Monangai. “He can catch the ball out of the backfield, excellent in pass protection, got a trust level with him that’s above and beyond.”
Johnson can’t say enough great things about these two players and the production really speaks for itself as we saw on Friday. This run game is the backbone of this entire team and these two backs are just starting to show how dangerous they can be working together.
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