D’Andre Swift has a pretty clean path to extra motivation heading into 2026: the NFL just didn’t give him much respect.
After the best season of his career, the Chicago Bears running back was left outside ESPN’s top 10 list of the league’s best backs entering 2026. He wasn’t even one of the three honorable mentions in Jeremy Fowler’s survey of league executives, scouts and coaches, though he did draw some votes and landed in a group with six other running backs.
That’s a strange place for a player who just put together a strong season. Swift rushed for 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns, numbers that helped cement him as one of the league’s better backs. And while the production may not have looked flashy at first glance, the details tell the story.
Among running backs with at least 200 carries last season, Swift tied for sixth in the NFL at 4.9 yards per carry. He also finished with 62 first downs on the ground, the eighth-most in the league, and his nine rushing touchdowns ranked 11th.
Those are the kinds of numbers that matter. Swift is doing the job a running back is supposed to do: move the chains and consistently pick up solid yardage. He may not be the loudest name in the conversation, but his efficiency should have kept him in the top-10 discussion.
Part of why his share of the spotlight may have shrunk is the way the Bears split carries. Kyle Monangai took some of the workload, and while Swift still had more touches than Monangai, the 2026 season is expected to feature more of Monangai.
The bigger boost for Swift came from the people blocking in front of him. Chicago’s offensive line helped turn the Bears from the worst rushing attack in 2024 into the third-best rushing team in the league last year. With better lanes to run through, Swift was able to show more of the ability fans believed was there all along.
What makes the lack of appreciation even more striking is how many offseason pieces pushed the idea that the Bears should cut bait. Some called for Swift to be released or traded, arguing Chicago could save money and replace him in the draft. With 2026 set to be the final year of his contract, others figured the Bears should move on before losing him in free agency next offseason.
Instead, Swift is still here, and that might be the best thing for Chicago. He has a full season ahead and plenty of reason to prove the doubters wrong. If he builds on what he did in 2025, another career year is very much in play.
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