Cut Swift after the season?

[jason]

Dude has terrible vision. Should probably have another 50+ yds this year.

What’s the cap hit if he’s cut at the end of the year?

[Stinger226]

1.3 mil dead cap / save 7.5 mil

[adam]

18 hours ago, jason said:

Dude has terrible vision. Should probably have another 50+ yds this year.

What’s the cap hit if he’s cut at the end of the year?

He runs into the back of a blocker or into a defender on every run. Even on the long screen pass, if he keeps running right, he gains 10 more or might have scored. Instead he cuts back towards the defender and runs into a tackle.

[jason]

15 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

1.3 mil dead cap / save 7.5 mil

That’s an EASY decision then. He’s gone.

[adam]

The Bears need to trade for someone, Breece Hall, Tyler Allegier? Someone, anyone. Get Donte Foreman into the building. 

[Stinger226]

Swift is a third down type of back, he's not a pounder. Better blocking would help.

[Pixote]

I recently came across this statistic (from the LVR game?) in an article on SI.com. 

Quote

D'Andre Swift with Braxton Jones at LT:
- 6 carries for 1 yard

D'Andre Swift with Theo Benedet at LT:
- 7 carries for 34 yards (4.9 per carry) and 1 TD

Rumor has it that Theo gets the start at LT in week 6.

Maybe Swift isn't the problem?

[ASHKUM BEAR]

37 minutes ago, Pixote said:

I recently came across this statistic (from the LVR game?) in an article on SI.com. 

Rumor has it that Theo gets the start at LT in week 6.

Maybe Swift isn't the problem?

Ben Johnson I believe said the same.  That the running game is not the RBs fault.  Time will tell.

[adam]

6 hours ago, Pixote said:

I recently came across this statistic (from the LVR game?) in an article on SI.com. 

Rumor has it that Theo gets the start at LT in week 6.

Maybe Swift isn't the problem?

I think there are two parts to this. The player change definitely helped because Jones is not really a mauler. I also think the Raiders gassed themselves a little bit. If I asked you who won the Time of Possession battle, just thinking back about the game, I would assume you would say LVR won it (I thought they did) because of their running game, but in reality the Bears had the edge 33 mins to 27, and ran 64 plays to 52.  In the 4th quarter the Bears had the ball on offense for basically 10 minutes out of 15 with 19 plays before the kneel down. 

The Bears going 7-16 on 3rd Down and 1-1 on 4th Down compared to LVR 2-8 and 0-1 respectively, was another factor. 

 

There was a stat coming into this week that the Bears were one of the best teams on yards before contact, but Swift was one of the worst YPC. I think it is a mix of both but for me, with more blame on Swift because Monangai should not have a better YPC than Swift as a rookie.

[Mongo3451]

One thing I noticed is that he ran through contact better in the second half.  It's almost like he was responding to a challenge.

[Stinger226]

The Oline hasnt been playing well and its not logical to  think it hasnt affected Swift. He is a third down type of back and  not the pounder in the RB room, that person just hasnt emerged according to their plans. I think he has did find with what has been asked of him. He is effective when  he gets in the open, not when he is hit before he gets to the line of the scrimmage. I think Monangai has showed some pop but the line play has restricted his play also. Not sure what they can change in two weeks, but we will find out. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

On 9/30/2025 at 6:21 PM, Stinger226 said:

The Oline hasnt been playing well and its not logical to  think it hasnt affected Swift. He is a third down type of back and  not the pounder in the RB room, that person just hasnt emerged according to their plans. I think he has did find with what has been asked of him. He is effective when  he gets in the open, not when he is hit before he gets to the line of the scrimmage. I think Monangai has showed some pop but the line play has restricted his play also. Not sure what they can change in two weeks, but we will find out. 

Wanting to revisit this.  First do I think Swift should be cut after the season?  Don’t know - more on that in a minute.  Second, as you mentioned he’s more effective as an open field runner and much more dangerous in the zone-scheme offense.  Especially the outside zone variety.  
 

Johnson gained some points from me after he adjusted his offensive game plan over the bye. He even admitted as much before the bye when he said the running games lack was not solely Swift's fault .   He saw the problem and made it right.  He coached to Swifts strengths like a good coach will do. Now he just needs to get Williams on the same page and this might actually turn into something.

About whether Swift should  stay on the team after this season?  Depends on how well he does the rest of the season. The nice thing about properly executed zone offenses is that you can pretty much plug and play many RBs into the role and make them a 1,000 yard rusher.  See Kyle Shannahan and especially his dad before him.  For me I see a lot of Forte in Swifts style of run.  Especially his effectiveness at catching from out of the backfield.  

[BearFan PHX]

If Swift keeps playing like he did this week, it's easy to say we keep him.

But I've never seen him look like that before, so let's see what the rest of the season looks like.

It is possible, that because Braxton Jones was not a good run blocker on the edge, we were running power gap, and Swift doesnt fit that as well. He doesnt seem to have the vision you need for that. But as soon as Benedet got in there, now the blocking assignments change, and we see Benedet and Wright out on the edge moving people, and Swift looks like a different player.

It's such a team game - what looks like Swift's fault might be the scheme, which in turn might be the limitation of an OT which in turn causes the coach to call different plays. Wild to see Swift look So different. Let's hope it continues.

[adam]

I think with Swift it is the consistency. He is just not a consistent player, never has been. He has games like this once or twice a year, then 5-6 games of subpar play.

That was his 8th 100 Yard Rushing game in his career (6th year). The most 100-yard games he's had in one season is 2, and in both seasons, the were in back to back games oddly enough.

Also, this was the first time he had a 100-yard game without a run of 20 yards or longer, his longest was 19. 

He has also never had more than 2 games in a row with a YPC at 5.0 or higher. Never 3 games. It is so odd.

If the Bears got this Swift weekly, you absolutely keep him, but if he reverts to his old self for the next month, then you have to move onto someone who can do it week in and week out.

[BearFan PHX]

4 minutes ago, adam said:

If the Bears got this Swift weekly, you absolutely keep him, but if he reverts to his old self for the next month, then you have to move onto someone who can do it week in and week out.

100% on both

[Alaskan Grizzly]

3 minutes ago, adam said:

If the Bears got this Swift weekly, you absolutely keep him, but if he reverts to his old self for the next month, then you have to move onto someone who can do it week in and week out

My money is on Swift staying like this especially if the scheme stays this way.  
 

I had meant to add that Monangai also benefited from this new style play where the few times he was in the game he took some significant chunk yardage.  Like I said before, if the scheme is run correctly, zone offenses can make most RBs look great.  And if Monangai can do it, Swift could become expendable. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Sorta related but saw this review from Tom Thayer.  Not only shows classic outside zone blocking but how well Wright did (for at least two plays).  
 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1bJkonrMGZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[adam]

18 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

My money is on Swift staying like this especially if the scheme stays this way.  
 

I had meant to add that Monangai also benefited from this new style play where the few times he was in the game he took some significant chunk yardage.  Like I said before, if the scheme is run correctly, zone offenses can make most RBs look great.  And if Monangai can do it, Swift could become expendable. 

The Bears had their best games in terms of Rushing Success Rate in the last 20 years, and one of the best games by any team this season.

It also does contrast with Swift's career as he has typically been a 47% Success Rate Rusher, slightly below the league average of 49%. 

[adam]

4 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Sorta related but saw this review from Tom Thayer.  Not only shows classic outside zone blocking but how well Wright did (for at least two plays).  
 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1bJkonrMGZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

The entire line played great.