The Chicago Bears selected former Texas running back Roschon Johnson in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but if you didn't know any better, you'd think they picked their next franchise quarterback with the way they gushed over him Saturday night.
“He’s someone we really feel compelled can become a pillar of this organization for a really long time," Bears Southwest area scout John Syty said.
A fourth-round running back? A pillar of the organization? That seems a bit rich, but perhaps not.
"This human being is wired differently," Syty said.
Undoubtedly, the Chicago Bears got a steal with Johnson in the fourth round. He never should've made it out of Day 2, but this is the NFL Draft. Anything can happen.
“This is a guy I was shocked was still on the board,” GM Ryan Poles said Saturday.
Roschon Johnson has mentality needed to succeed in NFL
Johnson (6-foot, 219 pounds) offers the Bears a set of skills that will complement the team's current stable of running backs. He's a bigger and strong runner than Khalil Herbert and offers better pass protection than D'Onta Foreman. He's an efficient running back, too. Johnson averaged at least 5.2 yards per carry in every season at Texas and finished his final two years at 5.9 yards per carry or better.
“I never really viewed myself as like a backup,” said Johnson of his role behind Bijan Robinson. “Regardless of who was getting the carries, I tried to prepare myself as if I was the starter. I didn’t really let the perspective of me being a backup have an effect on me."
That mentality will pay dividends for him in 2023. The Bears are setting up for a running back by committee approach, and he'll start the year as the low man on the totem pole.
But that doesn't mean he won't get an opportunity to play.
“I think he increases the competition in the running back room,” Poles said Saturday. “But the cool thing about is if you watch Texas tape, he does a lot. He pass protects really well. That stands out. He’s done some quarterback stuff. He came out of high school as a quarterback. So this is going to allow our offensive staff to maybe do some really cool things with him and keep a defense on their toes.”
Johnson could emerge as Chicago Bears' lead RB in 2023
There's a real possibility Roschon Johnson will emerge as the Bears' lead running back at some point next season. The fact he was drafted in the fourth round is irrelevant. Remember, Herbert was a sixth-round pick, and Foreman is in Chicago on a one-year deal. It's highly unlikely he's anything more than a one-year bridge back. If that's the case, the running back on the depth chart with the highest pedigree is actually Johnson.
Perhaps Johnson is for the Chicago Bears what Dameon Pierce was for the Houston Texans in 2022. Pierce was drafted in the fourth round and quickly emerged as one of the top rookie running backs in the NFL. Like Johnson, Pierce was an underused college back who weighed 220 pounds and ran a 4.59 at the NFL Combine.
Roschon Johnson's outlook goes beyond what he can on the field, though. The Bears view him as a foundational culture guy. A leader. He's the kind of person Poles and Coach Matt Eberflus want in the locker room, which can often be as important as finding the right player on the field.
“He brings out so much in a player and the team just how he goes about being a leader,” Atlanta Flacons first-round pick Bijan Robinson said. “Not just his teammates but everybody in the community. … His toughness and heart make him stand out over everybody.”