2,600-Yard Superstar Playmaker Predicts He Will Land With Bears

The Chicago Bears didn’t meet even the lowest bar of expectations in 2024 after a big offseason, but there’s still plenty of reason for the NFL elite to turn an eye toward the Windy City.

Star Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty has both eyes on the Bears, which he made clear during an appearance along radio row at the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Friday, February 7.

“There’s a couple different teams I think would want me, and one of them might trade up,” Jeanty said. “Or those Chicago Bears sitting pretty nice at No. 10. I’m thinking that might be a nice destination as well.”

Jeanty finished the season with 2,601 rushing yards and 29 rushing TDs as well as 138 receiving yards and 1 score, as his team earned a bye through the first round of the College Football Playoff. He was just 27 yards shy of breaking the all-time single-season NCAA rushing mark set by Barry Sanders with Oklahoma State in 1988.

Sanders won the Heisman Trophy Award following that campaign, while Jeanty finished second in Heisman voting this year behind Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

Jeanty finished the season with 2,601 rushing yards and 29 rushing TDs as well as 138 receiving yards and 1 score, as his team earned a bye through the first round of the College Football Playoff. He was just 27 yards shy of breaking the all-time single-season NCAA rushing mark set by Barry Sanders with Oklahoma State in 1988.

Sanders won the Heisman Trophy Award following that campaign, while Jeanty finished second in Heisman voting this year behind Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.

Ashton Jeanty, Caleb Williams Duo Would Give Bears Exciting Offensive Future

If the Bears select Jeanty, they will have spent three top-10 picks in the past two years on skill position players. Quarterback Caleb Williams went No. 1 overall last season, while wide receiver Rome Odunze came off to board ninth.

Having all three playmakers on the same offense and same timeline, with each earning rookie scale contracts would give Bears fans plenty about which to be excited. And with former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson now the head coach, there is no telling just how high the offense’s ceiling might climb in the next year or two.

However, the biggest impediment to Williams and Chicago’s offense as a whole last season remains a serious issue now — an understaffed and injured offensive line. The interior of the unit is the big problem, and the Bears have two second-round draft picks (Nos. 39 and 41) plus approximately $66 million in 2025 salary cap space to address it.

Asthon Jeanty Logical Target for Bears Given Ben Johnson’s Recent History

Johnson made his name with a two-running back system in Detroit that featured former Bears running back David Montgomery and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12 overall in 2023).

Thus, Johnson understands the value of zigging at RB when the league has largely zagged over the last several years by downgrading its positional value. He also has a history of being on teams that draft running backs high, i.e. Gibbs, and also moving on from Swift (Detroit sent him to the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of drafting Gibbs out of Alabama).

It is equally reasonable to believe that by saying something like he did Friday, Jeanty already knows something much of the NFL world doesn’t.