Chicago Bears 2015 Position Preview: RB

Primary Backup

Ka’Deem Carey

The Bears 4th round pick in 2013 who will be competing with this year 4th round pick Jeremy Langford for the primary backup gig. Carey already has a strike against him in that he was drafted by former GM Phil Emery while Langford was new GM Adam Gase’s 4th draft pick ever and was chosen over players at seemingly greater positions of need (ILB, S, CB).

Carey was a very productive college player in 2013 (1,885 yards, 19 TDs) but rarely saw the field for the Bears as a rookie with only 36 carriers. He made the most of his chances with a 4.4 yards per carry average, but didn’t flash much big play potential rarely making people miss or breaking tackles. Carey will have to show significant improvement to convince a regime that didn’t draft him that he deserves the #2 RB job. If not, he will have his work cut out for him on special teams just to earn a roster spot.

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Jeremy Langford

The Bears 4th round pick was a bell-cow running back in college with over 100 yards rushing in 10 consecutive games to end the season. Langford opened eyes at the combine with a 4.42 forty time, which was about a tenth of a second faster than most expected and 3 tenths faster than Ka’Deem Carey, his competition for the back-up RB job.

Langford doesn’t have great size (6’0, 206) but runs with good pad level and generates more power than expected. He can run between the tackles and has enough speed to bounce runs outside.

He is a complete back who does everything pretty well, while not having one trait that stands out. Langford can catch the ball out of the backfield and is a decent blocker in pass pro, so should be able to contribute right away.