Chicago Bears Rookie Grades (Part 1)
4th Round: RB Jeremy Langford
When the Bears drafted Langford, I thought it was a steal. As a B1G alum, I watched a lot of MSU games over the last few years and Langford stood out as a runner with speed, power, and soft hands. Despite having a decent statistical year, which I’ll get to in a bit, I thought Langford was going to be better and think he played below his potential this season. That being said, Langford led the Bears in rushing TDs with six, ran tough between the tackles, and showed breakaway speed and big play potential.
Not everything about Langford rookie’s year was positive though. No Bear fan has forgotten the dropped third down pass that cost the Bears a win verse the Vikings or when he failed to see the wide open hole behind Kyle Long on the failed two point conversion that ended the Broncos game or multiple other late season drops either. Langford is a former wide receiver at MSU and there is no excuse for his string of drops this year. The ability is there for Langford to be a weapon as a receiver, but he needs to fix whatever focus issues led to his drop issues if he’s going to be the Bears primary RB.
Another negative during Langford’s rookie campaign was a paltry 3.6 rushing yards per carry. Four yards per is generally considered average for an NFL back and Langford missed that mark by a significant margin. The Bears offensive line was a big part of the problem as they struggled to open holes consistently in the run game, but starter Matt Forte did manage to exceed the 4 yard mark (4.1) averaging a half yard more per carry than Langford.
On a positive note Langford led the Bears non-QBs in overall touchdowns with 7 and didn’t fumble in 170 touches. In my opinion Langford passed the eye test as well showing good burst, power, break-away speed, and good hands (except for 3-4 plays). He did enough to be in the running for the Bears #1 RB job next season, but Langford’s meager 3.6 YPC, bad drops in the passing game, and running lanes he didn’t see are all cause for concern and hopefully enough to keep the Bears from letting Matt Forte leave in free agency.
Grade: B-