Chicago Bears: 4 players who had their careers cut short

Jeremy Langford, RB

As a Michigan State University alumni, this one hurts me more than any other player on this list. Jeremy Langford came out of MSU as a fourth-round pick in 2014. That being said, he didn’t have much of any expectations to start his career, but he put up great numbers his rookie season nonetheless.

This came to the tune of 537 rushing yards, 279 receiving yards, and 7 total touchdowns in his debut season. To me, it looked like the bears had found their guy to replace Matt Forte, and I think most fans thought the same. Then, surprisingly, Chicago decided to draft Jordan Howard, the most overrated running back in Bears history.

That’s obviously a bold claim, and in his defense, the guy did put up great numbers his first couple of seasons. After Langford sprained his ankle in week three of the 2016 season, Howard would step in and never look back. And despite a strong start to his career, Howard’s numbers dropped each season and he was eventually traded for a 6th round pick in 2018.

This situation exemplified two things: the Chicago Bears drafting too many running backs and the general brutality of injuries in the NFL. I think if the Bears were patient and didn’t fall in love so quickly with Jordan Howard, they’d still have a strong franchise back in Jeremy Langford to this day. Instead, when people hear the former Spartan’s name, they think “oh yeah, whatever happened to him anyway?”