Where Khalil Herbert must improve to become Chicago Bears all-around RB
The Chicago Bears might have something in Khalil Herbert. It is still early, but 40 rushers for 179 yards and a touchdown is an excellent start to the career of a day three rookie. In his first game getting legitimate work, he split carries with Damien Williams, but when Williams missed time with COVID, it was the Herbert show.
He responded with 19 rushes for 97 yards. While the team may have something in him, there is still an area where he needs to improve.
It appears early on that the team is not very faithful in him in the passing game. It was notable last week when the Chicago Bears were consistent to ensure that Damien Williams was on the field for key passing plays. It was obvious run-downs when they switched to Herbert.
Herbert showed fine as a pass blocker, but the big issues came in his passing game work. He looked clunky, turning around in space, and dropped one of his targets as well. Of all the backs, he is the only one with a drop so far this season.
He also now has the lowest yards per route run and success rate compared to Williams and Montgomery. This is a small sample size, but he was not passing down back in college, either. It also does speak to where Herbert must grow.
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We may see Herbert get all the work again with Montgomery out at least another week and Williams dealing with COVID. That would be a great shot to show improvement in the passing game.
At the same time, if Williams is healthy, fans have to expect Herbert to continue to lose passing game work.