Do you think Roschon Johnson can bounce back and have a Jamaal Williams-esque role in the offense? — bigbusinessbird

When evaluating veterans on the roster coming out of the draft, Johnson was one of the big winners. What does that prize entail? Opportunity.

Can Johnson factor in the offense like Williams once did (1,066 yards, 17 rushing touchdowns in 2022) in a shared backfield in Detroit when Ben Johnson was the Lions offensive coordinator? I don’t know. What I do know is a lot of playing time and carries are up for grabs. Opportunity is all Roschon Johnson realistically could have been seeking, and with the Bears unable to land a running back in the draft before the seventh round, his chances haven’t taken a hit. It’s all about what he does with those opportunities from here.

Right now, the primary competition is D’Andre Swift, who has a different skill set, and rookie Kyle Monangai. I’d expect the Bears to add to the backfield before training camp. Whether that’s a player with ample or minimal experience, we don’t know. But Johnson, a fourth-round pick in 2023, has a decent shot if he performs well. He needs to run with consistent pad level and prove he’s a quick study in the new system. He’ll also need to be well-rounded with what he offers in the passing game.

Do you think Ben Johnson brings that hyperaggressive-on-fourth-down mindset or is that mainly a Dan Campbell trait? — @bheadr75

I’m not sure you’re looking for the new coach to be as aggressive on fourth down so much as you want him to be more successful. The Bears ranked second in the NFL in going for it on fourth down last season, attempting 38 times, six behind the league-leading Browns. Many of those attempts were late-game efforts more than calculated fourth-down decisions, but the numbers are the numbers.

The Bears weren’t bad on fourth down, either, converting 23 times (60.5%). That ranked 13th in the NFL. The best offense on fourth down by a wide margin was the Washington Commanders, who were 20-for-23 (87%). The Lions had the fourth-most attempts with 33 and converted 22 (66.7%), which tied for seventh.

I believe Johnson will lean into his mathematical background when it comes to fourth-down decisions. I chatted with Bengals coach Zac Taylor in February about his time as a Miami Dolphins assistant under Joe Philbin when Johnson was just breaking into the NFL. It’s included in a long profile of Johnson that you might enjoy.

As Taylor explained, Johnson persuaded Philbin to allow him to do an offseason study of probabilities when going for it on fourth down. This was more than a decade ago, when coaches were more buttoned up with such decisions.

“Ben felt strongly enough that he had the right information that we should be more aggressive,” Taylor said. “He could approach things differently and gave a presentation to the whole staff, the data he had put together.

“So he’s 1,000 times smarter that way than any of us in the room on this, and he’s left-handed (although Johnson throws a football and eats with his right hand) and writes funny. It’s all these traits that I see these Sean McVay-type guys have, these left-handed, write-funny, brain-thinks-differently guys, and it was a spectacular presentation. Dead on.

“Now, it takes a lot of guts to jump on board with what he was saying: ‘Hey! You should be going for it.’ Bottom line was, and I’m looking for the right word here, the gumption of a guy like that. He was confident enough to say, ‘I’m going to put myself out there in front of a staff of people that have way more experience than I do because I believe in this.’

“It was impressive. I knew that because I worked side by side with him every day, but I am sure that’s where other guys, it really opened their eyes to the capability of Ben.”

What did Philbin think when it was over?

“I didn’t take all of his advice,” he said. “I think he wanted me to go for it every single time.”

By the way, another Dolphins assistant in the room during that presentation was Dan Campbell.

I’m surprised how seriously everyone is seeing seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai as a real solution at running back. If he was that good, he would have been taken earlier, no? — @brooklyncorn

I’m going to assume you’re somewhat new around here if you find the optimism surprising that the fan base has for Monangai, who was a super-productive player at Rutgers. It’s the offseason and it’s the Bears, and that means the sun shines on most days.

Here’s the deal: Monangai happened to be part of a very talented class of running backs, arguably the best in a number of years. In a different class, he might have been the 12th running back to come off the board instead of the 22nd in a draft that saw 25 selected.

Monangai slipped down the board because of measurables. He’s not very big, measuring 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds with 28¾-inch arms at the scouting combine. He didn’t have a great time in the 40-yard dash, running it in 4.60 seconds. But you can find backs at that speed who have been very successful in the NFL, and David Montgomery is just one example. Montgomery also doesn’t have great size but he has a bigger frame than Monangai.

What Monangai did do in college was compile impressive statistics in the Big Ten behind an offensive line that wasn’t great. Because of his college production and durability (and because it was such a great class for running backs), I’m taking an open-minded approach when it comes to Monangai. When I was chatting with a national scout in March and asked for names of tone-setting running backs who were under the radar, Monangai was one of the first he mentioned, citing his intangibles, work ethic and production. We have to see how it plays out, and that means seeing him run with pads on and playing in preseason games.

What’s the plan for Luther Burden on snaps? Will he be in the slot only? Will he return kicks? — @brendo120

Burden showcased the ability to be extremely productive playing in the slot at Missouri. I’d expect the Bears to use him there, but ultimately Ben Johnson will want to move his skill-position players around the field to create mismatches and advantages. We even could see Burden in the backfield on occasion.

As far as returning kicks, the Bears surely will look at Burden there, but he didn’t do a ton of that in college. He had 24 punt returns in three seasons, with 12 coming as a freshman, and returned only one kickoff. I have to imagine Devin Duvernay is the leading candidate to be the punt returner at this point.