D'Andre Swift 2025 Season in Review

D'Andre Swift finished 2025 as the number 15 running back in total PPR scoring and the number 17 in PPR per game — a useful season that landed him squarely in the middle of the second-tier running back conversation. He was the unquestioned lead back on a Bears team that won 11 games and the NFC North, out-touching backup Kyle Monangai 223 carries to 169, and he turned that workload into 1,087 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns. This wasn't workhorse usage — it was a clear lead-back share on one of the league's most efficient ground games, a Bears unit that ranked fourth in rushing expected points added and third in yards per carry at 4.8. Swift wasn't asked to carry the load. He was asked to finish drives in a great run-game ecosystem, and he largely did.

Now let's dig into the numbers, because they explain exactly why Swift landed where he did. Volume tells the first half: 223 carries plus 48 targets gave him 271 touches across 16 games, but his target share averaged just 9 percent, and 34 catches for 299 yards is fine — not the pass-game profile that pushes a back into the top ten. Efficiency tells the second half: 4.9 yards per carry, plus 128.2 rushing yards over expected on the season, and plus 0.58 per attempt, 20th among qualified runners. Swift was a good runner behind a great run-blocking unit, not a great runner inflating a mediocre one. He averaged 14.3 PPR points per game on a genuinely steady floor — double-digit PPR in 11 of 16 games, a ceiling week of 25.5 against Washington, five games above 20, and only one real disaster: the 1.9-point clunker on 8 carries in the Pittsburgh win. Reliable floor with occasional spike, not boom-or-bust.

The touchdown column is where Swift earned his fantasy keep. Nine rushing scores ranked 14th in the league, and the red-zone work was the engine. Look at his touchdown chart and the pattern is unmistakable: third-and-2 at the 3 against Philadelphia, third-and-2 at the 2 against the 49ers, third-and-2 at the 2 against Baltimore, third-and-1 at the 3 against Detroit. Swift was Chicago's short-yardage and goal-line hammer on a team that converted red-zone trips into touchdowns at a 66 percent clip. That role, on this offense, is what turned a middling efficiency profile into a number 15 finish — and it's exactly the kind of usage to price in when you look back at this season.