There’s a case to be made that last year was the best season of D’Andre Swift’s career. He played all but one game, looked good on the field, and was efficient with his touches.
Yet, he just doesn’t spark excitement in fantasy football managers. Is the Chicago Bears’ lead back someone we should be targeting in 2026 fantasy drafts?
Should You Draft Bears RB D’Andre Swift in Fantasy Football?
It feels as if expectations for Swift were too high when he entered the league. As a reminder, he went in the second round. No one should’ve expected him to be Bijan Robinson or Saquon Barkley. All things considered, Swift has been pretty good for quite a while.
Of course, we know the reason Swift’s career feels a bit underwhelming. He was on the Lions during the early part of their rise from laughingstock of the league to true championship contender.
Swift burst onto the scene as a rookie, averaging 14.6 fantasy points per game. He took a natural sophomore year leap to 16.1 PPG. However, amidst his early career success was the injury bug. Swift missed at least three games in each of his first three seasons. That shouldn’t have resulted in him being slapped with the injury-prone label, but it did.
The craziest part of Swift’s arc is that it was in 2022 that the Lions gave up on him. Despite being efficient with his touches (5.5 yards per carry and 1.78 yards per route run), it was already over. Swift’s opportunity share plummeted to 37%. He averaged just 10.5 opportunities per game.
In 2023, the Lions moved on, trading him to the Bears, where he was immediately installed as their lead back. Since then, Swift’s usage has been more in line with his skill set.
Swift has still never hit 300 touches in a season, but he doesn’t need to. In his three years in Chicago, he’s averaged 12.5, 12.6, and 14.3 PPG. Outside of the outlier 2021 season, Swift has been a fantasy RB2 every year of his career.
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Swift has been on the injury report a fair amount during his time with the Bears, but he’s only missed two games. The biggest issue has been a reduced receiving role, earning just a 9.7% target share last season. It’s not that Swift isn’t still a great receiver. Rather, the Bears have an embarrassment of riches at pass-catcher.
It is worth noting that Swift’s mild spike in production came on the heels of 10 touchdowns last season. But is that really an amount that screams regression? The Bears have a young, ascending offense and one of the brightest offensive minds at head coach in Ben Johnson. Kyle Monangai will steal some work, but Swift still saw a 61.3% opportunity share last season. This is a good player with a strong opportunity in a great situation.
Swift’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
We are getting a discount on Swift in 2026 drafts because he’s not exciting. It’s a bit ironic because, when he was younger, Swift was seen as exciting. Over the years, he’s evolved into the boring veteran.
The argument against drafting Swift is obvious, though. Even though his RB23 price tag is lower than his RB16 finish last year and just two spots above the lowest finish of his career, where’s the upside? We know Swift is almost certain to not bust, but how much better can he really do than 14-15 PPG?
He’s better than Monangai, but the second year back proved himself as a rookie and deserves the 1b touches he’s going to get. There will be drives where Monangai takes touchdowns as well, capping Swift’s upside.
The case against Swift rests on the running backs going around him. Of the five backs in the RB21-26 range, Swift has the lowest ceiling of them all. If each one of them hits a 90th percentile outcome, Swift would easily be the worst.
Of course, the counter is that Swift is nearly bust-proof. It’s hard to envision a scenario, outside of injury, where Swift isn’t at least a 13ish-PPG RB2 once again.
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And there is upside, here. Swift can get to 15-16 PPG. He averaged 86.6 total yards per game last season, but caught just 2.1 passes per game. A mild uptick in target share (not impossible with the departure of DJ Moore) and another 10 touchdowns (very plausible in this offense) would be all it takes to push Swift closer to 16 PPG, RB1 numbers.
Drafting Swift comes down to roster construction and your evaluation of the backs around him. Personally, I am not particularly high on any of them. Therefore, I have Swift at RB20 and am very much targeting him around his ADP. I acknowledge that the other backs have greater upside. I just don’t think they’re likely to hit it, making the safety of Swift more appealing in that area of the draft.
Swift’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
Even though Swift has been around for a while, he’s still just 27 years old. There’s no reason he can’t have another two or three years left, four if we’re lucky. I do not think Monangai is viewed as the Bears’ running back of the future. He’s a solid 1B to Swift’s 1A.
With that said, Swift is in the final year of his deal. Even if Monangai isn’t handed the keys next year, the Bears could draft or sign their next lead back if they choose to move on from Swift, which could happen even if he plays well.
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Either way, it would be surprising if Swift didn’t have a relevant role somewhere in 2027.
We have Swift at RB22 in our consensus rankings, which is pretty strong for a veteran entering his seventh season. He is the perfect boring veteran-type player to acquire in dynasty. If you need an RB2, kick the tires on a deal with the Swift manager.
