As the National Football League draft season approaches, much of the attention will be centered around superstar running back Ashton Jeanty.

The Heisman Memorial Trophy runner-up has a chance to be the highest running back drafted since the Atlanta Falcons selected Bijan Robinson eighth overall in 2023 after Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns for the Boise State University Broncos in 2024. A true home-run hitter, Jeanty has the potential to be a game-changer from the moment he steps on an NFL field.

One team that could use some more explosiveness is the Chicago Bears. The Bears finished 25th in the NFL in rushing in 2024, with lead back D’Andre Swift averaging a paltry 3.8 yards per attempt in his first year with the team. A great running game would help take the pressure off second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, but according to The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, spending the 10th overall pick on Jeanty is not the solution.

“The Bears, as currently constructed, cannot win a game in the trenches in the same manner. They have to get better on the offensive and defensive lines, and selecting a running back, even a potentially special one like Jeanty, is a luxury they can’t afford,” Biggs wrote. “This is a terrific draft for running backs. The Bears can find a high-quality back after they’ve taken care of needs that cannot be pushed off.”

Anyone who watched the 5-12 Bears last season knows how glaring an issue the offensive line was.

Not only did the unit fail to open up running lanes for Swift and company, but it allowed Williams to be sacked 68 times, the most in the NFL and 14 more than any other team besides the Cleveland Browns. With new head coach Ben Johnson looking to rebuild the offense in his image, the first step will be to fix a line that can keep his young quarterback upright, and using their first-round pick on a franchise tackle makes more sense than a running back.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the Bears can’t upgrade their RB room. As Biggs wrote, the upcoming draft has plenty of capable running backs, and the Bears can still get a quality option with either the 39th or 41st picks. In addition, the Bears can also use their $64 million in cap space to add a veteran free-agent running back like Najee Harris or Aaron Jones to complement Swift.