Chicago Bears fans were pleasantly surprised to see running back Roschon Johnson finally log offensive snaps for the first time this season during Monday Night Football against the Washington Commanders.

Was it only three snaps? Yes. But it marked the first time all year that a once-promising backfield piece actually got a chance to show something with the offense instead of just running down on kick coverage.

Johnson got one carry and barreled between the tackles for six yards — a simple rep, but a reminder of what his game looks like when he's actually healthy and gets the ball in his hands.

It’s hard to explain why Johnson has seemingly vanished from Chicago’s offensive plans.

As a rookie, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry and racked up 561 yards from scrimmage despite being third on the depth chart behind Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman. Justin Fields led the team in rushing that season with 657 yards, but Johnson still carved out a role and looked like a player worth developing.

Heading into 2024, it felt like his opportunities would expand — until the Bears signed D’Andre Swift in free agency and pushed him into a situational, short-yardage role. His yards per carry dipped to 2.7 last season, but he still scored six touchdowns — the same total as Swift and DJ Moore.

That was enough to make Bears fans believe Ben Johnson would find a role for Roschon in this new-look offense. Even after the team spent a seventh-round pick on Rutgers back Kyle Monangai, it still made sense that Roschon could operate as the power complement in a backfield otherwise built on speed.

But that vision never materialized.

Roschon didn’t play in the preseason and missed Week 1 with a foot injury. He returned in Week 2 against Detroit but was used exclusively on special teams until his brief offensive appearance in Washington.

The question lingered: Where did Roschon Johnson go?

So when he checked into the game on Monday night, it felt like a small victory — a reminder that his bruising running style could still offer something in an offense that, at times, struggles to win between the tackles.

But don’t get used to it.

Based on Ben Johnson’s comments this week, that appearance was more of a cameo than the start of a reintroduction.

“We certainly value what he’s bringing to us in a special teams capacity right now,” Johnson said when asked if Roschon could get more carries moving forward. “It’s one of those things where, would love to get him more carries, but that also takes the ball away from other guys. I would love to get him more, but it’s a little bit hard right now with all the mouths we have to feed.”

That says it all. Roschon Johnson is RB3, and the staff seems content keeping him there.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why he’s fallen out of favor, but if you read between the lines, speed feels like the separator. Swift and Monangai offer more burst and explosive-play potential — traits that Ben Johnson clearly prioritizes in this system. Roschon runs hard and finishes forward, but in a scheme built on space and acceleration, north-south bruisers don’t get featured touches. They get spot duty and special teams snaps.

So maybe this is the reality now. Roschon Johnson can still help this football team — just not in the way many fans hoped. In an offense built on speed, he’s become something of a relic: steady, physical, reliable... but ultimately expendable.