Bears' D.J. Moore ready for 'daunting' task of working out of the backfield, Chicago WR sees role evolve

Expect the Chicago Bears to add several offensive wrinkles with Ben Johnson in charge, and one of those wrinkles includes star wide receiver D.J. Moore working out of the backfield. It's something that Johnson teased earlier this offseason, but it's now coming to fruition.

''It's daunting,'' Moore said of the new task at hand, per the Chicago Sun-Times, ''but I get paid the big bucks to do it, so why not?''

Moore is right. He's paid $27.5 million per year, and the highest-paid running back in the NFL makes $20.6 million per year! It's important to note that Moore is not changing positions, but he's ready to, "Just be an athlete at this point."

The former first-round pick of the Carolina Panthers saw his production dip a bit with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in 2024, as he caught 98 passes for 966 yards and six touchdowns. In his first season with Chicago, Moore caught 96 passes for a career-high 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns. What Chicago's new coaching staff wants to do is move Moore around in the offense, and set up natural mismatches. 

''D.J. is one of those guys that you really love when the ball is in his hands,'' offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. ''Just trying to find ways to be creative about how we do that. Trying to get him touches in every way we can. . . . He's very natural back there. He has good vision. It's one of those things that we'll test it and mess with it a little bit and see where it goes.''

While it remains to be seen how many carries Moore will receive, running the ball is not a foreign concept to him. In his rookie season back in 2018, Moore rushed 13 times for a career-high 172 yards, and actually recorded a career-high 14 rushes this past season with Shane Waldron. At the very least, it appears Moore could be a receiving back in certain situations.