Jeremy Langford

Bears' Jeremy Langford put on 8-10 pounds this offseason

Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford packed on 8-10 pounds during the offseason in an effort to handle an "increased role" in the backfield, ESPN's Adam Caplan reports.

What It Means:

Langford is up to the 219-220 range, per Caplan, after working in the 208-211 range during his rookie season. While the logic is promising for his anticipated workload, it's never a good sign when a running back adds this many extra pounds because it makes it difficult to maintain their speed and quickness. Langford already struggles to make defenders miss, so we'll see how he looks in the preseason. To his credit, the 24-year-old back is viewing the weight gain as a positive to prepare for a larger role in 2016.

We currently project Langford to tote the rock 185 times for 771 yards and 3.74 rushing touchdowns, to go with 37 receptions and 339 receiving yards with 1.70 scores through the air. Among the 44 backs to see 100 carries last season, he ranked 11th in Rushing Net Expected Points per attempt.