INDIANAPOLIS – Ashton Jeanty met with the Chicago Bears here at the NFL Scouting Combine. That’s not a revelation of the highest order, considering each team meets with so many on a formal and informal basis while In Indy.

Some are in stadium suites with all top brass. Others are in a large room with several small tables and a screen, where interviews are conducted en masse.

So let’s not interpret a meeting as complete devotion or super-strong interest, only that the Bears want to know more about college football’s best running back.

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Jeanty, for one, considered the interaction a positive.

“It went great, talking with Coach Bieniemy, just talking football and about my life,” Jeanty said in a Friday press conference. “It was a great meeting with all of them.”

Bears interest should be piqued after the Heisman Trophy runner up ran for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns last year at Boise State. The first-team All-American is widely considered a can’t miss-type, someone who could go in the early- to middle-portions of the first round.

Will they be willing to select him at No. 10 overall? The Bears have obvious and glaring needs at all interior offensive line spots and off the defensive edge. Those are premium positions that require upgrades.

At this point in the Bears roster build, can they use a platinum asset on a luxury item?

Possibly. The Lions did it with Jahmyr Gibbs in 2023, though their offensive line was already in good shape. The Falcons did with Bijan Robinson that same year, despite having a 1,000-yard rusher in Tyler Allgeier, but they had a stable front.

There is some precedent, but rarely on a team with the Bears other needs and established veteran D’Andre Swift already on the roster.

So, possibly yes. Likely not.

“The idea of Asthon Jeanty at No. 10 is fun,” The Athletic’s Robert Mays said Thursday on the Bears on the Marquee Podcast, “but, if you don’t have the right ecosystem around him rushing-wise you’re not going to get the most out of this guy.”

Don’t take that to mean Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson will ignore the running back position this offseason. Considering Swift is set to hold a $9.3 million cap number in 2025, if seems unlikely the Bears will add another higher-priced free agent.

The NFL draft has plenty of snaggable options in Day 2, when the Bears hold the Nos. 39, 41 and 75 overall selections.

Take down these names and then go watch some tape: Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins and Trey Henderson.

Those guys can move, with real potential to add explosiveness to the Bears ground game, especially with an upgraded line and scheme. Draft analysts generally consider them second-round picks or at least Day 2 selections. Where Poles would need to take a running back will depend on the draft and the other options available. Again, the Bears have to fix several foundational elements of their football team above all else.

Johson’s awesome 2024 offense wasn’t built in an offseason, and it’ll take some time to attain all the pieces required to reach maximum warp.

The Bears recognize better’s required from that position group and that offensive element and will strongly consider adding a quality piece in some way.

“We are going to take a look at what is available to us,” Poles said. “I really believe it lines up with the additions we are going to have over the next two player-acquisition periods of free agency and the draft. We’ll be in a position to have a strong run game, to stay balanced which in turn helps the quarterback out as well.”