Chicago Bears claim former App State running back

Courtesy of Tim Cowie, App State Athletics

Former Mountaineer running back Darrynton Evans rushed for 76 yards on 19 attempts in App State’s 2019 Sun Belt Championship victory.

Zach Smith, Reporter
March 15, 2022

The Chicago Bears claimed former App State star running back Darrynton Evans off of waivers Thursday afternoon. The 2020 third-round draft pick spent two seasons with the Tennessee Titans before being waived by the team.

In the three seasons Evans played for the Mountaineers, he rushed for 2,884 yards, good for ninth-most in App State history. Evans was a two-time Sun Belt Championship game MVP as well as MVP of the 2019 New Orleans Bowl, a game where he rushed for 157 yards while averaging 8.3 yards per carry. The 2019 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year was also named to the All-Sun Belt first team twice.

Since joining the Titans in 2020, Evans was plagued with injuries, missing 26 of 32 games. In his six games played, Evans carried the ball 16 times, rushing for 61 yards. He also grabbed four receptions and tallied 38 yards with one touchdown. He was drafted by Tennessee to back up star running back Derrick Henry.

Evans goes to a Chicago team in the middle of a rebuild. The Bears former head coach, Matt Nagy, was relieved of his duties in January, and the team looks to center its future around its young talent at the quarterback and running back positions. Evans will join a running back room that features David Montgomery, who rushed for 849 yards in 2021. Chicago just released Tarik Cohen, a scat-style running back, so Evans could be used to fill that role for the Bears.

Evans comes back in 2022 after a knee injury sidelined him for all but one game in the 2021 season.

Leave a Comment

Donate to The Appalachian

$1371

$5000

Contributed

Our Goal

We hope you appreciate this article! Before you move on, our student staff wanted to ask if you would consider supporting The Appalachian's award-winning journalism. We are celebrating our 90th anniversary of The Appalachian in 2024!

We receive funding from the university, which helps us to compensate our students for the work they do for The Appalachian. However, the bulk of our operational expenses — from printing and website hosting to training and entering our work into competitions — is dependent upon advertising revenue and donations. We cannot exist without the financial and educational support of our fellow departments on campus, our local and regional businesses, and donations of money and time from alumni, parents, subscribers and friends.

Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest, both on campus and within the community. From anywhere in the world, readers can access our paywall-free journalism, through our website, through our email newsletter, and through our social media channels. Our supporters help to keep us editorially independent, user-friendly, and accessible to everyone.

If you can, please consider supporting us with a financial gift from $10. We appreciate your consideration and support of student journalism at Appalachian State University. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation, or if you would prefer to make a recurring monthly gift, please give to The Appalachian Student News Fund through the university here: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1727/cg20/form.aspx?sid=1727&gid=2&pgid=392&cid=1011&dids=418.15&bledit=1&sort=1.

About the Contributor

Zach Smith, Reporter

Zach Smith (he/him) is a freshman journalism major from Stanley, NC. This is his first year writing for The Appalachian.