Chicago Bears Team Preview for the 26-27 Fantasy Football Season

  • The Bears did it! They finally had an explosive and dynamic offense for the first time in seemingly franchise history.  They scored the third-most point in franchise history, the 10th most in the league and were top-10 in passing yards, passing TDs, rushing yards, rushing TDs and first in TOs.  They didn’t quite have their first 4000 passing yards, 30 TD season, but they were as close as you can get (3838 yards, 28 TDs).  Obviously, the number-one overall pick leveling up in his sophomore season was central to the turnaround, but you can’t overstate how much Ben Johnson and a great o-line set the table for Caleb Williams to succeed.  They had a top-three o-line that kept Williams upright and his sacks went from 68 as a rookie to 24.  The offense took leaps and bounds in every direction and Williams is the tip of the spear, finishing as the QB5 and throwing for two TDs in each of the last five games of the season.  It took a minute to adjust to Johnson as Williams threw for one TD or less in five of the first seven games, but once it clicked, it was seamless.  The crazy part is the Bears are only getting started and while teams like the Pats might have peaked early, the Bears still have levels to go, especially in the passing game.  Balance as the name of the game last season as the Bears finished between 8-12 in FPPG at QB/RB/TE/WR.  They weren’t top-heavy anywhere except QB and now have depth everywhere and players primed to level up.  A 46/54 run/pass split helped ease the pressure off Williams and RB D’Andre Swift was the RB15 while rookie Kyle Monangai was breathing down his neck.  With an o-line as dominant as this, you need the RB1 on your fantasy team and Swift had nine rushing TDs and a 4.9 YPR.  Now, Swift is going as a top-25 back and while the rumors persist that HC Johnson doesn’t love him, the job is his and his dual-threat ability really meshes with the CHI offense.  I just love Monangai though and he somehow crawled to a RB30 finish despite only have 17 carries through the first four games.  Monangai is going as a top-35 back, which doesn’t give him a ton of upside unless Swift goes down.  We saw Mongangai handle most of the red zone targets, but his ADP isn’t far enough away from Swift to make him must-draft status.  Going for the handcuff is intriguing as the o-line is the real star of the running game, but I do feel like they will keep the ball in Wiliams’ hands going forward.  They had 28 passing TDs and 19 rushing TDs and I could see that swinging to 35-15 this season.  So while the run game is attractive, it’s not mandatory with so many weapons in this offense.

    Player most likely to beat ADP: Rome Odunze (ADP 63, WR29)

    I was taking victory laps on Odunze last season only to have the wheels fall off in the second-half of the season.  With DJ Moore one, Odunze gets a bump and I love him again as he was the WR40 despite missing five games.

    Player most likely to fade based on ADP: D’Andre Swift (ADP 58, RB23)

    Swift was the RB15 last season and he’s fine.  The o-line is really what propelled his fantasy value forward, but Kyle Monangai is coming and could easily supplant him as the RB1.  This isn’t a hard fade though as you want as many pieces of this offense as possible. 

    Late-round Flier that could blow up: Zavion Thomas (ADp ? WR140)

    This is just a bet on the CHI offense as a whole.  Rome Odunze and Luther Burden will be the clear WR1/2, but with one injury, the rookie could easily emerge late and swing leagues much like Burden did as a rookie.


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