Bear Digest

Why Key Chicago Bears Are Regarded as Duds for Fantasy Football

The offseason came with offensive firepower added to the Bears roster and if fantasy football is about anything it's offense, but in this case it has led to warnings for fantasy owners.

Gene Chamberlain

Cole Kmet was a top fantasy football asset last year but one fantasy expert has him among potential flops for 2024.
Cole Kmet was a top fantasy football asset last year but one fantasy expert has him among potential flops for 2024. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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One side effect of having a running quarterback for the Bears was how fantasy football owners suddenly paid attention to the team.

The Bears had been a fantasy football dead zone since just before the Jay Cutler era ended. They had been a top 10 offense under Marc Trestman and, of course, fantasy football is mostly about offense.

Justin Fields might not have been able to win games but he could pile up yardage on the ground and if he couldn't throw for touchdowns he could run for them. The Bears became a fantasy football friend again.

The addition of Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, D'Andre Swift and Gerald Everett has Bears fans fired up but those who think this will mean a big fantasy football year from players on the roster might be disappointed, according to SI.com fantasy football expert Michael Fabiano.

Tight end Cole Kmet is coming off his best season and Allen last year had a career high for catches (108) while making his most TD catches since 2020 (8) and most yards since 2017 (1,243).

Yet, Fabiano includes both players among his potential fantasy busts for this year.

There is good logic to both decisions and it has nothing to do with Allen being a no-show at Bears OTAs.

"They traded for Keenan Allen, drafted Rome Odunze, and signed D'Andre Swift and fellow tight end Gerald Everett," Fabiano wrote about Kmet. "When you also include incumbent target leader DJ Moore, it's tough to see Kmet having enough opportunities to make a big impact."

So after his career year and new contract, Kmet is ranked 142nd among NFL tight ends by Fabiano.

The same logic issued in ranking Allen 66th overall after a career high in receptions and his second-most targets (150).

"That's a lot of mouths to feed, making it unlikely that Allen will see 150-plus targets," Fabiano wrote. "If you do draft him, it should be as a No. 3 receiver."

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Fabiano isn't saying Allen is a third receiver for the Bears, but fantasy owners should regard him as their third receiver.

There is one word working against any of those Bears offensive players being regarded among the best players at their position: balance.

The Shane Waldron offense was balanced in Seattle, if it was anything. That really couldn't be said of the Luke Getsy offense.

Moore is the highest-rated Bears fantasy player according to Fabiano's dynasty rankings, and he's 39th. D'Andre Swift is 53rd but he's only 19th among runneing backs. There are varying thoughts on this, for sure. Pro Football Focus' dynasty fantasy rankings has Odunze ranked as the highest Bears player.

And Williams?

He's No. 123 on the fantasy football chart for Fabiano, but that's not necessarily bad. He's only two below Aaron Rodgers and six below Matthew Stafford. In fact, Fabriano has Williams among the top QBs to break out in 2024.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.