NEWSLETTER
On Sunday, hundreds of players will sweat profusely as they attempt to avoid injury and dominate their Week 1 matchup. Meanwhile, hundreds of other players will battle it out on the field. Let’s talk about that first group of people – the fantasy football players.
We imaginary footballers will sit firmly planted on our couch this weekend, only moving to (1) grab a beer, (2) check our lineup, or (3) grab another beer. We are all confident that our respective fantasy team is about to embark on a historic, undefeated tear through our league. Then, by the end of the night, a good chunk of us feel stupid for being that confident.
A small portion of us will find success, though! Certain players will break out and certain teams will rise above the rest. What I’m interested in finding out is how many Chicago Bears players will start for those elite teams?
I think we all know that having one of your best fantasy guys play for your favorite real-life team tastes pretty damn sweet. However, this is a feeling that’s proven pretty hard to come by for Bears fans, and it’s highly unlikely this season changes that.
Out of curiosity, I decided to see where current Bears players ranked on some of the more general seasonal rankings on the interweb. The top-5 projected fantasy players on the team all seem to be agreed upon, and the same can basically be said for the tier in which they rank.
Note: All rankings I’m looking at will be for PPR leagues.
Here are some examples:
ESPN’s Top-300 (Mike Clay):
• Allen Robinson – 27th
• David Montgomery – 59th
• Tarik Cohen – 70th
• Anthony Miller – 126th
• Bears D/ST – 175th
ESPN’s Top-200 (Matthew Berry):
• Allen Robinson – 25th
• David Montgomery – 77th
• Tarik Cohen – 106th
• Anthony Miller – 115th
• Bears D/ST – 144th
NFL.com Top-200 Draft Rankings:
• Allen Robinson – 26th
• David Montgomery – 72nd
• Tarik Cohen – 77th
• Anthony Miller – 108th
Overall, Allen Robinson is the obvious best fantasy option on the team, as he’s projected to be a top-30 point-getter this season. And, in some cases, Robinson is a top-10 WR (Ed. note from Luis: EXTENNNND HIIIIIM). Montgomery follows Robinson, which makes sense. Montgomery is due to see an increased role in this tweaked offense. Montgomery ranks in the 70s, and it seems like most analysts expect him to be a “meh” RB2 option. The rest of the Bears skill players – fantasy-wise – don’t appear to be pieces you want in your starting lineup. Tarik Cohen might be worth a flex spot in 12-team leagues, but that’s about it.
In the end, it’s not likely that a Bears player finishes top-15 or even top-20 in fantasy points this season. This will continue a rather long and annoying trend. Per Pro Football-Reference’s fantasy tracking, the Bears haven’t had a player finish top-20 in PPR fantasy points since 2014 when Matt Forte finished 6th-overall. The year prior, Chicago had three players finish top-20 in PPR fantasy points – Forte (4th), Brandon Marshall (10th), and Alshon Jeffery (19th). Ah, those were the days.
I know none of this is really big a deal, and what truly matters is whether or not this team actually wins games. It’s just with fantasy football being such a large part of our lives over the next couple of months, it’d be so nice if the team I force myself to watch every Sunday could have a fantasy machine. Oh well, one of these days.
