At the close of the 2014 NFL Season, we provided a review of each team with an eye toward the 2015 campaign. While still relevant it has become clear through free agency, and the 2015 NFL Draft that rosters are taking a different shape heading into the season.
Much more will change through the summer, into training camp, and finally Week 1 but with the draft now in the rearview we can look at each roster in detail to get a sense of what players will find themselves in better (or worse) fantasy situations heading into the season.
For earlier articles, check out our 2015 Fantasy NFL Team Preview page.
2015 Fantasy Football Preview: Chicago Bears
What does a post-Marshall Chicago look like for Alshon Jeffery? (Photo: Leon Halip/Getty Images North America).
With Jay Cutler entering yet another offensive system, the question becomes whether Adam Gase and John Fox can help right the wavering ship that is the Quarterback’s career or whether he’ll falter again, potentially losing his grp on the starting job. As he approaches the new offense, Cutler will be doing so without oft-bff, occasional-distraction Brandon Marshall but with an intriguing new talent in Kevin White along with returning castmates Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett who find themselves in mutual contract disputes with the club.
Chicago Bears 2015 Preview: Draft Results
- Round 1, Pick 7: Kevin White (WR)
- Round 3, Pick 71: Hroniss Grasu (C)
- Round 4, Pick 106: Jeremy Langford (RB)
- Round 6, Pick 183: Tayo Fabulujie (OT)
Chicago Bears 2015 Preview: Notable Additions
- WR Eddie Royal
- G Vlad Ducasse
- C Will Montgomery
Chicago Bears 2015 Preview: Notable Subtractions
- WR Brandon Marshall
- C Roberto Garza, notable in that Jay Cutler gets his jersey back
Chicago Bears 2015 Preview: Coaching Changes
Marc Trestman is out after two seasons in Chicago and his offensive staff, that oversaw solid production in Chicago, goes with him. He’ll be replaced by John Fox with Adam Gase calling the shots on offense. The question now becomes, do we know much about Gase’s true intentions as a play caller or do we assume that much of what we saw in Denver over the last two seasons was playcalling at the behest of/tailored to Peyton Manning? In great likelihood, he’ll bring a blended playbook that features some West Coast princples, some elements of Air Coryell and the concepts he’s picked up from working with Manning. It should be noted that last year, he conducted an admirable job of transitioning his offense to a power run game down the stretch when injuries hit and ineffectiveness Peyton Manning.
Chicago Bears 2015 Preview: Fantasy Fallout
A season ago, under the guidance of Marc Trestman and foot in mouth specialist Offensive Coordinator Aaron Kromer, the Chicago Bears gave us a top-12 fantasy WR and top-5 contributors at RB and TE, to go with top-14 QB Jay Cutler. From a fantasy perspective, there was a lot to like about the 2014 Bears it just didn’t pan out in the W/L column. With that in mind, Trestman and Co. are out, replaced by John Fox and Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase. The Bears may shift toward a more balanced attack this year (after finishing 7th in the NFL in pass attempts but 30th in carries), though the production won’t necessarily disappear. The group will be tasked with getting results from 32-year-old QB Jay Cutler, who threw for his highest career TD total in 2014 (28) but struggled enough that there were calls for him to lose the starting job. As we head into 2015, there isn’t a lot to challenge him on the depth-chart, though it should be noted that Fox was in Carolina when backup Jimmy Clausen was drafted in the second round.
However the production looks, it will be distributed differently, mind you. At least at the receiver position. Brandon Marshall takes 721 yards and eight scores with him to New York (and an average of 8.2 targets per game), and leaves behind Alshon Jeffery as the team’s number one receiver entering his fourth season. Marshall’s departure doesn’t leave the cupboard unstocked at WR2, however, as the team was sure to take care of that with the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft.
By selecting Kevin White out of West Virginia, the team adds speed (4.35-40) and doesn’t give away much in the size department (he’s 6’3″, 215) relative to Marshall, keeping the Bears in the conversation as one of the better WR duos in the league. He’s coming off a prolific College career, including 109 receptions a season ago and while he’s got a lot to learn as part of a more complex offense, the thinking is that White can be an impact receiver immediately.
With all that said, he’s a good bet to finish considerably behind Jeffery in catches and targets. Jeffery has seen a healthy 148/145 looks over the last two years, a number that was good enough for 11th most in the league last season. Generally, he’d been splitting looks evenly with Marshall in each of the last two years but should see more work with Gase, who targeted his WR1 Demaryius Thomas a league-high 178 times a season ago in Denver. Noted for his ability to find creative ways to get his best players open in space, Gase should employ Jeffery (and White) in a variety of formations aimed at finding them targets and getting them open.
That’s not to say that the offense won’t distribute the ball, mind you. Certainly, they’ll do more of that than the Trestman regime did – the Bears were noted for a heavy concentration of offense coming from its top-4 producers last year. Eddie Royal should factor in as part of that mix after enjoying a career revival in San Diego, but with the size of Jeffery, White and Martellus Bennett he’s unlikely to draw the redzone targets he did as a Charger (11 of them last season). As such, Royal is off your fantasy radar, though his presence likely keeps March-buzzworthy-sleeper-candidate Marquess Wilson in that category as well. Familiar with Cutler and Gase from their time in Denver and projects as the third/slot receiver. That leaves Wilson to await injury or other opportunity for significant playing time. Entering his third year, Wilson had few opportunities to showcase his talent last year, though he did acquit himself reasonably well after Marshall’s injury.
All told, Jeffery is locked-in as a mid-range WR1 next season with White warranting a selection as a start-worthy contributor in standard leagues while the others don’t warrant a draft selection in those same formats.
For Cutler, the projection is much of the same. He’s still going to make some mistakes, but surrounding by a stocked cupboard of weapons another high-20s TD season with nearly 4,000 yards (that would be a post-Denver high, mind you) is a reasonable projection, leaving him right on the cusp of back-end QB1 status.
The above-noted focus on four playmakers as part of Trestman’s offense hurt Wilson’s chances to make an impact prior to that injury, while buoying the stock of TE Martellus Bennett, who caught 90 balls for 916 yards as the league’s most targeted TE. With an assumption that the balls become more distributed, and with increasing depth at the position (Rosario, Miller, Pascoe… we’re not talking about world-changing backups here, in fairness) those numbers are due for a downward adjustment in the year ahead. Bennett should remain a key part of the team’s plans, and is worthy of a selection as a TE1 to be sure, but it is hard to see the team finding their disgruntled TE 125 looks again in this coming season.
Speaking of productive players unhappy with their contract status, Matt Forte enters his age-29 season coming off a 368 touch season (102 catches!) in which he played 92% of the team’s offensive snaps. That won’t happen again for boundless reasons in 2015, ranging from his contract, to his age, to the fact that Gase was able to find production from multiple backs in Denver last year.
He’ll be spelled by sophomore Kadeem Carey (4.4 YPC in limited action last year) and fourth round selection Jeremy Langford. Neither party carries much 2015 value on their own, though with the potential for Forte to walk after the coming season, one could emerge as a rotational presence with an opportunity to take the job in 2016. The buzz on Langford is that he plays slower than his 4.42 combine time and struggles with breaking tackles, though he also has the agility to break a big play. That, coupled with his assessment as a solid contributor in the passing game seems to give him a leg up on the #2 spot. Free Agent acquisition Jacquizz Rodgers could cost Carey his roster spot, but, is an equally likely release candidate himself and doesn’t figure into the fantasy formula either way.
Certainly, they’ll impact Forte’s workload and there is some concern about a back who is turning 30 in December coming off such a significant proportion of the team’s workload, but he remains a solid play as an RB1, with a justifiable RB6 ADP (as of May 21 publication).
With that, the Bears should give you three-start worthy players at their respective positions, an upside rookie and a QB who should produce a number of useful games while being available late in drafts, if drafted at all in certain leagues. It wasn’t the offense that cost this team in 2014, and it won’t be in the year ahead either.
Eager to get a price read on Kevin White? Get started early with FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard:
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