2022 was one of the worst years in Chicago Bears history, losing a franchise-most 14 games with an offense that finished 28th in yards and a defense that allowed the most points in all of football for the first time in franchise history.
Chicago suffered the 5th worst point differential (-137) in Chicago Bears history en route
route to a 3-14 finish and the 1st overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
It was painful in fantasy football as well, as Chicago's "offense" finished:
🔴 23rd in scoring
🔴 28th in yards
🔴 dead last in pass attempts
🔴 dead last in passing yards
🔴19th in passing TDs
The lack of a passing attack rendered most Bears' pass catchers unplayable in fantasy football, as Chase Claypool finished as fantasy's WR 67, Darnell Mooney was fantasy's WR 72, and Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown checked in as fantasy's WR 99 and WR 100.
On the bright side, Cole Kmet paced the team in targets (69, nice), catches (50), yards (544) and TDs (7) on his way to a TE 8 finish.
(Of course, Kmet's 8.7 PPR points per game were just the 15th "best" among TEs).
The lone bright spot—at least from a fantasy football standpoint—was Chicago's rushing attack that finished 2nd in rushing attempts, 1st in rushing yards and 7th in rushing TDs despite countering with a defense that allowed the most points and 4th most yards in all of football.
Of course, most of that can be attributed to budding superstar Justin Fields, who scored 8 TDs on160 carries for an absurd 1,143 yards—the 2nd most all-time for a QB in a single season. Despite finishing 26th in passing yards and 16th in passing TDs, Fields' mouthwatering rushing line delivered a QB 6 finish.
Still, it was a painful 1st year of the Matt Eberflus/Luke Getsy era for Bears fans and anyone invested in the Bears offense in fantasy football.
And yet, the Bears' 2023 offense offers an immense amount of intrigue and upside.
2023 Fantasy Football Preview: Looking Ahead
It's been a very busy offseason for the Bears as they work to turn the organization around. So far they've:
✅ Traded the 1st overall pick to the Carolina Panthers for the 9th overall pick, the 61st overall pick, a 1st round pick in 2024, a 2nd round pick in 2025, and, most importantly for fantasy football purposes, DJ Moore, Carolina's 1st round pick from 2018.
✅ Traded the 9th overall pick for the 10th overall pick and a 4th round pick in 2024.
✅ Used that 10th overall pick to select Tennessee's Darnell Wright, a top-2 Tackle in this year's draft.
✅ Signed free agents D'Onta Foreman and Travis Homer while using their 4th round pick on Roschon Johnson (115th overall), all in an effort to replace David Montgomery who carried 235 touches—including 34 catches on 40 targets—out the door with him to Detroit.
✅ Spent their other 4th round pick (133rd overall) on Cincinnati's Tyler Scott, one of my favorite sneaky WR picks in 2023 rookie drafts.
Vegas Sportsbooks are expecting an immediate improvement in the 2nd season of the Matt Eberflus/Luke Getsy era, doubling the Bears' win total and projecting them for at least 7 wins (-112 for over 7.5)—but still a 4th place finish in the NFC North (+420 to win the division).
👇 So what does it all mean for 2023 fantasy football? 👇
After losing their RB 1 but upgrading their offensive line and acquiring a bonafide WR 1 for 3rd year QB Justin Fields, Chicago's offense *should* take a significant step forward in 2023 and start to bridge the gap between 2022's fewest passing yards and most rushing yards in football.
We should still expect a run-first approach from the Bears in 2023, but this year's unit *should* be significantly more balanced than what we saw last year when Fields averaged just 21.2 pass attempts per game.
👇 With that all being said, let's do a thorough 2023 fantasy football preview of each and every fantasy-relevant player on the Chicago Bears! 👇
Chicago Bears Quarterbacks
🟢 QB Justin Fields Fantasy Football Preview
After an underwhelming rookie season, 2022 was a mouthwatering step in the right direction for Justin Fields, the 2021 11th overall pick from Ohio State.
The 2nd year man completed 192 of 318 passes (60.4% for 2,242 yards, 17 TDs and 11 INTs while adding an eye-popping 1,143 yards and 8 TDs on the ground with his legs (160 rushing attempts) to finish as fantasy football's QB 6.
Over his last 11 games of the season, Fields averaged an elite:
🤤 23.49 fantasy points per game
⚫ 22.8 pass attempts per game
⚫ 14.4 completions per game (63%)
⚫ 161 passing yards per game
🤤 11.5 rushing attempts
🤤 90.55 rushing yards per game
⚫ had 15 passing TDs
⚫ had 7 interceptions
🤤 had 7 rushing TDs
That includes a 7 game stretch where Fields averaged an absolutely absurd 27.85 fantasy points per game on 102.6 rushing yards per game with 7 rushing TDs and 11 passing TDs.
Fields scored 17 or more fantasy points in 10 of his last 11 games, including 6 games over 22 fantasy points.
He also flashed a league-busting ceiling, hitting 39.38 fantasy points in week 10, just one week after hitting 40.72(!) fantasy points in week 9.
And that was with Darnell Mooney as his WR 1 (and a little bit of Chase Claypool who was acquired midseason).
Heading into 2023, the Bears have added game-changing WR DJ Moore, Chase Claypool should be much more acclimated with the offense following a full offseason, and impending free agents Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet are playing for shiny new contracts this season.
Just 1 year after having arguably the worst supporting cast in football, Fields suddenly has legitimate passing-game weapons at his disposal.
Vegas Sportsbooks are expecting another big year from the 24 year old, projecting him for:
⚫ Over/under 17.5 TD passes (-112 for both)
⚫ Over/under 2,775.5 passing yards (current career high of 2,242)
⚫ Over/under 825.5 rushing yards (-110 for both)
⚫ Over/under 6.5 rushing TDs (-110 for both)
The rushing stats would be a considerable step back from last year's 1,143 yard, 8 TD campaign, but Fields is still the favorite for most QB rushing yards (+170) and even has the 10th best odds of leading the entire NFL—including RBs—in rushing yards (+2500).
Fields currently has the 11th best odds to win NFL MVP in 2023 (+2000).
For what it's worth, 17.5 passing TDs, 2,775.5 passing yards, 825.5 rushing yards and 6.5 rushing TDs would be good for 302.57 fantasy points, which would have been the QB 6 last year.
Now headed into just his age 24 season, Fields is best approached as a mid-high end QB 1 with upside to be THE QB 1 by the end of the season.
Dynasty Leagues: 🟢 Justin Fields is currently the QB 8 in dynasty startups, selected around pick 65 overall. The only QBs I'd rather have in dynasty are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts and *maybe* Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
Redraft Leagues: 🟢 Justin Fields is currently the QB 6, drafted around pick 49 overall (early 5th round) in redraft leagues. With both usually drafted near the round 4/5 turn, I often like to stack DJ Moore and Justin Fields together when I'm drafting from the 1, 2 or 3 spot.
Fields is worth his current ADP, but the 5th round is competitive, also offering Christian Kirk, Joe Mixon, TJ Hockenson, Kenneth Walker, Aaron Jones, Chris Godwin, JK Dobbins, Alexander Mattison, Marquise brown and George Kittle, all of which are worthy of consideration as well.
Superflex Leagues: 🟢 Justin Fields is currently the QB 8 in Superflex startups, selected around pick 10 overall. I'd be comfortable drafting him as high as 4th overall after Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts, but I'd also consider Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase in that spot.
Best Ball Leagues: 🟢 Justin Fields is currently the QB 6, drafted around pick 49 overall (early 5th round) in redraft leagues. With both usually drafted near the round 4/5 turn, I often like to stack DJ Moore and Justin Fields together when I'm drafting from the 1, 2 or 3 spot.
Fields is worth his current ADP, but the 5th round is competitive, also offering Christian Kirk, Joe Mixon, TJ Hockenson, Kenneth Walker, Aaron Jones, Chris Godwin, JK Dobbins, Alexander Mattison, Marquise brown and George Kittle, all of which are worthy of consideration as well.
If you already drafted a QB, do not select Fields.
If you select Fields, plan on selecting your QB 2 between rounds 11-13, and your QB 3 between rounds 14-16.
If you do not select Fields, plan on drafting 3 QBs later, including your QB 1 between rounds 7-10.
Max best ball exposure: 25%
Chicago Bears Running Backs
🟡 RB Khalil Herbert Fantasy Football Preview
After an RB 24 finish in 2022, David Montgomery left for bluer pastures (Detroit) in free agency, vacating 235 touches—including 40 targets—that theoretically need to find a new home.
For a brief moment, that left Khalil Herbert—a 2021 6th round pick from Virginia Tech—alone at the top of the RB depth chart.
But things got a bit more crowded and confusing when Chicago signed free agents D'Onta Foreman and Travis Homer before spending a 4th round draft pick on Roschon Johnson.
Still, Herbert received first-team reps at Bears OTA's and *should* have every opportunity to enter 2023 as the 1A back in the rotation.
In 11 career games where Herbert has handled at least 10 touches, the Virginia Tech product has averaged:
⚫ 13.7 PPR points per game
⚫ 17.2 touches
⚫ 1.6 targets and 1.4 catches
⚫ 90.3 scrimmage yards
⚫ 0.5 TDs (6 in 11 games)
He's been able to score 15 or more PPR points in 5 of those 11 games, including a career high of 30.9 points against the Texans in week 3 of this previous season (22 touches—including 2 catches—for 169 scrimmage yards and 2 TDs).
(To be fair, he also landed below 10 PPR points in 4 of those 11 games).
Of course, all of that includes 6 games where Herbert handled 18 or more touches—including 5 games over 20 touches—which is an unlikely workload for Herbert in a Bears offense that is already on the record stating they do not want a workhorse back.
Last year's RB 1 in Chicago, the outbound David Montgomery, averaged just 14.7 touches per game with just 3 contests of 19 or more touches.
Small sample size, but in four career games where Herbert handled between 11-18 touches—a more realistic weekly workload—he's averaged:
⚫ 11.3 PPR points per game
⚫ 14.5 touches per game
⚫ 1 target and 0.5 catches per game
⚫ 77.5 scrimmage yards per game
⚫ 0.5 TDs per game (2 in 4 games)
He scored 15.7 and 15.9 points, but also 5.9 and 7.5 points in those four contests.
If he does secure a heavier workload, Herbert could be an exciting RB 2—he's averaging 16 PPR points per game in seven contests with 16 or more touches.
But with Foreman, Homer and Johnson on the roster—not to mention Justin Fields who had the 2nd most QB rushing yards in NFL history last year—this is much more likely to be a frustrating committee than a backfield we want to target in fantasy football.
Expect Herbert to share early down duties with Foreman while also ceding the short yardage and goal-line role to the bigger back, not to mention passing down work that will likely be siphoned by Homer and Johnson, all but sapping any chance of upside for Herbert.
Stuck in a possible four-way committee on a team that's expected to win fewer than 8 games, Herbert is best approached as an unexciting RB 3/flex in 2023 fantasy football leagues.
Dynasty Leagues: 🟠 Entering his age 25 season as the presumed lead back in Chicago, Herbert is someone I'd be looking to "sell" in my dynasty leagues.
Redraft Leagues: 🟡 Khalil Herbert is currently drafted as the RB 40 around pick 122 (early 11th round) in 2023 leagues. I'm not chomping at the bit to get Herbert on my 2023 rosters, but the 11th round is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for an "RB1."
That said, I'm more often considering Damien Harris, Rashaad Penny, Zay Jones, Devon Achane, Aaron Rodgers, Romeo Doubs, Elijah Mitchell, Darnell Mooney, Jamaal Williams and Jerick McKinnon who are all drafted within 6 picks of Herbert.
Best Ball Leagues: 🟡 Khalil Herbert is currently drafted as the RB 40 around pick 122 (early 11th round) in 2023 leagues. I'm not chomping at the bit to get Herbert on my 2023 rosters, but the 11th round is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for an "RB1."
That said, I'm more often considering Damien Harris, Rashaad Penny, Zay Jones, Devon Achane, Aaron Rodgers, Romeo Doubs, Elijah Mitchell, Darnell Mooney, Jamaal Williams, Jerick McKinnon and Dalton Kincaid who are all drafted within 6 picks of Herbert.
Max best ball exposure: 10%