What did you see out of Matt Forte?

[statman08]

I was watching the Bears vs. KC the other day, and it was pretty obvious that the Bears strategy was to get the ball to Forte. As the Bears have always said that they get off the bus running the ball, what is everyone's opinion on him going into the season. The Bears will have K. Jones as a back up and once he is fully healthy their could be fewer carries for Forte. However, as they say when ever there is a QB battle it usually means that they don't have a solid #1. So I would expect the Bears to focus strongly on the run game most of the year once again. But, where do you see Forte or K. Jones falling to in a 12 team draft?

[BigTen]

I was watching the Bears vs. KC the other day, and it was pretty obvious that the Bears strategy was to get the ball to Forte. As the Bears have always said that they get off the bus running the ball, what is everyone's opinion on him going into the season. The Bears will have K. Jones as a back up and once he is fully healthy their could be fewer carries for Forte. However, as they say when ever there is a QB battle it usually means that they don't have a solid #1. So I would expect the Bears to focus strongly on the run game most of the year once again. But, where do you see Forte or K. Jones falling to in a 12 team draft?

Well, IMHO, until they get a QB worth a damn, their running game will struggle. Every team defense they face will stack the line and make bad and worse beat them through the air.

[irish]

Well, IMHO, until they get a QB worth a damn, their running game will struggle. Every team defense they face will stack the line and make bad and worse beat them through the air.

 

This is a valid point and part of the problem facing the Bears' rushing attack. However, not only doesn't the QB scare anyone but the WR core (Hester, Bradley, Booker, Bennett, Clark and Olsen) isn't to frightening either. More importantly, the Bears are also in the bottom third when it comes to strength of schedule, so the sledding is going to be pretty tough this year, I'd imagine. Add to that, last year between Peterson, Benson and Wolfe, the Bears rushed 379 times for 1,273 yards (3.4 ypc) and 7 tds. They (mostly Peterson) also accounted for 77 rec. for 660 yards (8.6 ypc) and no tds. Those numbers combined woud give you 312.3 fantasy points and would be terrific if one player achieved them. However, since that didn't happen last year and won't happen this year, drafting a Chicago RB might make life miserable considering the poor schedule, poor QB options, and possible 3-4 player RBBC system with Forte, Jones, Peterson and Wolfe. Now I, like everyone else have Forte as the Chicago RB that will see the most action however, I don't see him as anything more than I low #2/high #3 option. I could see Forte topping out at about 1,000 yards rushing (maybe slightly over) and a half dozen tds, while throwing in about 25 rec for 185 yards. That would put him at about 180 pts in a PPR system and ranked at #27 on my RB rankings. We'll see how involved Kevin Jones is, especially with him coming off injury. Peterson will serve as a COP and possible 3rd down guy, stealing away a slew of receptions.

[kingfish247]

Well, IMHO, until they get a QB worth a damn, their running game will struggle. Every team defense they face will stack the line and make bad and worse beat them through the air.

Not only is their QB situation bad but there's no threat out wide and the OL isn't good enough to compensate for the 8 men fronts. I think Forte could be a good RB but it's asking a lot of any rookie RB to overcome all of those shortcomings around him.