Fantasy Football 2021 Team Previews: Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears Fantasy Preview 2021

All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.

** = target in drafts at this ADP

Top 120

David Montgomery, RB (ADP: 29): Montgomery won leagues last year. He doesn’t have too many of the flash plays we love to see, or any massively eye-popping statistics to get all hot and bothered about, but the man OWNS this backfield and he can take advantage of plus matchups. For the final six weeks of the season, Montgomery ravaged opponents for 99.7 yards per game and scored eight total touchdowns while rushing nearly 20 times per game. He also took a huge leap forward as a receiver, doubling his reception total as a rookie with Tarik Cohen out much of the season. PFF’s good evaluation backed up that Montgomery the receiver was more than the product of increased volume; he’s actually not bad, and should be a three-down back moving forward. I wouldn’t draft him expecting those final six weeks to be the norm, but he is a true workhorse back, which is getting rarer and rarer to find. His floor is very high, and his ceiling is too as we learned.

Allen Robinson, WR (ADP: 34): Robinson has a very strong ADP, but it really should be even higher, if only he’d ever have a top flight QB. He’s spent his career with some of the worst QB luck any top receiver has ever had, and he still regularly performs at a high level for fantasy owners. Looking around the Bears roster, Robinson’s got about as high a floor as you’ll find. He will lead the team in targets by a mile, catch around 100 passes, and likely go well past 1,000 yards. There is a path to being elite though, and that is if rookie QB Justin Fields can take over sooner rather than later. The Bears appear hellbent on forcing Andy Dalton as the starter, which isn’t too bad; Dalton is known to force feed his WR1, and Dalton is likely the best QB Robinson has played with. Sad, I know. But Fields could be elite. We don’t know, and we’ll only find out when he sees the field. Should Fields get out there and be great, that could be the push A-Rob needs to finally recapture his 2015 form.

Fantasy Relevant (121-200 ADP)

**Darnell Mooney, WR (ADP: 133): It’s a little bleak fantasy-wise on this team beyond the top dogs, but Mooney stands out as a possible breakout. He managed 61 receptions, 631 yards and four touchdowns last year catching the ball from Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles, and missed out on many more opportunities due to their deficiencies. Mooney is a major big play complement to Robinson; he had an average depth of target of over 11 yards, and both Dalton and Fields aren’t shy about taking shots. Volume might be an obstacle to consistent value, but he slots in as the clear No. 2 here, so it might be worth a stab at this late stage of the draft.

Justin Fields, QB (ADP: 146): When I look at Fields, I see Dak Prescott. He isn’t a pinpoint passer, and transitioning to the NFL will have its challenges, but he was prolific at Ohio State, and has the tools to make a big impact as a rusher. It’s hard to justify drafting him in redraft since Dalton looks like he’s under center in Week 1, but once Fields takes the reins he’ll be worth a pickup.

Tarik Cohen, RB (ADP: 176): The outlook isn’t rosy for Cohen, who suffered a major injury last season, and now has direct competition in his backfield from Damien Williams, who duplicates a lot of his skills. Cohen was never a high-volume option in this offense, which is fairly low scoring already, so having another veteran encroach even further on his role makes him undraftable to me.

Damien Williams, RB (ADP: 189): Williams missed 2020 as a COVID opt-out, and now lands in Chicago where he should be the obvious handcuff to Montgomery. We saw Williams shine in Kansas City in 2019 for a limited run as the lead back, but he’s never ultimately been able to handle a full workload. Should Montgomery go down, I do not believe Williams assumes a full three-down role, so there isn’t much incentive to draft him. He would be more of a desperation/FLEX play at best even with Montgomery out of the way.

Sleeper Class (200 & later)

Andy Dalton, QB (ADP: 309): Dalton looks like he’s going to be the starter, but that doesn’t mean much to me outside of two-QB leagues. Dalton might be someone you can play in super plus matchups, but even then, are you really going to trust that?

Cole Kmet, TE (ADP: 230): Kmet, a first rounder last year, didn’t make much of an imprint with 243 yards and two touchdowns. He has obvious tools, but as long as Jimmy Graham is out there blocking his path to consistent work he’s not on my radar, nor should he be on yours.

Jimmy Graham, TE (ADP: 264): Graham won’t go away. The old man posted eight touchdowns last year. EIGHT! He remains a valuable real-life red zone option, but those touchdowns came on only 50 receptions and 456 yards. He NEEDS to score to be fantasy relevant, and you simply cannot predict when they’ll toss him a one yard TD pass. The numbers are deceiving, do not draft him.

Defense/Special Teams (ADP: 237)

Chicago should be replete with sacks in 2021 with Khalil Mack and Roquan Smith running around, but they’ve got to deal with some tough offenses in division – Minnesota and Green Bay – and were surprisingly middling against the pass a year ago. This is a borderline weekly starting D/ST for me.