Fantasy Reaction: Chicago Bears Set to Rebuild for 2023 (Fantasy Football)

Earlier this week, OverTheCap.com’s Jason Fitzgerald recently told The Athletic, “This is a complete tear down” when discussing the Chicago Bears‘ 2022 outlook. He later added in his interview that the team should have “one of the better salary cap positions in the league” entering 2023, suggesting the team is looking to completely rebuild this year, then build the team back up in 2023. When you look at the Bears’ roster, it’s not difficult to understand why. The team has been in decline over the last two years, going 8-8 in 2020 then 6-11 in 2021 before firing former head coach, Matt Nagy. Under the new leadership of Matt Eberflus as a first time head coach with a roster void of talent, the Bears could struggle to match their win total from a season ago. The Bears season long win total was discussed on this recent episode of the DFS Podcast.

A season ago, the Bears ranked 28th in points per play, 27th in yards per play, and Justin Fields struggled as a rookie, ranking 31st in EPA at the QB position and 42nd in adjusted completion percentage while ranking dead last in sack rate, taking a sack on 11.8% of his drop backs behind Chicago’s bottom five offensive line. From a fantasy perspective, David Montgomery was reliable, as he was just one of six back to log 225+ carries and 50+ targets, helping him turn in a RB21 fantasy finish last year. In the receiving game, Darnell Mooney was a popular sleeper pick heading into 2021, and he’ll look to build on an inconsistent, yet exciting 2021 season in which he finished as fantasy’s WR24 in while earning 140 targets.

For 2022, this offense is likely to struggle unless Justin Fields can take a massive step forward in year two. When you look at the current depth chart behind Darnell Mooney (the only WR currently under contract through the 2023 season), that certainly gives pause to the upside for passing upside for the Bears offense, especially considering Chicago currently does not have a 1st round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. As for 2023, the team will look to rebuild via free agency and the NFL Draft. According to Spotrac, the team is projected to have the 2nd most available cap space next year, setting them up well to be able to be more aggressive in free agency and the NFL Draft.