Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus: Chicago Bears

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites Lester Wiltfong Jr (@wiltfongjr) of Windy City Gridiron to discuss the upcoming season for the Chicago Bears. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantasypoints.com and the 2022 franchise focus series is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy, the best and easiest way to play fantasy sports, with no waivers, trades, or lineup setting for season-long drafts. New users can sign up to Underdog Fantasy Fantasy, PTS, for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. That's promo code FantasyPTS. Head to FantasyPoint.com slash Underdog for more information. Now, let's get to the the show. It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoint.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room, with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points.

The franchise focus podcast series here at FantasyPoint.com, we are in to the final week of the franchise focus series. Teams are reporting for training camp. The pre-season is just a number a days away. I cannot believe we are here, but it's happened. The 2022 NFL season, like a freight train, it's just come down the tracks. There was nothing we could do to divert it. If it didn't happen two years ago, it sure as heck wasn't happening this year. But it's time for fantasy football. It's been time for fantasy football. If you haven't been playing best ball like I have, you're probably preparing for your redraft leagues. And today, we're going to talk about a team that quite frankly might not have a whole lot of appeal for fantasy football, but we have to talk about

anyway, because they're one of the 32 NFL teams. And it's to the Chicago Bears in the first year of a new regime there in Chicago. And I'm thrilled to be joined by the editor-in-chief of Windy City Gridiron, Lester Wilt Fong. He's the host of the T-Formation conversation and the co-host of the Bear and Balanced podcast. Lester Wilt Fong, you can follow him on Twitter at Wiltfong Jr. That's W-I-L-T-F-O-N-G. Lester, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for doing this. I know training camp's about to kick off. Your workload's about to kick up. So I understand that a lot of us are short on time, but I really appreciate you taking some time to join the show. Anytime, Joe, it's going to be fun. So the franchise focus podcast series is brought to you by Evans

Sports Cards and Collectibles, the best place for cards, collectibles, autographs, and more. When we do a memorabilia giveaway, all of them are from Evans. And we always have the latest boxes and releases from Panini, a protect, tops, and more. Evans is not a super store. It's a family-owned. small business. So you know you feel good about supporting them. They get to know you. You get to know them. If you're in the Philadelphia area, go in person to Evans. But if you're not in the Philadelphia area, go to at Evans cards on Twitter to follow them for the weekly updates and card releases. You can also like Evans on Facebook and head to Evansportsnj.com for more info, including an always updated eBay store that has all of those latest releases. That's Evansportsnj.com

online and at Evans cards on Twitter. tell them that the guys from fantasy points.com sent you. So, Lester, when a team like the Bears has like just such an overarching, just sweeping organizational change, new general manager, new head coach, that's kind of how I've been starting these conversations. Like, how are the vibes in that building? What are the new general manager, Matt Eberflus coming in as the head coach? What have they been kind of preaching to the team, preaching to the fans about this process?

and how this process is going to go. And what kind of changes on the macro level do you think we might see from the Bears under this new leadership? Yeah, I mean, the big thing right now is with the Bears, it's the culture. I mean, they're going from the Mat Nagy regime. Obviously, you know, they had some success early in his coaching career,

but the last few years have been disappointing. You know, just from an offensive standpoint, I feel the Bears fans and the Bears in general were kind of sold a really bad bill of goods because Matt Nagy should have been an offensive guru. He's coming from a great scheme. You know, the stuff you learn with Coach Reed was, you know, it's one of the better offenses in the league.

You know, but what he did in Chicago was not that. I mean, he tried to put his own spin on things. And just seeing the offense, you know, a bottom third offense the last three years, you know, they have a brand new quarterback a year ago and then they couldn't get the best out of him. So, you know, it was time for a change. And, you know, the change has brought some excitement amongst Bears fans. And I mean, obviously they know they're probably not contending this year.

But from your perspective, what do you think is a reasonable expectation for Justin Fields? He flashed last year, but the flashes were few and far between. You know, Andy Dalton was brought in. The offensive line is bad. The offensive line is still bad. From Matt Iberthus and Luke Getzzi, the offensive coordinator's perspective, what do you think that they feel like a positive step forward would be for Justin Fields? You know, one thing that this new regime has been preaching is they're preaching around building around the players and the talent they have, which is it seemed like the last few years in Mataggy, it was the Matt Nagy scheme, the Mataggy system, and they tried to get all the players to fit into that.

That's not the case this year. You know, if you've heard a coach Iber Flues talk about it, you heard the O.C. Luke gets talk about it. They're building this system around Justin Fields. So they have to be aware of some problems of fronts. You know, they're going to try and really, really attack. the run game, play action, bootlegs, rollouts. You know, it's the Kyle Shanahan, you know, the Mike Shanahan-style system coming to Chicago, and that has had a lot of success. And that should fit the skills that of Justin Field.

So I think as far as what they want from him, they want to see him take a next step. I think they're excited for that to happen. I think, you know, they believe it will happen. You know, I mean, this is one of the most exciting players in college football a couple years ago. And he just didn't get a chance to showcase what he could do in Chicago as a rookie. You mentioned the missed. he had, yes, there were plenty of mistakes, but, you know, he did flash. And then I think the

injury towards the end of the season, it kind of robbed him of a chance to play against some, some bad defenses. I think if he would have a chance to play those, I think it was Giants and Seahawks, you know, if he would have a chance to play those last few games, I think, as fans, we'd feel better about stuff just and fields going forward. But, but for me, I saw enough flashes. And then the mistakes that I did see last year, I think are correctable. So I'm expecting a, you know, I'm not seeing pro wall, but as far as the Chicago franchise concern, it would not surprise me to see him set some, some records in Chicago just because their passing records are so atrocious.

And let's go back to what Matt Nagy did with Justin Fields, because if I recall correctly, they threw him out there and they're doing, you know, drop back passing behind a horrible offensive line with not a good receiving court. I think it wasn't until a few weeks later that they started designing some runs for him. wouldn't you think that would have been the place for them to start? Sorry if the question is loaded, but wouldn't you think that's where they would start with Justin Fields? And do you think Luke Getsey will start there with Justin Fields?

Yeah, that's the plan with Getsy for sure. And as far as Nagy goes, like I said, he wanted it to be his system. You know, so when Andy Dalton got hurt and Justice Fields had to come in, he was still running the same offense he wanted to run with Andy Dalton. They didn't realize that they had to mix things up. They didn't realize they had to get him on the move. You know, last year, Justin Fields is one of the better quarterbacks in the entire NFL on throwing deep. He was also one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL on play action passes.

Those are two things Matt Nagy wouldn't do very often. For whatever reason, he was good, you know, throwing the ball outside the pocket. Matt Nagy didn't call a lot of stuff outside the pocket. He wanted his offense run from inside, a lot of curls, a lot of hitches, you know, a lot of stagnant routes. You know, this is one reason why the bears at the wide-out spot, there was not a lot of separations because it's just the style of scheme they ran. So it didn't fit Justin Fields. They couldn't figure out to do it.

So that's a big reason why they're gone. So let's look at the wide receiver position. I know Darnell Mooney's been kind of out there thinking, there might have been something about him saying he was disrespected and mad, and that's everybody these days. I know, Jamar Chislet's the same way as well. The receiver room, look, even if you're really bullish on Darnell Mooney, and I think I kind of am, it's definitely thin.

but with Darnell Mooney at the top of it, what of the Bears feel about Darnell Mooney overall? Like, do they feel like he can be kind of a number one receiver? I think that's the plan. I mean, he was, I think, you know, top 10 in targets last year. He had 80 catches. He had a thousand-yard season. You know, he has legit speed.

You know, he can take, you know, really take the top of a defense. He's a little smaller. I think he's 5'10. I think this year's up to 185. So he's not the prototypical size of a, of a, wide receiver one, you know, but from a target share standpoint, he's going to be their guy. And then you look at what the Bears did at the spot, you know, they didn't add a lot of high-end players, you know, in the draft, they didn't go a draft pick with the guy until the

third round, you know, so they're comfortable with Darnamuni as their top receiver. All right. So let's get to the backfield, which obviously I think is the strength of the team, because if you look at what this team did, David Montgomery has probably been, in my opinion, one of the most disrespected bell cow backs in the NFL. Just I don't think people really realize how good he is. And then when they needed him last year, Khalil Herbert kind of filled in really effectively. Again, going back to what we asked with Justin Fields,

do you think the run game is going to be the foundation of what Luke Getsy does here and everything kind of builds off of that? You know, I think it has to be. I mean, if you look at this scheme, you know, throughout history, you know, it's not always a run-first type of, scheme, but there's the illusion of that. You know, it's a lot of play action, a lot of, a lot of stretch plays, a lot of stuff with the outside zone plays.

So you're going to see a lot of those looks. And I think as far as the bears are concerned, you know, we talked about the offensive line issues, you know, they have to stick to the run. They have to do, you know, really be committed to that. They have to get Justin Fields on the move. They have to try and do a lot of stuff with deception and play action because, you know, the past block you may not be there. So I think this year, you may see the bears kind of treat this as,

as Justin Fields, year one, one point one here maybe because it's going to be kind of a rookified scheme for him as far as what they're asking him to do. So back to David Montgomery, who obviously has proven to be the kind of guy. After, you know what, I think he started a little slow as a rookie. Maybe he just wasn't using his natural burst or maybe he wasn't seeing things and he was a little tentative. But since then, he's been fantastic. Now, from a dynasty fantasy perspective, he's in the final year of his.

his contract. He's been the Bears probably their most consistent and best offensive player over the last four years. Have they shown any interest the new staff in extending him? Or are they going to let him play out the final year of his deal here? You know, there's been some talk from Ryan Poles and from the head coach as well. They've talked Montgomery up quite a bit. They haven't come out and said they're looking to extend him, you know, but if you kind of read between the lines, they seem that they're really happy with him what he brings to the Bears. And, you know, he sees he's a relatively the young player. You know, he's a guy that if it was me, I wouldn't resign him just because he's not the type of elite special running back that I want to, you know, I want to pay big

money to. But if I get him at a reasonable deal, I think he's worth coming back. He does a lot of stuff for you in the past game as well. He is a good receiver out of the backfield. He just doesn't have that elite speed and that elite burst. I mean, he's a good, a pounded out guy between the tackles. You know, if he, if he has on the edge, he has a little bit of speed to get out there, but he's not going to, you know, he's not going to go all the way. But like I said, he is a good receiver. He'll get a lot of touches. And we'll see what happens this year.

But you mentioned Cleo Herbert, you know, Herbert last year in the four games that he filled in for an injured Montgomery, you know, he had like, you know, I think 400 yards. You know, he is one of the better back of running backs. And the Bears may do a little more stuff with both guys this year. But a lot of what's going to happen to this run game and to Justin Fields kind of comes from this offensive line. And look, I mean, I don't think I'm saying anything that Bears fans don't know. This is something Ryan Poles essentially, with all those day three picks, took a shotgun method to this, right?

Well, let's hope one of these guys becomes a player. Like, you draft four guys on day three alone. It's a big issue. Are there any position battles that you think training camp's going to help settle and maybe make that line a little bit more solid? I mean, right now there are two guys that's. seem like their spot is set in stone. That's center, Lucas Patrick, and that's left guard, Cody Whitehair. Patrick, of course, is a free agent for the Packers.

Whitehair has been in Chicago for a few years. But right now they have a rookie starting a left tackle in Braxton Jones. They have a second-year player at right tackle in Larry Borum. Tevin Jenkins last year, second-round pick is right now not starting. Right guard is Sam Mustifer, who struggled last year at center. So there's some battle to take place. I do think that at some point, Ryan Polis has to look at this group, and unless someone really steps up with these rookies, you got to bring in a more higher quality right guard because, like I said, Sam Mustfer, I like him as a backup. He's a really a really heady player, but he struggled a bit last year at center as far as the point of attack with some of the stuff from a physical standpoint.

Plus, he's not the athlete that bears have wanted in mind when they went to this new scheme. So I think there's a move to be made here at some point. If a team cuts the guy, they're going to bring him in because right now there's a lot of question marks at that old line. So beyond Darnell Mooney as their top receiver, I think the number one target here, and I doubt this is controversial at all, is Cole Komet? How do you think Luke Getsy, Matt Eberfluse are going to look at Coltomet in this offense? Do they feel like he's kind of a dynamic type of guy that they can move around? Or is he more of the traditional inline guy who might not catch 70 passes but could be in the mix for 6-8 touchdown?

Yeah, I think they look at him more of as a traditional Y, whereas the last regime kind of saw him as a guy that can kind of do both. I think they're going to kind of settle him in. I mean, they move him around a little bit. I mean, it's possible. I mean, he has a decent athlete. I think he's a four-seven speed guy. He's six foot five, six, six. He's a really big frame.

And then, you know, he didn't get a lot of touchdowns last year because they had, Jimmy Graham was still in Chicago. So he kind of was the guy in the red zone, a lot of stuff. So, so, but, I mean, Cole Komet had 60. catches last year. You know, I think he's in line to kind of be that guy again. And again, we talk about this offense, you know, with the deception they run off the play action, you know, you're going to see Cole commit freed up in the flat quite a bit for those, for those checkdowns. So one of the things that I've been doing to wrap up all these kind of

brief conversation we've been having, Luster, is I've been asking all of like the beat writers, the analysts for like a potential fantasy sleeper. And I always, so I don't step on your toes. I always present that before the podcast. Let's say, hey, who's your sleeper? The problem with the Bears is like, well, the bottom end of the roster is not very good. Let's just put it that way. And I think the Bears know that. I think Ryan Poles knows that. Iber Fluse knows that. Everybody knows it. So my question, I wanted to kind of switch it up on you and just say, I think we know Darnel Moni is going to make the team. I think we know Valish Jones is going to make the team. First, before I ask you about the rest of the receiving corps, what does the team feel about Valish Jones? I feel like a lot of folks think this was a good wide receiver draft. It was kind of an underwhelming pick with Jones in the third round when they could have taken one in the second. But what does the team said about Valish Jones, an older rookie, of course? And what do you think his role will be on this team? Do you think he'll play a lot right from the outset?

You know, Bears fans hated this pick when it happened because, you know, he wasn't the guy that most Bears fans thought they were going to go after. You know, but since he was picked, you know, since he had a chance to speak, the Bears have talked about it. We went through the OTAs. The Bears love them. And fans have all, a lot of fans are turning around. They see the potential there. They've talked about using him. He's not Debo.

I mean, you know, that's not what he is. But, but he is a good runoff for the catch guy. He has, he's good, you know, he's good after contact. He's a physical player. And he has legit four three speed, you know, so besides being your guy at kick return and possible punt returns, you know, they're going to scheme him up. He's going to get some touches. I don't think he'll be starting.

I think, you know, he may be your backup in the slot, you know, but they are going to scheme him up some touch. is each week because, you know, he has that expulsiveness in his, in his body. So I think like the, uh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, art contest was kind of a face turn for Bayless Jones. He was, I know, I know, I know, like, um, in case you didn't know, uh, the NFL that had rookies kind of draw the logos to the listeners. And, uh, Valish Jones, I think, uh, drew a bear. He drew the bear head, yeah. Yeah, as opposed to just like the sea. He had one of the easier ones.

And he drew the bearhead. Um, uh, uh, uh, really, really. funny stuff there. But for the rest of this receiving group, Byron Pringle, I think is probably a lock to make the team, the veteran from Kansas City, probably outside of Mooney, the most accomplished guy here. But you've got, I mean, you want to talk about a bunch of guys, a bunch of remember this guy, EQ St. Brown, Daz Newsom, Dante Pettis, Taj Sharp, Isaiah Colter, and then the recent trade for Nikiel Harry. Lester, this is a veritable, of remember some guy guys here. Which of those guys do you think have the upper edge on making the roster at this point?

With the full understanding that you haven't had a chance to see Nikiel Harry in this offense yet. You know, before the trade for Harry, I thought Equanimous St. Brown was a lock to be the starting X receiver. He's coming from the Luke gets his scheme, you know, the last few years with Green Bay. He knows the system. You know, he's 6'5. He has, again, a guy that has great speed. I thought he'd be a lock as far as a starting X,

but now Harry in town, you know, there's a battle there at the X. I think they'll both end up making it as far as Dad Newsom go. He's on the bubble between Pettus and Sharp. One of those guys may make it, you know, but there's a lot of question marks behind these guys, you know. They also have Chris Finkie, you know, David Moore. You know, a lot of guys you're like, oh, I heard of him, you know.

But as far as the top targeted guys, I think it's going to be, Byron Pringle will be behind Mooney, of course. And then after that, you know, as far as the target share goes, I think you're looking at tight end. You're looking at running backs. And then I think your starting X is going to be the guy, you know, way down the line. I think this podcast was kind of perfect evidence. And I don't think the bears are trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

I think their draft, quite frankly, Ryan Poles coming out and spending a couple of picks in the second round on players in the secondary. I think the draft in general, Lester, was an indication of Ryan Poles just kind of saying to the fans, look, this is going to be a process. I had to undo a lot of stuff. Frankly, it just appears like maybe he was being prudent and he was taking the best players during the draft or what he thought were the best players. Do you think that was like drafting for need was something that Ryan Poles was not in the business of doing in this draft? No, I mean, he went with his best players on his board. I mean, he talked about it.

And there was actually a behind the scenes thing. And he was shocked that Bristker was there, you know, with a second second round pick. He would have took him first. And so the fact that Bristke was there, they had to jump at it. You know, they got Jones in the third round. You know, I think he knew going in. This is going to be a reset because of all the dead cap money that was stuck on the team. I think right now, the Bears, I think our second or third and dead money, you know.

But next offseason, they're going to have like, you know, $100 million to play. with as far as for agency. So they knew this year was kind of going to be a reset. They went best player available. You know, the defense, you know, should be solid. I mean, this is coach Matt Iberfuss's his forte. You know, the defense should be good. It should be solid. The offense, they hope, you know, some of the young guys take a step up if they do. It should be a fun season as a Bears fan to watch. Yeah. And look, if Justin Fields takes a step forward, everything else will fall in line for the Chicago Bears. Not exactly the most exciting fantasy team. But very, Very likely, Lester.

I mean, if Justin Fields takes that step forward, we'll have you back on the podcast next year. And I'm guessing there will be a lot more to talk about as that glorious cap space opens up for Chicago. It should for sure. His name is Lester Wilt Fong Jr. You can follow him on Twitter at Wilt Fong Jr. He is the editor-in-chief of Windy City Gridiron. He is the host of the T-Formation Conversation and the co-host of the Bear in Balance podcast. It was wonderful talking to him.

Look, Bears fans, hopefully you can enjoy it. enjoy this year because, you know, this isn't a make or break year. It's, it's, you're in it for the long ride. And I think Bears fans are probably realistic to know that, that all of this rests on Justin Fields just taking those incremental steps forward. I mean, if he shows the promise and the potential that we all think he has, even if the Bears have, are like a six-win team. If we see it from Fields, the future's bright in Chicago. Absolutely. And if, and if we see it from Fields, that that'll attract the free agents to Chicago as well, as long as well, as well as all that cat money.

Yep. My name is Joe Dolan. Thank you, everybody, for listening to another edition of the franchise focus podcast. Tomorrow, we plan on talking Cleveland Browns. Lester and I are recording this, by the way, on July 20th.

This is coming out July 25th. So when you're listening to this, it's July 25th. Who knows if the Deshawn Watson News has dropped in the interim? I am so sick of waiting on. I'm sick of this guy. If you allow me to get a little unprofessional

for a moment, I am very sick of it. But we'll talk Browns later this week. We'll talk bills, Ravens, Falcons, and Cardinals to wrap up our franchise focus podcast series. It's been wonderful talking to Lester. It's been wonderful talking to you. And join me later this. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform.

And come join the roster at FantasyPoint.com.