Right now the entire NFL is raving about the rookie QB in Washington, Jayden Daniels. He is being labeled as the next great QB in the NFL, the CJ Stroud of this year, the lone Rookie of the Year candidate. This completely flips the pre-draft narrative that Caleb Williams was the clear top player in this draft, with players like Daniels and Maye being consolation prizes
Now that we have seen both Daniels and Williams play a handful of games, we can agree on a few things:
- Both players are bound to be Pro Bowlers at some point in their careers
- Daniels is more NFL ready than Williams right now
- The Bears have some problems they need to sort out over the next few years
This season, Daniels has thrown 3 less interceptions than Williams and has a QBR nearly 30 points higher. Even though Washington and Chicago both have a record of 4-2, there is a clear gap between these two teams. Going forward Chicago must work to close this gap and establish themselves as the best young team in the NFL. First, however, they need to address all their problems. Let’s look at the issues with the Bears through the lens of the NFL, fantasy football, and betting:
NFL
Before we get into the Bears’ problems, let’s get one thing straight: Any team with a rookie QB who starts off 4-2 is in pretty good shape. That being said, being “pretty good” does not get you very far in the NFL. The real question is “can this team win a championship with this corps?” On this front, there is some good news and some bad news for the Bears. The good news is that they have a ton of young, talented players who are going to continue to improve as Caleb Williams reaches his prime. Players like Jaylon Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, and Rome Odunze fit Williams’ timeline perfectly. With a few more years under each of these players’ belt, it should be easy to build a successful roster around them.
The bad news for the Bears is that their championship timeline is…tricky. As it stands right now, Right now is the best time to be a contender in the NFL. The usual contenders are all dealing with some problems. The Chiefs lost Rashee Rice, and Travis Kelce has not been his usual self. Even though they are undefeated, you have to wonder if the Mahomes magic will be enough this year with the roster they have. The Eagles have been riddled with injuries, and they are feeling the loss of their former center, Jason Kelce. The Niners have also struggled with injuries throughout the beginning of the season. They sit at .500 six games into the season.
This leaves the door wide open for other teams like the Lions, Vikings, Packers, Texans, Ravens, and Bills. The Super Bowl has been monopolized by the Chiefs, Niners, and Eagles over the past few years. It seems like this year we are finally in for a change.
My worry is that it will not be difficult to build another championship team around Mahomes. The defense is still great, they really just need to get healthy and bring in some more receiving options for Mahomes and they are back to being unstoppable. I fear the Bears have set themselves up perfectly to be the 90s Utah Jazz to the Chiefs’ Bulls. It is generally silly to consider one player who is in a different conference when looking at your team’s future, but Patrick Mahomes is an exception. The Bears need to either adjust their timeline, or build a roster good enough to beat Mahomes. It’s that simple.
Fantasy
As for fantasy football, the Bears have been one of the most frustrating teams in the league. The worry going into the season was that this team had too many mouths to feed and it would be impossible for any individual player to have consistent fantasy success. Six weeks in and this has proven to be a very valid concern. Both Odunze and Allen have had big games, but have proven themselves to be utterly unstartable in fantasy due to their inconsistency. DJ Moore is the Bears best receiver and is certainly a viable fantasy option, but even he is a WR2 at best. It seems like the easy solution to the “too much talent” problem in fantasy is to target Caleb Williams. After all, he is the QB. No matter which receiver has the big game he will score fantasy points. However, even WIlliams has proven inconsistent, throwing for under 175 yards in half of his games. He also turns the ball over at least once a game.
So is there any fantasy value on the Bears offense? Yes. There are three roster spots on your team that you can fill with a member of the Bears. The first is running back. D’Andre Swift got off to a cold start, failing to surpass 50 scrimmage yards or score a touchdown in either of his first three games. There were rumors that Swift and Johnson were essentially splitting the backfield evenly. However, over the past 3 weeks Swift has silenced these rumors, scoring a touchdown and going for over 100 scrimmage yards in every game. At this point he has established himself as a low-end RB1.
You can also roster a Bears player at tight end, as Cole Kmet has emerged as one of the most explosive players in the league at his position. While Kmet, much like the Bears receivers, is inconsistent, the tight end position is so thin this year that this is forgivable. It is all worth it when every three games he magically turns into prime Gronkowski. The way I see it, you can either start a player like Trey McBride or Jake Ferguson who will safely get you 10 points, or you can start Kmet who will either get 6-7 points or 25 points. Well worth the risk in my opinion.
The last position you can fill a roster spot with is defense. The Bears defense has been a huge bright spot for them this season. The Bears would not be 4-2 without them. They stand as one of the top defenses in fantasy right now. This is a massive improvement for what was considered a middle-of-the-pack defense in 2023. If they are able to continue to progress over the coming years, the Bears may create a future roster that is able to compete with Mahomes.
The Bears are a young team with a bright future, but there is a lot to be done. Following Chicago’s upcoming bye, we will get to see Williams face off with Daniels. This will be the first of many highly anticipated matchups between the two. With eleven more games yet to be played, there is plenty of room for narratives to shift. The coming weeks will add some clarity to a Chicago team that has been hard to label.
