The 2020 Chicago Bears played their last games with their last first-round quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky. They went out and replaced him with a new first-round quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft class. The Chicago Bears then went out and snagged themselves a bona fide budding star quarterback in the draft. They then gave him a top-tier tackle and some offensive weapons. All-in-all, the Chicago Bears took three fantasy football-eligible players in the 2021 NFL Draft. But, what should we expect from these three new Chicago Bears for 2021 fantasy football?
FULL CHICAGO BEARS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 11 | Justin Fields | QB | Ohio State |
| 2 | 39 | Teven Jenkins | OT | Oklahoma State |
| 5 | 151 | Larry Borom | OT | Missouri |
| 6 | 217 | Khalil Herbert | RB | Virginia Tech |
| 6 | 221 | Dazz Newsome | WR | North Carolina |
| 6 | 228 | Thomas Graham Jr. | CB | Oregon |
| 7 | 250 | Khyiris Tonga | DT | BYU |
Round 1, Pick 11: Justin Fields, Quarterback, Ohio State (6’3” 228 pounds)
Depth Chart:
QB1: Justin Fields
QB2: Andy Dalton
QB3: Nick Foles
TALENT
Justin Fields’ top two traits are patience and athleticism. The second one helps him deal with the issues presented by the first. His patience is a huge virtue, as his strong pocket presence lets him go through his progressions to find the right pass. The downside is he does this to the detriment of actually throwing the football. Fields has trouble with his internal clock, causing his patience to slip from a virtue to a hindrance at times. His game against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl was one of the grittiest I have ever seen, and he finished with as many incompletions as touchdowns (6) while limping all over the field in the second half. He’s slippery and hard to sack and gives me Deshaun Watson with a sprinkling of Dak Prescott vibes.
Justin Fields was my second-favorite quarterback in this class overall, and his dual-threat run-pass skillset should be a real-life football and fantasy football boon for the Chicago Bears not only in 2021 but for years to come.
2021 OPPORTUNITY
People want to say that Andy Dalton will start with the job and Justin Fields will get eased in. Why? What leg up does Andy Dalton have over Justin Fields? Fields does everything better than Dalton, hasn’t flopped out of a city yet, and Dalton doesn’t even really have a hard start on the playbook. Both Dalton and Fields go into the 2021 NFL season without a firm grasp on the starting role, and honestly, there isn’t anything Dalton does better than Fields. Justin Fields should be the week four starter at worst and if Matt Nagy & Co. are smart, he starts week one. From there, the sky’s the limit.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Jalen Hurts finished 2020 with QB1 games in three-quarters of his starts. Honestly, that feels like a good place to start for Justin Fields. He’s better at everything than Hurts, and he has a real WR1 to throw to, as well as a viable deep threat in Darnell Mooney. Should Justin Fields end up starting from week one, he has an incredible chance to be a top-ten quarterback all year long. But that starting week one might be the hard part. He will eventually beat out Andy Dalton, probably because Andy Dalton isn’t anywhere near Fields’ talent level, but Matt Nagy & Co. might be dumb enough to let him languish for a bit first. He’s a must-have in all 2QB leagues and the perfect QB to stash in a 1QB, deep bench league.
TALENT
2021 OPPORTUNITY (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 217: Khalil Herbert, Running Back, Virginia Tech (5’9” 204 pounds)
Depth Chart:
RB1: David Montgomery
RB2: Tarik Cohen
RB3: Damien Williams
RB4: Khalil Herbert
TALENT
Herbert isn’t anything to write home about if you see him within the first five yards of the line of scrimmage. His start-stop isn’t great, he gets tackled by a whisper, and he usually had holes big enough to drive Eddie Lacy through them at Virginia Tech. That having been said, he’s a danger in the open field and if he gets a head of steam. He has great vision, anticipation, and feet, which let him make up for his lack of wiggle and toughness on tackles. Herbert could evolve into a suddenly-good guy like Mike Davis, but likely ends up the 1B of a running back tandem at best throughout his career. He doesn’t have a lot of traits that would lead to dethroning the guys ahead of him in the running back room.
2021 OPPORTUNITY
The Chicago Bears have a locked-and-loaded top dog in the running back room. They also have a designated pass-catching back in Tarik Cohen. Also, Damien Williams is there! The Chicago Bears put Herbert in a bad spot to produce in his rookie year. Honestly, given the depth chart here, his draft pick makes a lot of sense. He’s merely a depth guy for the Chicago Bears, and you should treat him as such.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
When your best-case scenario is a timeshare with Damien Williams and Tarik Cohen, if David Montgomery misses significant time with an injury, I’m not super interested. The outlook isn’t great for Herbert in his rookie year.
TALENT
2021 OPPORTUNITY
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 221: Dazz Newsome, North Carolina (5’11” 190 pounds)
Depth Chart:
WR1: Allen Robinson
WR2: Darnell Mooney
WR3: Anthony Miller
WR4: Dazz Newsome
WR5: Riley Ridley
TALENT
I try to stay away from 49ers comparisons as a Niners fan because nobody cares or even knows what it means when I compare someone to Quinton Patton. But, all I can see with Dazz Newsome is Kendrick Bourne. He’s intensely athletic as a slot receiver and has solid hands. Newsome is athletic and shifty, but not super vertical. His Virginia Tech tape looks like someone gave him a whole bag of sugar before every snap, but every other game is far more controlled. He’s more likely to be a helpful piece to an offense than anything we should worry about for 2021 fantasy football. Also, this man loves whip routes, so much.
2021 OPPORTUNITY
Unless Justin Fields and Dazz Newsome get some of that Fellow Rookie Magic, I don’t picture a world where Dazz Newsome gets a ton of opportunities. He likely tops out as the team’s WR3 and will be a possession-based receiver. Like I said in the talent section, he’s basically Kendrick Bourne. I expect the Chicago Bears to deploy him in the same way the 49ers deployed Bourne. He will be out there for key third downs and in touchdown situations but doesn’t find consistent targets.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
In a good matchup, depending on how the depth chart shakes out, Dazz makes for an interesting fantasy football depth play or DFS punt play. Outside of that, I’m not interested him in the vast majority of fantasy football leagues out there, and certainly not in 12-team, 15-round drafts.
TALENT
2021 OPPORTUNITY
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Earn a Five Goodell grade by checking out these links!
Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ben_forsyth/15142095468 under CC BY SA 2.0
