Chicago Bears 2022 Fantasy Football Rookie Roundup

The Chicago Bears fired Matt Nagy, let Allen Robinson walk, and threw Justin Fields into sophomore year purgatory. But it’s okay, they got him… a questionable third-round pick to shore up his offensive weaponry! Luckily, the Bears had a top-ten offensive line last season, so their decision to do nothing to tangibly shore up the line shouldn’t get a side-eye. But equipping Justin Fields with better quarterbacks’ WR3s and WR4s (Equanimeous St. Brown and Byron Pringle) and a questionable third-round pick gives me a ton of pause. But, we aren’t here to talk about Justin Fields. We are here to talk about Velus Jones! What can we expect from the rookie for fantasy football?

FULL CHICAGO BEARS DRAFT RESULTS

Rd.	Pick	Player	Pos.	College
2	39	Kyler Gordon	CB	Washington
2	48	Jaquan Brisker	S	Penn St.
3	71	Velus Jones	WR	Tennessee
5	168	Braxton Jones	OL	Southern Utah
5	174	Dominique Robinson	DE	Miami (OH)
6	186	Zachary Thomas	OL	San Diego St.
6	203	Trestan Ebner	RB	Baylor
6	207	Doug Kramer	OL	Illinois
7	226	Ja’Tyre Carter	OL	Southern
7	254	Elijah Hicks	S	California
7	255	Trenton Gill	P	North Carolina St.

Round 3, Pick 71 Overall: Velus Jones Jr., Wide Receiver, Tennessee (6’0” 204 lbs)

TALENT

If Velus Jones was 21 years old, I might get excited about what he might be able to become. Unfortunately, Velus Jones’ 25th birthday was last week, meaning that he pretty much is what he will be. I don’t doubt that Velus Jones will be a useful part of the Chicago Bears as a return man and a gadget player, but I have serious concerns that he will ever be more than that. He’s more of an athlete than anything else, frequently running sweeps and getting pop passes and carries out of the backfield. If I had a guy with his athleticism and lack of actual wide receiver skills, I’d do what I can to get the ball to him that doesn’t actually involve him running a route, either. He struggles to be a consistent deep threat because he runs routes like your old high school friend nursing a red wine hangover in your Black Friday Turkey Bowl games.

2022 OPPORTUNITY

Devin Duvernay, his closest comparison, runs about 15 routes per game and gets targeted on about half of his routes. That’s the likeliest outcome for Jones. He’s a deep threat distraction for opposing teams on an offense full of deep threats. The main four wide receivers, Velus included, all ran sub 4.5-40 yard dashes, and EQSB, at 6’5” and 214 pounds, has a comparable speed score to Jones. He’s also just seven months older than Velus Jones. While 4.5 40-yard dashes aren’t spectacular figures in this day and age, I’m more pointing out that there aren’t any statues in that wide receiver room. I’m not entirely sure what Chicago will do with Velus Jones, resulting in him having fantasy football potential, at least not in year one.

2022 OUTLOOK

Jones possesses speed, on a team that will have a decent amount of it. He isn’t a fantasy-relevant player in any regard unless your league has return yardage. Jones should take over as the return man for the Bears, and that is the main benefit he will provide to the Bears, other than running in a straight line downfield to make things easier for Cole Kmet.