Fantasy Football Team Preview: Bears

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
First Chicago Bears team with a franchise quarterback since face masks were invented. A message to non-Bears fans from Bears fans: Don't bring us down. If you want to make fun of us for being a bit overzealous about Jay Cutler, then maybe you should take a gander at the load of crap the Bears have been using at quarterback. From Cade McNown to Moses Moreno to Chad Hutchinson to Peter Tom Willis to ... whatever. You get the point. Let us also remember that having Cutler doesn't necessarily make everyone fantasy gold automatically. The tremors are more real than fantasy.

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The Breakout
Devin Hester has only played two seasons at receiver and his growth has been extraordinary. He's likely never going to be a bona fide No. 1 NFL wideout, but he's explosive enough to make big plays at the drop of a hat. He actually led the Bears in receiving yards in 2008, and his numbers suffered greatly with Kyle Orton's inability to complete the deep pass late in the season. The naysayers will pontificate about how he's nothing more than pass interference bait, but we haven't gotten much of a chance to see if that's true or not. It's nothing more than speculation. We have seen an 80-yard touchdown catch to tie the Vikings with less than two minutes left in the game (10-14-07 ... from Brian Griese). With Cutler's rocket for an arm and the already improving receiving skills of Hester, all the tools are there for a 1,000-yard season and close to double-digit touchdowns.

The Bust
In terms of what the Bears are and how it relates to fantasy football, Jay Cutler is going to be different than he was last season for the Broncos. You can forget about 4,500 passing yard seasons for the Bears. I could go on and on about how that's not what the Bears need and how he'll provide exactly what they'll need, but that's not the topic at hand today. We're talking about fantasy, and if Cutler is a top-10 fantasy quarterback this season he'll be 10th. The Bears have a much better defense than the Broncos did last season, so he won't be chucking it recklessly near as many times as he did last season. The numbers he'll put up will be better than Kyle Orton's '08 stat line, and it will help Hester -- as I said above -- but Cutler's stats will take a step backward this year from where they were in Denver. Just be cognizant of the differences before taking Cutler as your QB1, that's all I'm saying.

The Depth Chart
QB1 - Jay Cutler
QB2 - Caleb Hanie
RB1 - Matt Forte
RB2 - Kevin Jones
RB3 - "The Other" Adrian Peterson
RB4 - Garrett Wolfe
WR1 - Devin Hester
WR2 - Earl Bennett
WR3 - Rashied Davis
WR4 - Juaquin Iglesias
WR5 - Johnny Knox
TE1 - Greg Olsen
TE2 - Desmond Clark
K - Robbie Gould

The D/ST
The bark has been bigger than the bite from the Monsters of the Midway the past two seasons. A staff makeover and a few tweaks has the Bears confident they can rekindle some of the magic the defense had in the 2005-2006 seasons.

With the addition of Rod Marinelli to the staff and demotion of maligned former coordinator Bob Babich -- not to mention being much more healthy than in 2008 -- the Bears are ready to get back to where they've become accustomed. Remember, this is mostly the same personnel as the Super Bowl team, and none of the guys are too old to still contribute at a high level. Behind a healthy Tommie Harris, rapidly developing Marcus Harrison and freakishly athletic Jarron Gilbert, the interior of the defensive line will go from weakness to strength, and that frees up the outside pass rush and the play-making abilities of Brian Urlacher. The secondary is still suspect, but the addition of D.J. Moore and development of Zack Bowman will alleviate some of the pressure on Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher.

Finally, we know this about Lovie Smith's defense: They look to take the ball away and they look to score when they do. For my money, they are worth a D/ST1 pick and could certainly regain top-5 form.

The Skinny
• Again, please don't misconstrue my pick of Cutler as a fantasy bust to mean he's a bad quarterback. Far from it. He is just not going to live up to the stat line he established in Denver for several reasons. What he does in Chicago is make everyone around him better. Forte is a legitimate top-5 overall pick and could conceivably be considered as the top pick (I have him slotted third overall after AP and Turner). I already told you I love Hester, Olsen is an every-week starter at TE with the potential to crack the top five, and Gould is a solid option at kicker. As for the rest?

• Someone else is going to step up and garner some meaningful stats at receiver. Davis -- while a hard worker and likable person to Bears fans like myself -- has very little fantasy upside, so the quicker he goes away, the better for fantasy football contestants. Iglesias and Bennett are both good last-round flier options in larger leagues as a WR5 with the potential to gain some value as a spot-starter or injury replacement. Bennett had a huge season his sophomore year at Vanderbilt with Cutler as his signal-caller, so the rapport shouldn't be a problem. Iglesias is said to already be very polished as a possession receiver. You shouldn't be drafting him, but Knox is a burner with pretty solid upside. Reports from OTAs were very positive. Keep an eye on him early in the season in really huge keeper leagues. You never know what Cutler can do with a speedy threat like that.

• Kevin Jones is a must-have handcuff to Forte. Reports from around the team this offseason have Jones in much better physical condition and the Bears pledging to use him more in an effort to save Forte's legs.

• Things are certainly exciting in Chicago with the addition of Cutler, but 2009 is a growth year for the passing attack. We'll have a better grasp on things next year at this time. For now, there are some risks worth taking, but the reliable fantasy players are, in order: Forte, Olsen, Cutler (as long as you're careful), Gould, the defense and Hester.