With NFL rosters set for the start of the 2019 season, ESPN’s fantasy guru Mike Clay released his final stat projections for the year.
He went through every rostered player to calculate what each one could produce this season, and his numbers see a nice step forward for the Chicago Bears offense.
Clay doesn’t have Mitchell Trubisky passing the 4,000-yard mark, but his 3,897 yards would pass Erik Kramer for the most of any single season in Bears history.
A hefty chunk of those yards go to Allen Robinson, who comes up short of quadruple digits. A season of 67 catches, 949 yards and six touchdowns would be a nice return to form for the No. 1 receiver, now two years removed from his ACL tear.
Clay has Anthony Miller finishing second in receiving yards with 600 on 46 catches. Trey Burton was a close third at 590 yards, and Tarik Cohen isn’t far behind with 586 yards.
In the ground game, David Montgomery quickly takes over the lead role, but he too comes short of 1,000 yards at 996. Seven rushing touchdowns plus 35 catches for 289 receiving yards helps him finish as Clay’s 23rd best running back in PPR formats.
Defensively, Clay projects only 15 interceptions as a whole, down from the league-leading 27 picks in 2018. Kyle Fuller returns to reality with only 2.6 projected interceptions, and Eddie Jackson still leads the way at 3.1.
Khalil Mack also slows down slightly in Clay’s projections with 11.8 sacks, and Akiem Hicks has a similar reduction to only bring the quarterback down 6.7 times.
Overall, Clay sees the Bears with the hardest schedule in the NFL while also maintaining their status as the defense with the fewest points allowed. The team as a whole sits sixth in his power rankings with a projected return to the playoffs.
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