The Chicago Bears‘ backfield has been a subject of much discussion for fantasy football managers in recent weeks. Roschon Johnson had been serving as the No. 2 option to Khalil Herbert for the majority of the year. With Herbert now on the IR, is Johnson playing in Week 7, and what does the Bears’ backfield look like this week?
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Is Roschon Johnson Going To Play in Week 7?
Unfortunately, Johnson will remain absent from the Bears’ active roster in Week 7. Johnson suffered a concussion back on Oct. 5 in the Bears’ Thursday Night Football game with the Washington Commanders. As of the Bears’ last injury update on Friday, Johnson had still not been cleared to return to practice, having now been absent for two full weeks.
That is concerning for the rookie RB. The usual time frame for a return from a concussion is around 10 days. However, Johnson has now gone more than two weeks without being cleared. While recovery from any injury is a personal experience, concussions tend to be more unique from person to person than other injuries.
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The hope will be that Johnson can return to practice in Week 8 and play when the Bears face the Los Angeles Chargers in prime time. However, we will have to see what the next few days hold, defined by a protocol that Johnson has to pass through. There will be no rushing the young RB back on the field, as independent neurological consultants will be involved throughout the process.
What Is the Fantasy Impact of Johnson’s Absence?
We can look back to last week to get an idea of how the Bears’ backfield may operate without Johnson on the field. D’Onta Foreman led the team with 15 rushing attempts and 16 total opportunities. Behind him was newly signed Darrynton Evans with nine carries and 10 opportunities.
Foreman was the more efficient of the two, totaling 67 yards on his 16 touches compared to 34 yards on 10 touches for Evans. It is worth noting that prior to his injury Justin Fields also had eight carries, while Tyson Bagent had two carries, one of which resulted in a touchdown.
Evans was signed off the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad last Monday (Oct. 9) and spent the week with the team. Therefore, we could see his role expand in Week 8 after spending another full week learning the offense. That could muddy the waters further in the Bears’ backfield this week.
Instinct would say that the veteran option who has been on the roster longer (Foreman) should be the more solid fantasy option. However, Foreman was inactive from Weeks 2 to 5 until the injuries to Herbert and Johnson. That would suggest the Bears are not overly enamored with him in the role of starting RB.
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say that Foreman is the player to start. His projected 8.4 fantasy points include a projection of 60 rushing yards, 0.5 receptions, and 2.5 yards. While that doesn’t seem like a big stat line, it outperforms the consensus projection for Evans (3.9 points).
In a super deep league, Evans is an intriguing shoot-for-the-moon play, but that is really all the fantasy value from him this week.