After a solid Week 1 showing for the Chicago Bears and an RB21 finish with 64 all-purpose yards, Herbert couldn’t get better than RB35 over the next two weeks. His rushing attempts and targets decreased from his Week 1 outing, and fantasy football managers wondered if it was Roschon Johnson time.
Herbert bounced back in Week 4, playing 78% of the snaps, running for 108 yards on the ground on 18 carries, and catching four targets for 19 yards and a TD. However, to be fair, that game was against Denver, who has the absolute worst defense in the NFL. The Broncos allow the most points to opponents in the league currently.
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Khalil Herbert’s Rest-of-Season Fantasy Outlook
The Bears’ offense in general, and the backfield specifically, is a sticky subject. The Bears finally looked good this week, but they were playing Denver. I doubt that, all of a sudden, Justin Fields has turned into that good of a passer. Fields only ran for 25 yards in that game.
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If Chicago has taken a small leap, and they will continue to play a little better moving on, expect the QB rushing to go up again. We all know that gives the Bears their best chance to win a game, and because of that, the RB touches for both Herbert and Johnson could decrease.
Chicago has a few decent matchups on the horizon; the next scariest one is New Orleans in Week 9, but I can’t see Herbert getting much higher than RB2/Flex consideration. This week, he is RB23 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings.
Should I Trade Herbert?
The murmurings of Johnson taking over this backfield were getting louder by the week after Johnson’s snap percentage and RB attempt percentage steadily increased from Week 1 to Week 3. Perhaps Herbert heard the rumors himself and took it upon himself to fight for his job. However, the shift will likely continue to happen, and Johnson’s snaps will increase.
Because I believe this is going to happen, I will be trading Herbert if the chance presents itself. Selling a potential trade partner on this Chicago offense may be challenging, so proceed cautiously.