Chicago Bears offer floor and ceiling cases in Round 4 of Yahoo Fantasy Expert League draft
The Bears were a popular target in Round 4 of our Yahoo Fantasy Expert League draft, but for different reasons.
The Yahoo Fantasy crew completed a 12-person draft for their expert league on Tuesday , which provided plenty of highlights. Among the more memorable moments in the draft came in Round 4 when two analysts tapped into the same offense for very different reasons to help build out their squads.
Chris Allen was content with a floor pick, while Scott Pianowski chased ceiling. Both analysts were buying the Chicago Bears.
Allen opened up the round, and he went with a boring but dependable pick, which is usually Pianowski's jam .
"I'll go running back here, 'cause I'm seeing a lot of the value and the talent here start to drop off," Allen said, before taking Chicago's D'Andre Swift. "I think the running game for Chicago is being under-discussed during the offseason. It's been more about what's your take on Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland.
"We're still talking about an offense that's still gonna run the ball quite a bit, especially once they get in scoring position. So I'm gonna get the guy that's more than likely gonna carry the mail for that offense."
The fantasy community has spent the summer arguing about which Bears pass catcher gets fed, and while they debated, Swift has been overlooked (he's being drafted as the RB20 on Yahoo).
Pianowski "loved" the selection, calling it the "ultimate boring value pick," then decided to get spicy with his own Round 4 selection.
A few selections later, the analyst most associated with drafting dependable veterans surprised the room with his pick.
"Harmon, you think you know me," Pianowski said. "You think I'm all about boring value veterans and healthy players.
"I'm going totally off type here with a helium, buzzy guy who's been hurt all summer. Give me Luther Burden III."
Burden was sidelined for a big portion of August due to a groin injury. He recently returned to practice and has looked healthy , leaving hope he'll be ready to go for Week 1 in what should be a high-octane offense with a shaky defense — the perfect combination for fantasy points.
"Ben Johnson has talked about setting scoring records," Pianowski said. "They'll have to set a scoring record if they wanna get back to the playoffs again. Talk about pinball teams, talk about carnival teams — the Bears check that box."
Pianowski has long said don't go looking for injuries during draft season because they'll find you during the season, but he couldn't resist the upside Burden and the Bears offer.
"If Burden's healthy, he's a smash as my wide receiver three," Pianowski said.
"I don't know what is more shocking — the fact that Scott took the Twitter buzzy guy," Harmon said. "Or you take the guy who's, like, missed all of training camp? Well, I don't know, I don't know who you are anymore."
A few picks after Swift and Burden came off the board, Colston Loveland followed. Pianowski summed it up best when he simply said "I want pieces of this offense."
The Bears have four players ranked in the top 50 on Yahoo's consensus rankings and five in the top 100 overall.
Swift is a rare dead-zone back with a clear role on an offense expected to score, yet his draft cost remains reasonable, in part because of his teammates getting more hype. If Chicago's offense delivers on expectations, Swift will get the goal-line work no matter who's catching passes, especially with Kyle Monangai week-to-week with a knee injury .
The bet on Burden is that the groin injury won't linger and the receiver builds on his impressive rookie campaign, taking another step in Year 2.
We'll have more takeaways from the Yahoo Fantasy Expert League in the days to come. You can also watch the full draft on YouTube .
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