My Matt Forte Blog

He was passed up by every NFL team in the 2008 draft. Forte was finally selected 44th overall out of Tulane University, in the second round by the Chicago Bears. He was the sixth running back selected in the draft. Forte was picked after other backs such as D McFadden, J Stewart, F Jones, R Mendenhall and Chris Johnson. Forte will have the most impact this season than any of those other backs selected before him. He is the only one that is the true starter. All of the other listed are either backups or in a time share. I believe that his future in the NFL will be just as bright as any of the other running backs selected. I feel that he, along with Stewart and C Johnson will end up with the best NFL careers. Yes better than both McFadden and Mendenhall. McFadden in my eyes is overrated. He is not special. He runs straight ahead and is only good when he has a big hole to run through. But he can not make it happen on his own. Forte, C Johnson and Stewart will prove to be the best of this crop, in that order.

The Bears had the idea that he would be able to compete for the starting RB job right away. They didn't believe that he would be starting though in week 1 though. At the time of the draft, Cedric Benson was still their starting running back. Although Benson had been in some trouble in the offseason, he was #1 on the depth chart. They also had Adrian Peterson who had filled in admirably when Benson got injured last season. Then after the draft, Benson got in another alcohol related incident and the Bears had enough. Benson was released and Chicago was confidant enough in Forte to name him the starter.

Forte offers Chicago everything that Cedric Benson couldn't. Benson seemed slow last season. He ran into the line of scrimmage far too often and had trouble breaking a play to the outside. He lacked speed and wasn't much of a 3rd down back, because he didn't block well and receiving was never his strong suit. Forte has proven to be the exact opposite. He has enough speed to take it the distance. He can bump the play to the outside to make something out of nothing. Forte has also been great receiving out of the backfield. They occasionally line him up on the outside and he runs wide receiver routes. Forte is very versatile and the Bears have literally designed their offense around him. He is the catalyst of this offense.

Lately opposing defenses have been loading the box on the Bears to try to contain Forte. They are forcing Orten to beat them through the air. Orten did pass for 330 yards this week against the Lions. This has cut into Forte's running yardage. But if Orten continues to pass well, opposing defenses will not be able to continue to cheat against the run. The past two weeks, Forte has been contained to 79 total yards on the ground. But since he can beat you so many ways, he has also contributed 9 catches for 67 yards in that time. He also had added 2 touchdowns.

Matt Forte is on pace this year for 1800 yards from scrimmage. He also is on pace for 70 catches and 12 touchdowns! Those are pretty gaudy numbers for any running back in the NFL, let alone a rookie. For all of you fantasy football owners who were lucky enough to take a stab with him, you should be happy with yourself. In your average 12 team league, he was likely a 6th round draft pick. You got yourself an absolute steal! He was most likely drafted as your third running back and if he has been sitting on your bench, then you need to change that. If you have 2 other stud running backs in front of him, then you have to consider trading one of them. Try to upgrade at another position. You need to find a way to get Forte in your lineup every week. He WILL be a top 10 fantasy running back this year. Possibly even top 5. The only think holding him back is Orten. Even this past week when he "disappointed", he still ended up with a solid fantasy games. Although he only had 36 yards rushing, in leagues where you get 1 point per reception, he still ended up scoring 21 points.

The bottom line is Forte is a stud. He will continue to be a stud all season long. And will be a stud for years to come.

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