Chicago Bears 2014 Season Predictions

Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Forte will lead the league in yards from scrimmage. 

Matt Forte is an interesting study. Since coming into the league in 2008, he has been one of the best running backs in the NFL. Except for real football people who know the game well, and everyone in Chicago, not many people know that or talk about that. Forte does not get the attention that Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson Adrian Peterson and LeSean McCoy get.

When you ask who the leaders in rushing yards last season were, you will probably get Charles, McCoy or Peterson. Way down on the list you might hear Forte, even though he finished second in the league, just 268 yards behind McCoy (1,339 yards to McCoy’s 1,607 yards).

Forte also had 594 yards receiving out of the backfield. His 1,933 total yards from scrimmage ranks third behind McCoy (2,146) and Charles (1,980).

This season his numbers will go up. With Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett and now Santonio Holmes as receivers, defenses cannot cover everyone. That will open up Forte for bigger runs since the defense will be spread, or catches since some of the other receivers will be double covered.

Forte felt slighted when he was ranked just 91st in the NFL Network’s Top-100 list. Yes, it’s just a popularity contest and does not really measure how good a player is, but it was supposedly done by his peers, and to have rookies ranked above him really upset him.

A player on a mission to prove people wrong is fun to watch.