Fantasy football drafts are around the corner for most people and it's time to figure out who to target.
NFL.com fantasy analyst Marcas Grant provided fantasy players with some insights into the five overvalued and undervalued players entering the 2025 season. The Bears had two players who were undervalued.
Let's start with Bears running back D'Andre Swift, whose average draft position has been in the 5th round (RB21). Grant likes Swift to be a legitimate threat to improve on last year's performance.
"Swift scratched the surface of his potential in 2023 with the Eagles when he ran for 1,049 yards. Even with a offensive line downgrade last year in Chicago, he posted a career-high with 1,345 scrimmage yards. Through it all, Swift has been good for at least 39 receptions in every year of his career. On top of the skill-position additions, the Bears made offensive line upgrades. Neither Roschon Johnson nor rookie Kyle Monangai look to be serious threats to Swift’s touches. Spending a fifth-round pick on a lead back with receiving chops in an emerging offense feels like a no-brainer to me."
Next up is wide receiver Rome Odunze, who has a chance to take advantage of Keenan Allen's departure and get more targets.
"Odunze’s rookie season was a mixture of underwhelming combined with flashes of intrigue. You could say the same for the Bears offense overall. Nonetheless, a 19 percent target share with a team-best 33 percent air yards share is reason to believe Odunze could ascend in 2025. Not to mention the 121 targets that Keenan Allen leaves behind. Compared to some of the other receivers going in the same range (Jordan Addison, Deebo Samuel and Cooper Kupp, to name a few), Odunze offers a much higher potential ceiling. If he can raise his floor, he’ll easily outperform his ADP."
Can Swift and Odunze help with fantasy football teams in 2025?
Last year in fantasy, Swift actually did better than he performed for the Eagles in 2023. He finished 19th in position ranking, 49th overall, and scored 173 points, which are all career-highs for him.
Odunze struggled more against his wide receiver counterparts in the NFL last year. He was ranked 51st overall with 91 fantasy points and did not crack the top 100.
While Swift struggled on the field, what helped him was making more receptions and yards in the passing game and scoring more rushing touchdowns in 2024 (six) than 2023 (five). Swift has a chance in head coach Ben Johnson's offense to elevate his receiving skills in the passing game, while also benefiting from a better offensive line in front of him, which should lead to more yards per carry.
Getting targets wasn't the problem for Odunze last year as he had 101, but he caught just 53.5% of those passes, which can't happen again. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will go to Odunze more this season, but needs his receiver to catch more than what he did last year.
Read more: Pair of Bears prove their worth against best NFL defenders in latest rankings
Both guys are set up for success with Johnson running the offense and should have better numbers this season to become starters in fantasy.