Five Fantasy Football Takeaways from the Hall of Fame Game: Bears RBs, John Metchie III, Cam Akers and More

Our top five takeaways from the preseason opener between the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears

The NFL preseason officially kicked off on Thursday night with the Houston Texans vs. the Chicago Bears in the Hall of Fame Game. Being just the first game of the preseason, and an extra game at that for the two teams involved, most key fantasy players sat this one out. 

On top of that, the game was cut short in the third quarter due to inclement weather. However, despite all of that, there were still some takeaways from both teams that fantasy owners should be taking note of.

The Bears' Backfield

There has been plenty of intrigue this summer about how the Bears' backfield will play out. D'Andre Swift is the assumed RB1, but how big of a workload he's going to see remains to be seen. That could give the RB2 in Chicago significant fantasy value.

Both Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert played well in the preseason opener. Johnson did technically get the start which could imply that he is the current leader for the RB2 job. He finished his day with six carries for 24 yards and caught his only target for seven yards.

Herbert was the back that shined in this one though, gaining 35 yards on four carries, including a 19-yard run. It's also worth noting that Demetric Felton served as the primary pass-catching back, which is a role he has played in the past and flashed some promise while in Cleveland. 

John Metchie III Looks to Secure a Roster Spot

Metchie was a highly-touted prospect who was diagnosed with leukemia after being drafted by Houston. He has battled back and is now looking to earn himself a roster spot in 2024.

With the top five wideouts in resting for the Texans, Metchie led the wide receiver rotation, leading us to believe that he will earn one of the remaining roster spots. It would be a surprise to us if he was cut.

Xavier Hutchinson led the group in production, catching five of his six targets for 56 yards. The wideouts who played today are likely competing for one or two roster spots. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that one of these guys could be coming after Robert Woods' job as well. 

Cam Akers is Back

When I clicked on Twitter during the game, the first few tweets I saw were all about Akers. "Can he be the guy to buck the trend of running backs with Achilles injuries?" "Cam Akers has moves!" "Is Akers back?" These were some of the things I was seeing.

While it is a fun story, the answer is that it's extremely unlikely. The guy is coming off of not one but two Achilles injuries. While he did average just 2.8 yards rushing on the ground, he caught two passes for 18 yards, including a 14-yard reception and four-yard TD. It's not impossible that he could carve out a role in the Texans' backfield behind Joe Mixon. We wouldn't bet on but it's possible. 

QB Competition in Houston

Davis Mills and Case Keenum will battle it out for the backup job in Houston. It's worth noting that Mills did get the start and saw more playing time. This could simply mean that the team wants to get a better look at him because they know what they have in Keenum.

Last year, Mills was listed as the QB2 on the depth chart but Keemum ultimately got the start when C.J. Stroud missed time. Both quarterbacks played well in what looks to be an open competition. Of course, no one wants to see a young QB like Stroud suffer any sort of injury, but a lot of fantasy owners will be investing in other pieces of the Texans' offense this season - it would be comforting to know they have a capable backup should disaster strike.  

Kick Returns are Going to be Fun this Season

We got our first look at the new kick return rules in this game and they will certainly bring interest and meaning back to the play. We saw seven kicks returned in this game for 159 yards between the two teams. This is set up to be one of the better rule changes that the NFL has implemented in recent years.

Fantasy leagues and commissioners should seriously consider finding a way to work kick returns into their scoring system, whether that be giving out points for yards or more likely awarding points for TD returns. This is going to be a lot of fun this season and this is the time to adjust your scoring system if you want to partake in the excitement. There is a good chance you see more and more of this being included in fantasy scoring in the near future. 

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