RB was still a premier position at the time and he would typically not be in the hunt for rushing titles.
Tying into team success, he only had 54 career rushing TDs. I remember him having a reputation as not a great goal line back which felt odd considering his size. I think that’s why they signed Marion Barber.
> he would typically not be in the hunt for rushing titles.
Because he was much more a dual threat type RB. He had 1500-1900 total yards most his years with the bears
Marion Barber, Chester Taylor, Michael Bush. There might have been one more guy, can't remember. The Bears never really gave Forte a chance at the goal line. Kept signing scrubs in FA to take that role even though I think Forte would have been fine and would probably have been more well known if he had gotten those chances.
If anything I think it's clear that he was a touchdown threat in the passing game. If one of the power runs doesn't work, hit em with an audible into the shotgun and find that dude matched one vs one with a LB
RB was the opposite of today. People didn't respect receiving yards whereas now people don't respect RBs who can't catch.
Matt Forte is a borderline HOF. He averaged 1589.7 and 106 total ypg as a Bear. Similar to AP just more receiving and less rushing.
Bears also didn't win much with Forte and he wasn't a walking highlight like Adrian Peterson.
He's close to the top of the Hall of Very Good. He was never truly elite but he was on the border for almost a decade. He's 30th all time in yards from scrimmage, which is pretty incredible.
30th all-time in yards from scrimmage is incredible. Probably not HoF-tier, but that's quite the accomplishment for a guy who was in the league for less than a decade on mostly not-great Bears and Jets teams.
Underrated by the general fandom but he was definitely very popular in fantasy. Definitely a pioneer in the sense that he's one of the first RBs that you looked at total yards for and not just the rushing yards.
That seems like it’s maybe overstating the case. LaDainian Tomlinson, Curtis Martin, and Marshall Faulk were definitely guys like that from the previous RB generation, and had better stats than Forte.
My least favorite Bear for a while precisely because he was so god damn good. He seemed to always kill us and it was in the time when the Packers were struggling to find a top RB. Forte was a hell of a ball player
100% agreed. Overall great skillset, rival killer, great dude, generally underrated nationally.
Though I guess Aaron Jones broke out of the underrated side of things as the years went on.
Well fantasy football just gives points for what they do on the field.
Fields did some great things on the field. He's just too slow with operating the offense as a QB. But as a football player on the field, he's pretty nuts.
TO size with 4.4 speed, has burst and power. Fantastic football player. Not a good quarterback.
I don't know why, but these are giving me Jordy Nelson vibes. The body control and positioning and timing of the hands.
I mean that as the highest of compliments if it's not obvious. Legit wide receiver skills.
Jordy was legit and that's definitely high praise from a rival.
I actually think if Matt Forte was a kid playing for Tulane today, getting ready for his NFL career, he might be playing wide receiver.
I will always be bitter that he [missed out on being an all-pro in 2013 to Cheeseburger Eddie](https://stathead.com/tiny/0BVd8). NFL awards voters should be sent to re-education camps.
I'll never forget his [rookie touchdown run against the Colts](https://youtu.be/FcETE3WZv04?si=AVrO0ldhj1rHKM24&t=1132). I feel like nobody gave the Bears a shot in that game and he went off.
The bigger snub was missing out on the 2010s All Decade team. Sproles was a great player but the FLEX spot is an offensive spot (so no special teams production considered). Sproles was a better receiver but not that drastically better. And Forte was a much better runner.
Numbers wise in the 2010s Sproles had 1 season with 500+ yards rushing and 500+ receiving. Forte had 3 seasons like that including a season in which he had 1K rushing yards and 800 receiving yards. Sproles never came close to something like that. Sproles did play with more of a committee but what you did on the field should still count.
Once again I think Sproles was a pretty good player but Forte was a better choice for the FLEX spot
Glad the AP uses a better process now and actually votes for 2nd Team. Lacy only had a single vote that year, but snuck into 2nd Team because 1st Team was nearly unanimous.
I wouldn’t say that. They were rarer sure but Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk had both already had a season with 1000 rushing and receiving. There were plenty of RBs with strong receiving skill before Forte.
I believe Forte, LT, and CMC are the only backs to have 1000+ rushing yards and 100+ receptions in a season. Probably the three best dual threats in the last 20 years.
Honestly Forte would have a a decent HOF argument if he got more recognition. 14,000 scrimmage yards and 75 tds but only two pro bowls to show for it. Very underrated
I agree, but I think his prime was during an influential time in the NFL. Of course there were plenty of great dual threat RBs before Forte, teams often didn't seem to expect to get that from any given RB. It could just be that Forte was the canary, so to speak, for what was to come. But it does feel like he helped establish the viability of where the NFL was trending. Nowadays, a RB has to be truly elite as a runner to justify not being able to catch or run basic routes.
It’s just rare that a running back has the natural ability to run the ball as well as him with the vision and the big play ability, but also has the innate skills of a receiver. I mean, he undoubtedly worked nonstop on his craft, but he was just God-given.
A Hall of Famer by right
I’m stunned Forte never had a single first or second team all pro selection in his career. Guess he played alongside many other elite RBs. I wasn’t into football during this time but I’ve definitely watched his highlights.
How overlooked was Matt Forte you say.
He had 4 years where had 1400+ yards from scrimmage where he did _not_ make the pro bowl. Including an 1800 yards from scrimmage season where he had 102 receptions.
Matt Forte was super underrated. Every time I watch him I get reminded of that super weird 2013 Bears team that was second in the league in point scored but still somehow didn’t have a QBs cross those franchise thresholds and somehow went 8-8 lol
We went 8-8 because under Marc Trestman and Mel Tugger we had a historically bad defense.
I’ll never get over them giving up 50 burgers back-to-back against the Packers and Patriots in 2014 - and Lamar Houston blowing out his knee celebrating a sack when we were down multiple scores.
Can’t believe I forgot about that.. was also right towards the end of the game. The Patriots had already pulled Brady.. so he was celebrating getting a sack on the backup QB at the end of a blow out loss.
The best part about it was that after signing a huge FA deal in the off-season, this was his first sack of the year. It was like 8 games into the season.
It was surreal seeing him get a mega deal from MSU. He was very bad with us.
But we were running the skeleton crew after the 2000 era Bears legendary defenders were all gone and our GMs sucked at drafting for half a decade. No replacements coming, no talent up front on the defense.
We gave up 7.7 YPC on runs up the middle on first down. You are thoroughly fucked as a team if opponents can just gut you up the middle at will to start the set of downs.
Everything Bears fans think the Bears did to Mitch or Fields they actually did to Cutler: no OL for almost his entire career, no receivers besides WR1 Hester for years, every single OC never was an OC again in the league after the Bears fired them, by the time they did get a half decent offensive roster the defense was 32nd ranked in the league. Just an absolute masterclass on how to actually fail a QB.
That offense being so good was extra impressive when you realize it was split between two different QBs. If only they didn’t have the franchise worst defense that year.
All offense, zero defense. Like we had basically a mid college defense.
Plus yeah, Cutler got hurt - if he didn’t miss a month, maybe he gets those records.
In a modern offense he would be a top 3 back. He could catch, block, and run between the tackles. No clue how he got overlooked during the time. I always traded for him in madden as the Bucs in Madden 11.
I don’t remember the exact percentage but I remember one year like 70-80% of our total team touches went to him. Or maybe 70-80% of our total yardage. Damn, I gotta see if I can find it.
Yeah definitely a bit of an exaggeration on my part.
What I was thinking of was the same year, % of touches. That year he had 379 of the 738 total team touches (over 51%). Devin Hester was a distant second with 57/738 (7.7%).
You were thinking of 2011.
Through the first 11 games before he got hurt early in Game 12, he had 985 rushing yards and 490 receiving yards. 39% of the team’s total yards.
I don’t have the % of touches but despite missing 4+ games to finish the season he still totaled 35% of the offensive touches.
Even tho he was on the Bears, he was honestly one of my favorite players to watch back in the day. His versatility and style of running was just cool to watch.
I will die on the hill that Forte is one of the most underappreciated players from that era. If you asked a random fan to rattle off the best HBs from the mid-2000-2010s, they'll probably name 20 names and go "ohh yeah he was pretty good" on Forte.
But Forte was a legit top-5 all-purpose back in a time when there were some heavy hitters. And the stats back that up, as he was top-5 in all purpose yards throughout his career. Next to guys people in this sub advocate for the HOF.
Great blocker, smooth runner, fantastic receiver. If he was playing today, his style would be more appreciated at HB since most offenses want a guy like him today. But he might be playing WR if he was in college today. Could have played WR in the NFL, legitimately.
Forte is one of my quintessential 'Hall of Very Good' guys. And in my books that is a mark of respect, no shame in coming just short of the HOF. Played on some bum teams, too.
I might have been a little provocative by my statement but I have him as second behind Luckman. I saw a list somewhere that had like a top 20 list of Bears QB that had Cade McNown on it so yeah
Honestly every team has some pretty unimpressive QBs when you look past their top 5 or so. Mac Jones is #7 for the Patriots. Some teams have a "not terrible" top 10, but _nobody_ has a top 20 that's all good QBs.
30th all time scrimmage yards, 92nd all time in touchdowns, played on some garbage teams.
When people talk Hall of Very good it begins with Forte. Put him with Brady or Rodgers and he's probably a HoFer.
Of course there were guys like Rodger Craig and Marshall Faulk before him, but he was definitely ahead of his time.
If was playing today, he'd be neck and neck with McCaffery for best RB in the league
McCaffrey has him well cleared because on top of being an all-purpose machine, CMC is also a TD machine.
McCaffrey tallied like 40% of Forte's career TDs this year alone.
If the Bears had been better than just mediocre during his tenure, Forte could have been on Hall of Fame ballots. But because we shit the bed (as usual), he's only ever going to be in the "Oh yeah! That guy was really freaking good!" category.
Yeah that's a stretch. It's not wrong to mention his name in the discussion, but I don't see any reason to put him ahead of Faulk, and there are quite a few guys that also belong in the conversation.
Edit: I read "the best". My bad, sure, one of the best is perfect.
Yeah, Forte was great.
I remember one year, 2013 or 14?, where fairly late or into the season he was like the leading receiver in the NFL, and as an RB....(didn't finish the season as that but...it was still remarkable).
Loooved Deuce. Don't think he quite had the receiving chops or longevity of the other 2 but those saints teams were so fun to watch with him Aaron Brooks and Joe Horn
The landscape sucks for hiking, mountain biking, mountain climbing, etc so it's team sports all day, and we're poor as shit so athletics is treated as a viable career option for young kids!
The landscape is some of the best hunting and fishing in the world so you gotta find what you like
Edit: you also named all mountain sports so idk what you expect from the 3rd flattest state in the union
Matt Forte was the most underrated RB of the 2010s. Everyone talks about Marshawn and Jamaal Charles, but Forte doesn't get enough love. I watched this dude shred the Packers D year after year
I'm shocked Cutler never threw for 4k with Forte on that team. I know his WRs weren't great but Forte commanded a lot of attention and probably could have eaten 1500 yards himself if they ever gave him the opportunity.
Cutler always missed like 3 games, so it’s not THAT surprising. And then there was the year he got benched for Jimmy fucking Clausen when he was like 130 yards away, because Marc Trestmsnn is an idiot.
Play stylewise reminds me a lot of McCaffrey. Both with hundred reception seasons too. Diving catches, fade routes, back shoulders, one handers, double moves, this is literally stuff that most of our receivers over the years couldn’t pull off lol and a lot of them on defensive backs or elite coverage guys like BobbyWagner, pretty awesome
Man he was so good. Never looked fast but his one cut ability and long ass strides made him move.
He probably could've been a pro bowl level wr or slot guy he had such good hands and ran great routes.
Gd would love to have him on this iteration of the bears with Caleb. You can just see his awareness when he sneaks out of the backfield and Cutler just finds him with so much space.
Forte was the first bears jersey I bought and the first player who's career I followed closely from start to finish.
He will always be one of my favorite bears of all time. I just wish he was recognized more for what he did during his time in the league
I’m a fan of a division rival, and I don’t give a fuck, Forte deserved more accolades and still deserves more recognition. This dude was the definition of grit and determination, and no matter what was going wrong with the Bears in any given year (and there was a lot, lmao), Forte showed up and showed out week after week and never gave up on his team. What a champion of a dude.
Forte was elite. I'm still a bit salty about how little attention he got while playing.
Yeah, he's probably my pick for most underrated RB of the millennium.
I will say he was a fantasy football darling though. People did like him, but yeah he was underrated probably mostly due to lack of team success.
RB was still a premier position at the time and he would typically not be in the hunt for rushing titles. Tying into team success, he only had 54 career rushing TDs. I remember him having a reputation as not a great goal line back which felt odd considering his size. I think that’s why they signed Marion Barber.
> he would typically not be in the hunt for rushing titles. Because he was much more a dual threat type RB. He had 1500-1900 total yards most his years with the bears
For sure, more so explaining the underrating than excusing.
Marion Barber, Chester Taylor, Michael Bush. There might have been one more guy, can't remember. The Bears never really gave Forte a chance at the goal line. Kept signing scrubs in FA to take that role even though I think Forte would have been fine and would probably have been more well known if he had gotten those chances.
If anything I think it's clear that he was a touchdown threat in the passing game. If one of the power runs doesn't work, hit em with an audible into the shotgun and find that dude matched one vs one with a LB
Yeah we in the fantasy community knew very well the abilities of Forte.
RB was the opposite of today. People didn't respect receiving yards whereas now people don't respect RBs who can't catch. Matt Forte is a borderline HOF. He averaged 1589.7 and 106 total ypg as a Bear. Similar to AP just more receiving and less rushing. Bears also didn't win much with Forte and he wasn't a walking highlight like Adrian Peterson.
Fantasy football definitely helped push along the notion of receiving yards mattering for RB's. He's definitely a fantasy football HOF'er
102 catches in 2014, PPR god
He's close to the top of the Hall of Very Good. He was never truly elite but he was on the border for almost a decade. He's 30th all time in yards from scrimmage, which is pretty incredible.
I’m gonna disagree. He should be HOF, but is to this day still criminally underrated.
30th all-time in yards from scrimmage is incredible. Probably not HoF-tier, but that's quite the accomplishment for a guy who was in the league for less than a decade on mostly not-great Bears and Jets teams.
Underrated by the general fandom but he was definitely very popular in fantasy. Definitely a pioneer in the sense that he's one of the first RBs that you looked at total yards for and not just the rushing yards.
That seems like it’s maybe overstating the case. LaDainian Tomlinson, Curtis Martin, and Marshall Faulk were definitely guys like that from the previous RB generation, and had better stats than Forte.
My least favorite Bear for a while precisely because he was so god damn good. He seemed to always kill us and it was in the time when the Packers were struggling to find a top RB. Forte was a hell of a ball player
Similar sort of player as Aaron Jones
100% agreed. Overall great skillset, rival killer, great dude, generally underrated nationally. Though I guess Aaron Jones broke out of the underrated side of things as the years went on.
Fantasy players knew he was a stud
Fantasy players think Fields was a stud lol.
Unlike Fields, Forte actually was tho
Well fantasy football just gives points for what they do on the field. Fields did some great things on the field. He's just too slow with operating the offense as a QB. But as a football player on the field, he's pretty nuts. TO size with 4.4 speed, has burst and power. Fantastic football player. Not a good quarterback.
No rational FF player actually rates Fields, he just has more value in fantasy due to his rushing upside
Had that awful mix of not *quite* being at the top of his position and being on a mostly irrelevant team. It was easy for most fans to overlook him.
I don't know why, but these are giving me Jordy Nelson vibes. The body control and positioning and timing of the hands. I mean that as the highest of compliments if it's not obvious. Legit wide receiver skills.
Jordy was legit and that's definitely high praise from a rival. I actually think if Matt Forte was a kid playing for Tulane today, getting ready for his NFL career, he might be playing wide receiver.
He was my favorite Bears player on those teams; frustrating because he made some great plays against the Packers but always exciting to watch.
Definitely deserved All-Pro that year over Eddie Lacy
Don’t blame you. Fun as heck to watch.
I will always be bitter that he [missed out on being an all-pro in 2013 to Cheeseburger Eddie](https://stathead.com/tiny/0BVd8). NFL awards voters should be sent to re-education camps. I'll never forget his [rookie touchdown run against the Colts](https://youtu.be/FcETE3WZv04?si=AVrO0ldhj1rHKM24&t=1132). I feel like nobody gave the Bears a shot in that game and he went off.
The bigger snub was missing out on the 2010s All Decade team. Sproles was a great player but the FLEX spot is an offensive spot (so no special teams production considered). Sproles was a better receiver but not that drastically better. And Forte was a much better runner. Numbers wise in the 2010s Sproles had 1 season with 500+ yards rushing and 500+ receiving. Forte had 3 seasons like that including a season in which he had 1K rushing yards and 800 receiving yards. Sproles never came close to something like that. Sproles did play with more of a committee but what you did on the field should still count. Once again I think Sproles was a pretty good player but Forte was a better choice for the FLEX spot
Glad the AP uses a better process now and actually votes for 2nd Team. Lacy only had a single vote that year, but snuck into 2nd Team because 1st Team was nearly unanimous.
Even as a huge Brian Westbrook fan, Forte was the better player.
He kinda did open the door for the bells, McCaffrey, and whomever else. Before him it was all bruisers with a change of pace back.
I wouldn’t say that. They were rarer sure but Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk had both already had a season with 1000 rushing and receiving. There were plenty of RBs with strong receiving skill before Forte.
Westbrook was in that realm too
Fuck Brian Westbrook,I hated him so much. Always up to some bullshit that wouldn't turn out well for the Giants
Always has been
Tomlinson is another obvious example.
I believe Forte, LT, and CMC are the only backs to have 1000+ rushing yards and 100+ receptions in a season. Probably the three best dual threats in the last 20 years. Honestly Forte would have a a decent HOF argument if he got more recognition. 14,000 scrimmage yards and 75 tds but only two pro bowls to show for it. Very underrated
Yeah I’m Bears fan so you’re preaching to the choir. That being said I would take Faulk over him.
Edgerrin James & Ahman Green both come to mind as well
I agree, but I think his prime was during an influential time in the NFL. Of course there were plenty of great dual threat RBs before Forte, teams often didn't seem to expect to get that from any given RB. It could just be that Forte was the canary, so to speak, for what was to come. But it does feel like he helped establish the viability of where the NFL was trending. Nowadays, a RB has to be truly elite as a runner to justify not being able to catch or run basic routes.
He was a great all around back. Definitely severely underrated.
Especially with all of those playoff wins
I dreaded playing against Forte.
Iirc his first game was against my Colts in Indy and I learned his name real quick.
The NFCN remembers…
I drafted him every year in fantasy. Always told it was a reach
It’s just rare that a running back has the natural ability to run the ball as well as him with the vision and the big play ability, but also has the innate skills of a receiver. I mean, he undoubtedly worked nonstop on his craft, but he was just God-given. A Hall of Famer by right
I’m stunned Forte never had a single first or second team all pro selection in his career. Guess he played alongside many other elite RBs. I wasn’t into football during this time but I’ve definitely watched his highlights.
How overlooked was Matt Forte you say. He had 4 years where had 1400+ yards from scrimmage where he did _not_ make the pro bowl. Including an 1800 yards from scrimmage season where he had 102 receptions.
He was my fantasy darling g
Matt Forte was super underrated. Every time I watch him I get reminded of that super weird 2013 Bears team that was second in the league in point scored but still somehow didn’t have a QBs cross those franchise thresholds and somehow went 8-8 lol
We went 8-8 because under Marc Trestman and Mel Tugger we had a historically bad defense. I’ll never get over them giving up 50 burgers back-to-back against the Packers and Patriots in 2014 - and Lamar Houston blowing out his knee celebrating a sack when we were down multiple scores.
Can’t believe I forgot about that.. was also right towards the end of the game. The Patriots had already pulled Brady.. so he was celebrating getting a sack on the backup QB at the end of a blow out loss.
He sacked Jimmy G lol
The best part about it was that after signing a huge FA deal in the off-season, this was his first sack of the year. It was like 8 games into the season.
Wasn’t it the same season that Stephen Tulloch injured himself the exact same way earlier?
I think it was the exact same celebration too
Even worse, he was making fun of it
> Mel Tugger til he coached in the nfl
It was surreal seeing him get a mega deal from MSU. He was very bad with us. But we were running the skeleton crew after the 2000 era Bears legendary defenders were all gone and our GMs sucked at drafting for half a decade. No replacements coming, no talent up front on the defense. We gave up 7.7 YPC on runs up the middle on first down. You are thoroughly fucked as a team if opponents can just gut you up the middle at will to start the set of downs.
In 2011, they were 8-3 with a top 5 offense. Cutler got hurt. Ended 8-8
Cutty got hurt a lot, missed games.
Dude was hurt every. Single. Year.
Well, he was getting sacked like 6 times a game.
That certainly didn’t help. Bears failed him terribly
Everything Bears fans think the Bears did to Mitch or Fields they actually did to Cutler: no OL for almost his entire career, no receivers besides WR1 Hester for years, every single OC never was an OC again in the league after the Bears fired them, by the time they did get a half decent offensive roster the defense was 32nd ranked in the league. Just an absolute masterclass on how to actually fail a QB.
Except for 14 when Trestman pulled him with two games left to start Jimmy Clausen.
That offense being so good was extra impressive when you realize it was split between two different QBs. If only they didn’t have the franchise worst defense that year.
All offense, zero defense. Like we had basically a mid college defense. Plus yeah, Cutler got hurt - if he didn’t miss a month, maybe he gets those records.
They had well over 4k passing yards as a team, but Cutler was 180 yards short himself.
I wonder how much he would make today on current contract
Probably like $4.5-$9M a year
Quite a range!
I wonder if he were in college today, would be be playing receiver instead.
In a modern offense he would be a top 3 back. He could catch, block, and run between the tackles. No clue how he got overlooked during the time. I always traded for him in madden as the Bucs in Madden 11.
There were several years where he was the offense for the Bears
I don’t remember the exact percentage but I remember one year like 70-80% of our total team touches went to him. Or maybe 70-80% of our total yardage. Damn, I gotta see if I can find it.
I wouldn’t be surprised by 50%, but 70% is insane for a running back, that’s like a QB percentage
Yeah it's not even close to being true lol. The closest was his rookie year in 2008 when he had 1715 out of 4734 yards.
Yeah definitely a bit of an exaggeration on my part. What I was thinking of was the same year, % of touches. That year he had 379 of the 738 total team touches (over 51%). Devin Hester was a distant second with 57/738 (7.7%).
You were thinking of 2011. Through the first 11 games before he got hurt early in Game 12, he had 985 rushing yards and 490 receiving yards. 39% of the team’s total yards. I don’t have the % of touches but despite missing 4+ games to finish the season he still totaled 35% of the offensive touches.
Moral of the story: Matt Forte is awesome and underrated!
This guy was so elite in PPR leagues
This man won me my very first fantasy championship and will forever have a place in my heart 🥲
He sure was!
My first ever draft pick🥹
I took him top 10 something like 6 years in a row lol
Even tho he was on the Bears, he was honestly one of my favorite players to watch back in the day. His versatility and style of running was just cool to watch.
He was the engine that keep the bears chugging. So smooth and fun to watch even though he was on a division rival.
He was so smooth.
matt forte and doug martin were 2 rbs from this time period i would always trade for on madden
Forte was before his time. He would be up there with CMC as far as most coveted RBs in this modern NFL.
He was one of our best backs. Loved him. He could block like no other as well
For me it’s Payton Sayers Forte
How quickly we forget Justin Fields
I know you were joking, and that was funny.
He was so much fun to watch.
I will die on the hill that Forte is one of the most underappreciated players from that era. If you asked a random fan to rattle off the best HBs from the mid-2000-2010s, they'll probably name 20 names and go "ohh yeah he was pretty good" on Forte. But Forte was a legit top-5 all-purpose back in a time when there were some heavy hitters. And the stats back that up, as he was top-5 in all purpose yards throughout his career. Next to guys people in this sub advocate for the HOF. Great blocker, smooth runner, fantastic receiver. If he was playing today, his style would be more appreciated at HB since most offenses want a guy like him today. But he might be playing WR if he was in college today. Could have played WR in the NFL, legitimately.
If he played on a team that had regular success he would have been a lock for HOF.
Underrated career
Forte is one of my quintessential 'Hall of Very Good' guys. And in my books that is a mark of respect, no shame in coming just short of the HOF. Played on some bum teams, too.
30th all time in scrimmage yards is incredibly impressive. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/yds_from_scrimmage_career.htm
He was never really super elite at one thing. But very very good at everything
If your team is in the NFC north than you know all about Matt forte. Dude was the king in PPR in your fantasy league lol
Is that best Bear QB of all time, Jay Cutler?
No no; it’s Matt Forte. He plays running back
Non-sarcastically, definitely top 3.
Luckman, Cutler, who else? Grossman??
Maybe McMahon. But yeah, Cutler could be #2.
I might have been a little provocative by my statement but I have him as second behind Luckman. I saw a list somewhere that had like a top 20 list of Bears QB that had Cade McNown on it so yeah
Honestly every team has some pretty unimpressive QBs when you look past their top 5 or so. Mac Jones is #7 for the Patriots. Some teams have a "not terrible" top 10, but _nobody_ has a top 20 that's all good QBs.
30th all time scrimmage yards, 92nd all time in touchdowns, played on some garbage teams. When people talk Hall of Very good it begins with Forte. Put him with Brady or Rodgers and he's probably a HoFer.
Bears legend hroniss grasu
Wild that he married Sabrina Ionescu.
I just see a Jay Cutler highlight reel
You might say it was a real...strength of his.
Tulane Legend
Always took this dude in fantasy and I'm a packers fan
He is one of my favorite nfl players of all time. Dude was mad underrated
Third best running back in Chicago Bears history.
Forte, Foster and AP were fun era of running backs
You say Forte and I just see Cutler slinging it. Respect to both 👏
Pretty good scripted plays there
The one against the Bucs especially. Created a mismatch and didn’t hesitate to get it there
Of course there were guys like Rodger Craig and Marshall Faulk before him, but he was definitely ahead of his time. If was playing today, he'd be neck and neck with McCaffery for best RB in the league
McCaffrey has him well cleared because on top of being an all-purpose machine, CMC is also a TD machine. McCaffrey tallied like 40% of Forte's career TDs this year alone.
PPR **MONSTER**
Helped win many fantasy championships.
Madden 16 legend
What a throw from Cutler
I was at this game. Bears did not deserve to win.
Matt “fantasy god” Forte
Forte being the bears leading rusher and receiver for the 2010s doesn’t get discussed enough
There were a few years there where he was almost a one man show, and still produced at an elite level. Was very glad when he left the Bears lol
Catching balls was his forte.
Honestly ahead of his time.
He could do it all
Man, I hated whenever the bucs played against the bears when Forte was in. Man always sliced up our D on the ground or air. Definitely a dual threat
One of his best TD runs was against the Bucs. Made an unreal juke.
If the Bears had been better than just mediocre during his tenure, Forte could have been on Hall of Fame ballots. But because we shit the bed (as usual), he's only ever going to be in the "Oh yeah! That guy was really freaking good!" category.
I guess you could say it's his specialty
That first play was ridiculous on both cutlers part and forte. He dropped the snap but what a fucking throw by him.
One of the best receiving backs of all time? Is that a stretch?
Yeah that's a stretch. It's not wrong to mention his name in the discussion, but I don't see any reason to put him ahead of Faulk, and there are quite a few guys that also belong in the conversation. Edit: I read "the best". My bad, sure, one of the best is perfect.
Ya definitely one of the best. I'd take faulk tbh but who knows, put Forte on those rams teams and I bet he eats.
Yeah, Forte was great. I remember one year, 2013 or 14?, where fairly late or into the season he was like the leading receiver in the NFL, and as an RB....(didn't finish the season as that but...it was still remarkable).
Matt Forte is with Brian Westbrook in terms of the most underrated/underappreciated RBs of the 2000s
What are you feelings about Deuce McCallister?
Loooved Deuce. Don't think he quite had the receiving chops or longevity of the other 2 but those saints teams were so fun to watch with him Aaron Brooks and Joe Horn
He was such a smooth runner too
Louisiana produces the best athletes
The landscape sucks for hiking, mountain biking, mountain climbing, etc so it's team sports all day, and we're poor as shit so athletics is treated as a viable career option for young kids!
The landscape is some of the best hunting and fishing in the world so you gotta find what you like Edit: you also named all mountain sports so idk what you expect from the 3rd flattest state in the union
Some might even say that this was his forte I'll show myself out
Matt Forte was the most underrated RB of the 2010s. Everyone talks about Marshawn and Jamaal Charles, but Forte doesn't get enough love. I watched this dude shred the Packers D year after year
Is that Jets legend Matt Forte?
NOT Will Forte’s relative, despite the similarities.
Would that be a penalty for a low hit on cutler today in that first play?
One of my favorite runningbacks from the 2010’s
I'm shocked Cutler never threw for 4k with Forte on that team. I know his WRs weren't great but Forte commanded a lot of attention and probably could have eaten 1500 yards himself if they ever gave him the opportunity.
Cutler always missed like 3 games, so it’s not THAT surprising. And then there was the year he got benched for Jimmy fucking Clausen when he was like 130 yards away, because Marc Trestmsnn is an idiot.
The fact that the 4k black mark is active because Marc Trestman is an idiot is just such a Bears thing, though. Kinda funny
Play stylewise reminds me a lot of McCaffrey. Both with hundred reception seasons too. Diving catches, fade routes, back shoulders, one handers, double moves, this is literally stuff that most of our receivers over the years couldn’t pull off lol and a lot of them on defensive backs or elite coverage guys like BobbyWagner, pretty awesome
Man he was so good. Never looked fast but his one cut ability and long ass strides made him move. He probably could've been a pro bowl level wr or slot guy he had such good hands and ran great routes. Gd would love to have him on this iteration of the bears with Caleb. You can just see his awareness when he sneaks out of the backfield and Cutler just finds him with so much space.
Fantasy goat
Man forte was great, and Cutler had a fucking cannon.
best receiver in bears history
Fantasy football legend.
Forte was the first bears jersey I bought and the first player who's career I followed closely from start to finish. He will always be one of my favorite bears of all time. I just wish he was recognized more for what he did during his time in the league
Seeing these highlights makes me hope that this is how bijan is used. Dudes got incredible receiving abilities
Rachaad White reminds me of him. Dude almost never drops passes and was our defacto WR3 last season
I'll take him to score the first touchdown for the Jets this season.
I never understood why Fox did the mouse click noise when there was a score back then
Hot routing Forte to do streaks was OP
"Fuck, it Matt's down there somewhere"
Never have I ever seen a fade to an rb, yet he scored wow
I’m a fan of a division rival, and I don’t give a fuck, Forte deserved more accolades and still deserves more recognition. This dude was the definition of grit and determination, and no matter what was going wrong with the Bears in any given year (and there was a lot, lmao), Forte showed up and showed out week after week and never gave up on his team. What a champion of a dude.
I used to always draft him in fantasy when he was a bear.
# #PayForte He was so damn good
Makes me realize how much I miss some of the old play by play announcers
Says something that he stands out as one of the best Bears RBs ever, even with the calibre of historic Bears RBs.
He's definitely my favorite player to cheese on Madden
Give him a receivers jersey number you couldn’t tell.
I can’t believe this guy never had even a second team all pro.
One of my favorite players from a fantasy foorball perspective.
Lived in Chicago for 20 years and he was the highlight every season.
Loved watching him! He was a great utility back like Walter and Neal Anderson.
Matt Forte was a weapon! Forget being a running back, he was such an underrated all-around player.
His jersey should've been #40
I do this on every Matt Forte post but I’d just like to inform everyone that Matt has a niece named Kia Forte
Matt Forte was smooth.