Alright, stop me if you’ve heard this one before: ‘All Chris Carter does is catch touchdowns’. Alright so you have, but how about ‘All Matt Forte does is score touchdowns’? No, that would be news to you, wouldn’t it? That’s because in 60 games and with a total of 1237 career rushing and receiving touches, Forte has 30 TDs. So he has averaged a touchdown every other game, you’d say, but his career line goes a little more like this: 12/4/9/4. Now that’s not a badly formatted date, that’s his total touchdowns from each season since 2008. As anyone can tell you, it’s hard to predict touchdowns but there’s one thing you can predict besides the next M. Night Shyamalan movie being disappointing: what a team thinks about it’s players based on the moves they make. With that, in steps Michael Bush. You’re probably familiar with him from his days in black and grey with the Raiders. What you may not be quite familiar with was where he finished in rankings last year for RBs. Nestled between the muscular backside of Steven Jackson and in front of Reggie Bush was Michael for 11th place according to ESPN standard scoring. What’s even more intriguing about Michael is his career line. Over 61 career games, Michael Bush has crossed the goal line 22 times. However, he’s done it in a little over half the combined touches (723) it has taken Forte to tally his 30 TDs. So what’s with all the math and will there be a test later, you say? To answer your last question, no, but to answer the original one, it’s to prove that you might be overspending to get Forte’s services for this year if he plays with the Bears.
Now for some non-fantasy talk that has fantasy relevance. As of this writing, Forte has not signed the long-term contract he has requested even though it’s being treated like a foregone conclusion, despite how unhappy he was to get slapped with the franchise tag. Some people say the wrinkle of LeSean McCoy and his contract are to blame as it’s changed Forte’s price. If it did, I’d like to think a level headed team would just stay with Bush and let Matt test the waters but I’m sure that won’t happen. Forte lovers out there, I have news for you. Those 1237 touches come with a 26 year old running back, not a 23 year old one. Michael Bush is 27 and only has those 723 touches. Smart money would use the four years of Bush while drafting younger backs as a future replacement. While this won’t happen, as summer drags on there will be a higher and higher likelihood that Forte could become a hold out. Unlike Allen Iverson, football players need to practice to be ready to go for the upcoming season.
What was this all about, you say? Lotta words, but what are you supposed to do? My words of advice is to try and avoid Forte in the drafts and feel free to nab yourself Michael. At worst, you’ve still got the goal line back. I double this stance if Forte’s contract talks stretch on too long. Who knows, maybe Forte won’t like how much you paid for him in the draft and holds out on you too.
