fact-fantasyMatt Forte has been a dominant fantasy force in Chicago since he exploded onto the scene in 2008 with 1,200 rushing yards and 63 receptions.

He’s also been a pretty bright spot on some pretty bad Bears teams in recent years. But that all ended in 2015.

On the field, Forte had his worst year as a pro, missing three games with injury, falling short of 900 yards rushing and ceding time to Jeremy Langford, among others.

With Chicago now solidly into a youth rebuilding mode, Forte was thanked for his time and sent packing. He landed in New York, where he hopes to rejuvenate his career for another couple years playing for the Jets.

Can he rebound and show that last season was fiction? Or was last season the beginning of a downhill slide as he heads into year number nine?

John Vomhof Jr.: Fact

Forte has long been a fantasy stud, consistently finishing as an RB1 for most of the past decade. But I fear that run is about to end, and I don’t want to be the one holding his stock when it bottoms out.

Forte is coming off one of the worst years of his career, one in which a knee injury cost him three games Jeremy Langford cost him carries. His 898 yards rushing was a career low and he scored just seven total TDs.

Unfortunately, the outlook isn’t very promising. He’s coming up on 31 years old, and there ain’t much tread left on the tires. He’s had 250-plus touches every year of his career, including a couple years in the 350 range while excelling under Marc Trestman in Chicago.

And he’ll be playing in a new system this year, too. After eight seasons in Chicago, Forte signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Jets this offseason.

He’ll be the starter, but don’t expect him to be a workhorse. Bilal Powell is going to get touches after signing a three-year, $11.27 million deal of his own, and the Jets also added former Saints RB Khiry Robinson, who could end up stealing some short-yardage work.

There are way too many red flags on Forte to justify investing the top-25 pick it will take to get him. Pass on him, and invest in the next blue-chip fantasy star instead.

Andy: Fact

Forte represented himself well as a member of the Bears and it will be weird seeing him in another jersey. Truth is, I wouldn’t mind having him on my rosters this season – I think there is a bit more left in the tank than John does. My question is at what price?

ESPN’s Average Draft Results stats slate Forte at 35 overall and at RB14. What?!?!?

I think Forte gets a solid chunk of the run game and he’s always benefited from being able to contribute as a receiver. But John’s right – Bilal Powell does not suck and Khiry Robinson is a solid addition too. And, assuming Ryan Fitzpatrick comes back – as I have long felt he would – this team is going to spread the ball around to stud WRs Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall, among others.

In the middle of the fourth round, here are some guys supposedly being selected between one and six rounds after Forte: Carlos Hyde, C.J. Anderson, Jeremy Hill, Ryan Mathews, Jay Ajayi, Rashad Jennings, and the Murrays, both DeMarco and Latavius.

Not all of those guys are studs, but all are either considerably younger, have better situations as far as being the dominant player in the backfield for their teams or both, or are, arguably, simply more talented at this stage than Forte.

I like Forte. With a solid corps of WR, I’d take him as a RB2. I’d love to have him as an RB3/flex option. I’m not going to take him in the fourth round. I see almost no way in which this guy can produce the results necessary to make that gamble pay off.

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