• Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert lead the Chicago Bears‘ rushing attack: Both running backs are competing for playing time this season and were utilized throughout the first half.
• John Metchie III leads the Houston Texans‘ wide receiver rotation: The Texans rested their top five wide receivers. Metchie led a four-man rotation of players who will be competing for one or two roster spots.
• Dominate fantasy football season with promo code PFF25: Unlock all of PFF’s fantasy content and tools, including full access to the fantasy football mock draft simulator, for 25% off using promo code PFF25.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.
Houston Texans @ Chicago Bears
Don’t read too much into the Bears’ backfield rotation: Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert rotated throughout the first half.
• D’Andre Swift was signed to be the starter for Chicago, with Johnson and Herbert fighting for snaps and a role in the offense. It seems concerning that two players considered draft-worthy in some leagues played until halftime, but the Bears had limited options.
• Travis Homer and undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler were the only other halfbacks on the team’s depth chart a week ago. Both are dealing with injuries and didn’t play tonight. The Bears also signed Demetric Felton just four days ago, so it wouldn’t have been ideal for the team to make him play the entire game. Felton played throughout the second half. Both Johnson and Herbert played as long as they did out of necessity, not because either is in trouble of losing a roster spot.
•The usage indicated that the two backs are likely close on the depth chart, with Johnson possibly slightly ahead. Johnson ended up with 15 first-half snaps, while Herbert had 10. However, this was partly due to who was in on longer drives. Both received several consecutive snaps before being rotated out rather than being used based on specific situations. In the regular season, they will likely be used more situationally, so this game didn’t provide much insight.
The Texans’ backup wide receivers battle for one or two spots: The Texans used a four-man rotation of wide receivers in the first half.
• The Texans rested starting wide receivers Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell, along with backup wide receivers Noah Brown and Robert Woods. The team will likely keep six wide receivers, so one spot is up for grabs. It’s possible they move on from one of their veteran backups to keep two of the younger receivers.
• John Metchie III and Xavier Hutchinson, who were the fifth and sixth wide receivers on the roster last season, started the game. This offseason, the team traded for Ben Skowronek, who was the third wide receiver tonight, while Steven Sims also got significant playing time in the first half. The snap counts suggest Metchie is the favorite, followed by Hutchinson and Skowronek. Metchie only caught one pass for 4 yards while Hutchinson caught five for 56 and Skowronek two for 31, so it’s possible Hutchinson and Skowronek closed the gap a little bit tonight. Skowronek and Sims continued playing into the second half.
• This was also a good example of what the wide receiver rotation could look like this season with the starters. Houston substituted wide receivers in and out all season last year, and they kept the same philosophy in the first half of this game. The receivers played 86%, 70%, 59% and 38% respectively in the first half, and it was a half where they rarely used two tight end sets. It’s even possible none of the starters consistently reach 86% of snaps in the regular season.
• Monitor the health of Teagan Quitoriano: The run-blocking tight end suffered a lower-body injury early in the game.
The Texans rested both starter Dalton Schultz as well as backup Brevin Jordan who is reportedly banged up. This left Quitoriano and rookie Cade Stover as the only tight ends on the roster. Quitoriano started the game and took the first five plays. Stover played a few plays after and Quitoriano returned to score a touchdown. They both started the second drive with back-to-back two tight end sets and then Quitoriano didn’t return. This left Stover as the only tight end for the rest of the game.
Hybrid fullback/tight end Andrew Beck was another player who had the night off, so backup fullback Troy Hairston ended up lining up at tight end at times so they could still use a few two tight end sets.
This gave us minimal information about the potential tight end rotation this season. Quitoriano is the current favorite in two tight end sets when healthy, but it’s possible the well rounded Stover can overtake him for that role on the depth chart. If Quitoriano’s injury is serious, then Stover wil see a lot more opportunities immediately like he did tonight.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Bears starting wide receivers D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze all sat the game out.
- Tyler Scott is the likely fourth wide receiver after starting at times last year. He played on the first drive only and then his night was done. Similarly, DeAndre Carter only played the first drive, making him the likely fifth receiver at the moment.
- Cole Kmet, Marcedes Lewis and Gerald Everett are expected to be the top three tight ends and all of them took the night off.
- Texans new starting running back Joe Mixon is dealing with a soft tissue injury which kept him out, although he likely would not have played if he was 100%. There are currently no concerns about his health for the regular season.
- The Texans also rested backup halfback Dameon Pierce, which is generally a positive sign for his chances of remaining the primary backup.
- Dare Ogunbowale and J.J. Taylor both played ahead of Cam Akers, but Akers has only been on the roster one week, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Akers move up the depth chart.
- Wide receivers Xavier Hutchinson and Steven Sims Jr. were the two kick returners for the Texans to start the game.
- Wide receiver Tyler Scott and defensive back Greg Stroman Jr. were the two kick returns for the Bears to start the game.
Table Notes
• Snaps include all plays, even those that were called back due to penalties like offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats exclude these penalized plays.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy occurs with clear thrown-away passes, as the NFL might attribute the target to the nearest receiver, whereas our data does not.
• Carries are only counted on designed rushing plays. Quarterback scrambles are not included in the total number of carries in the game.
