The Bears saw their first matchup after the loss of David Montgomery, who suffered a knee sprain in Week 4 and is expected to miss three to five weeks.
Many anticipated Damien Williams would pick up all the slack in Montgomery's absence, but rookie Khalil Herbert had himself a game in Chicago's win over the Raiders, putting up 75 yards on 18 attempts (to Williams' 16 attempts).
Was this game an outlier or are the Bears splitting Montgomery's workload between the pair going forward? Rostered in only 19% of Yahoo! leagues, it might be worth it to target Herbert this week given his newfound role.
Our trio of analysts break down his potential value and how much of your Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) to bid in order to roster him.
Target Khalil Herbert On Fantasy Waiver Wire?
Samantha Previte
Damien Williams was last week's top waiver add amid news that bell-cow running back David Montgomery would be placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. Williams had a strong game and saw 16 attempts for 64 yards and a touchdown and caught two of three passes for 20 yards. He didn't exactly take over Montgomery's role, however, and was out-touched by Herbert, who saw 18 carries for 75 yards. This could be a timeshare so long as Montgomery is sidelined, meaning Herbert could be in line to see more touches in the weeks to come.
Herbert is a medium-priority add at RB in my Week 6 breakdown of the waiver wire market.
Sean Koerner
I'm less interested in chasing Herbert's 18/75/0 Week 5 performance. He is a nice stash in case Damien Williams also goes down before David Montgomery returns, but Herbert benefited a ton from the Bears being in control for much of their Week 5 win. It allowed them to lean on the running game and get Herbert involved. With GB, TB, SF and PIT on tap, I'm guessing we will see the Bears in trailing game scripts that favor Williams, while Herbert is more of an RB3 or RB4. I wouldn't target him very aggressively.
Chris Raybon
Herbert's 18 carries for 75 yards in his first extended NFL action should be taken with a grain of salt, as 11 came after halftime of a game the Bears were controlling and ended up winning 20-9. In the first half, Damien Williams saw 14 opportunities (11 carries, three targets) while Herbert saw seven, suggesting more of a two-to-one split in favor of Williams. Pass routes were divvied up the same, with Williams running 10 patterns to Herbert's seven, a 59% vs. 41% split in favor of Williams. I'm still projecting Williams to see 60-70% of the backfield snaps going forward. Williams is my RB17 and Herbert is my RB40 this week. The Bears are unlikely to see as much positive, Herbert-friendly game scripts the next two weeks against the Packers and Buccaneers as they did against the Raiders. Herbert is my No. 3 priority at RB behind Devontae Booker and Darrel Williams.
