NFL Hall of Fame Game 2024: Bears vs. Texans Preview
The Hall of Fame Game is finally here: football is back. While the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans will play this preseason game like it’s an exhibition, it’s our first chance to see NFL teams suit up in 2024.
The Bears and Texans will kick off the week of celebrations in Canton, Ohio, for the new Hall of Fame inductees. It’s also an 'extra' preseason game on the calendar, so don’t expect to see more than a drive from the starters.
Most notably this year, it could be our first chance to see No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams take snaps in a Bears jersey — more to come on that.
Let’s jump into everything you need to know about the Hall of Fame Game for NFL DFS and PrizePicks.
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Hall of Fame Game 2024: When, Where, How to Watch
When: 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, August 1, 2024
Where: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, Ohio
TV: ESPN and ABC
Streaming: ESPN+
Will the Starters Play in the Hall of Fame Game?
How long the starters play in the play in the Hall of Fame Game always varies between coaches and teams. Often, starters won’t even see a snap. At most, starters will play one or two drives.
In general, you can expect production in the Hall of Fame game to come from the third and fourth-string players. Even second-string players tend to play a quarter at most in the Hall of Fame Game.
On the Texans side, it would be shocking to see them play an elite QB like CJ Stroud, plus a WR corps with veterans like Stefon Diggs. Expect the Texans to role with backups the entire game.
For the Bears, it’s unclear if we’ll see Caleb Williams play at all. He says he wants to play; coaches haven’t decided yet. Additionally, it would be a surprise to see the Bears play vets like Keenan Allen or DJ Moore.
Update: Caleb Williams will sit out the Hall of Fame Game. He hasn't got enough practice time yet.
Bears Preview
Who will get QB snaps for the Bears is a bit messy, though undrafted rookie Austin Reed is the only player who hasn’t got NFL playing time out of the QB room. We should see Brett Rypien and Reed the most.
The Bears RB room looks set, with D’Andre Swift starting, and Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson battling for No. 2 behind him. That leaves just two for the majority of the backfield playing time in this game: Travis Homer and undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler.
Expect Johnson to play a quarter at most, with Wheeler leading this backfield in snaps, and Homer in the mix as well.
With such limited snaps, wide receivers are really hard to predict in preseason NFL. There are a ton of dudes in the WR room — it’s unlikely we see much (if any at all) of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, rookie Rome Odunze, and Tyler Scott.
Expect rookie Collin Johnson, Peter LeBlanc, Nsimba Webster, and DeAndre Carter to play the most among the Bears receivers, but it’s really a toss-up.
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Texans Preview
With the starters mostly off the table for DFS, there are a few names that should see some decent playing time for the Bears.
At QB, expect Davis Mills to play a quarter at most; then the rest of the game will be split between veterans Case Keenum and Tim Boyle.
At RB, Joe Mixon, Dameon Pierce, and Dare Ogubowale all have roster spots locked up, while Cam Akers just joined the team and may not play much. That leaves rookies Jawhar Jordan, British Brooks, and vet J.J. Taylor to soak up most of the snaps. Jordan should lead the group in snaps, but this is a deep backfield right now.
With a really deep WR room, it’s hard to predict who will see the field here. We know we won’t see Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, or Tank Dell at all, and probably not much of Noah Brown or Robert Woods (WR4/5) either, both of whom played last season. Expect to see the most WR snaps from Ben Skowronek, Xavier Hutchinson, Steven Sims, and Johnny Johnson III.
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