Start’em or Sit’em in Fantasy Football: Bears vs Vikings |
Now that the Bears have recovered an offense with new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, some of their players are startable again, with Chicago taking on the Minnesota Vikings this coming Sunday (Noon / FOX). Does that mean rookie quarterback Caleb Williams can go in a starting lineup again? Is DJ Moore back for fantasy owners?
Caleb Williams - Sit, but he should be on your roster To start the first question, no. Williams is not back in starting lineups. This is more of a matchup concern than anything else. Minnesota loves to blitz quarterbacks, and the highest blitz rate in the league is 37.7 percent. They also lead the league in quarterback pressures. Williams should not get sacked nine times like he did under Shane Waldron’s offense since Brown seems to have emphasized getting the ball out fast. What this could mean is that Williams will be throwing short passes. However, this also means that he could have a lot of rushing upside. Again, Minnesota is a bad game for this as they allow the least amount of rushing yards to quarterbacks, with only 62 throughout the season. But if Williams is at least getting the rushing attempts, this could speak to his upside for games beyond this one. DJ Moore - Start Last week against the Green Bay Packers was the first time Moore caught all of his targets. His seven receptions was the most for him since week three against the Indianapolis Colts; the 62 receiving yards Moore had against the Packers was the most for him since his revenge game against the Carolina Panthers. Playing Minnesota is an optimal matchup since they allow the third-most fantasy points to opposing receivers and the sixth-most touchdowns to opposing receivers. With Brown as the new offensive coordinator, Moore will surely get the ball more, and this is a great time for him to go back into your starting lineup. D’Andre Swift - If healthy, start If You have to First of all, D’Andre Swift popped up on the injury report with a groin injury. He was unable to practice on Wednesday and limited on Thursday, so his availability is in question. However, even if he plays, perhaps he should go on the bench if you can afford to do that. This matchup is a bad matchup for Swift, especially if he is not 100 percent. Minnesota allows the third-least fantasy points to opposing running backs and have only surrendered three rushing touchdowns to opposing backs. They are also one of the better defenses in receiving yards allowed against running backs, which could hurt Swift’s reception upside. Swift’s usage is also something to keep an eye on. Brown made more of an effort to integrate running back Roschon Johnson, causing a decrease in the percentage of offensive plays Swift was on the field. Against the Packers, he was only on the field for 57 percent of the plays, which was the second-lowest for him all season. There are multiple reasons why this is not a good game to start Swift. Rome Odunze - Think about starting If you are slim at wide receiver, Rome Odunze could be a sleeper that can boost your lineup. According to ESPN, he is only being rostered in 59.8 percent of fantasy leagues. Yet, he leads the Bears in receiving yards with 479 and is the only Chicago player with two 100-yard games. Last week against the Packers, Odunze was targeted 10 times, meaning he has the targets to provide a lot of upside for fantasy owners. Also, as previously mentioned, the Vikings give up a lot of points to fantasy receivers, making this an ideal game for Odunze to put up a lot of points. Cole Kmet - Sit It is hard to find a good tight end in fantasy this year. Kmet looked like he could put up decent numbers, but even a change in offensive coordinator has not helped him get back to starting status in fantasy. He was also targeted three times last week and has been targeted just eight times during Chicago’s four-game losing streak. Kmet is a player that has to stay on your bench.
