Start’em or Sit’em in Fantasy Football: Bears vs. Texans |
Unless you had Chicago’s defense, no one on the Bears did you any favors in fantasy football. Going against a team like the Houston Texans this Sunday on Sunday Night Football (7:20 p.m. / NBC) does not make things any easier for fantasy owners.
Caleb Williams - Sit, But Keep on Your Bench Williams’ status for fantasy owners did not change from what happened in week one. He had a rookie quarterback performance with low fantasy numbers. This is not surprising, even though others are worried about the longevity of his fantasy performance. Things will not be pretty for a rookie quarterback in his first few weeks in the league, which will be reflected in his fantasy numbers. Therefore, he is a good player to keep around on your bench, but he should not be started until the offense proves they can put up points. DJ Moore - Start His five receptions for 36 yards certainly were under projection for the season opener. However, the game also proved Moore is still the No. 1 receiver in Chicago. Given the injuries to Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze who both did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday, this means that Moore has gotten more time to build chemistry with Williams during practice. He is quickly solidifying himself as the top fantasy option at receiver for the Bears, as he already had eight targets. Despite going against a defense like Houston’s, Moore should put up more numbers than last week and is still a definite start. Keenan Allen - Sit Odunze's availability seems to be in question a lot more than Allen's, as head coach Matt Eberflus sounded more positive about Allen’s status than Odunze's. However, even if he plays, he will not be at 100 percent. Moore will be at 100 percent and already was the top receiver on this team. Therefore, Allen should stay on the bench this week, no matter if he plays or not. D’Andre Swift - Start in PPR Leagues Swift also had a very disappointing start to the season, with only 30 rushing yards. He also only had one target, but no receptions, in the season opener. That should change in week two. With Odunze and Allen not 100 percent and Odunze more likely to be out for this game, Swift should see more action in the passing game. Furthermore, during his first three seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, they utilized his pass-catching ability, as he had more than 40 receptions each of those seasons. His dual-threat ability as someone who can be a dangerous receiver is part of why Chicago wanted Swift as opposed to the other running backs that were available. Therefore, expect the offense to use that ability more this week than they did last week. Since he will probably see more action in the passing game, this serves to benefit points per reception (PPR) leagues far more than no PPR leagues, and thus, he should only be started in a PPR, especially in full PPR leagues. Chicago Defense - Sit After putting up over 20 fantasy points last week, it would seem crazy to bench them this week. However, they are going against an offense that put up 29 points last week, a running back coming off a 150-yard game, and a dynamic quarterback in C.J. Stroud. While turnovers are always possible with the Bears defense, and there should be some sacks as Chicago demonstrated they have a solid pass rush with defensive end Darrell Taylor, the number of yards and points the Texans will most likely put up creates more risk in the Bears defense than last week. They will most likely not score two touchdowns every week and with that in mind, they are a defense to bench this week.
