The Chicago Bears will face the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Bears skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 14 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Caleb Williams, QB
Caleb Williams has 250+ passing yards in consecutive games for the first time in his young career, benefiting greatly from the volume that has occurred with Chicago playing catch-up (86 pass attempts).
There continue to be breadcrumbs laid about a strong 2025 season, and the Black Friday firing of Matt Eberflus certainly doesn’t back me off of my loving Williams as a future asset:
During Matt Eberflus' tenure in Chicago, the wide receivers, as a collective, underachieved fantasy football expectations by 8.7%. pic.twitter.com/jvwPMxUQD2
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 29, 2024
The rookie hasn’t thrown a pick since Week 6. While that was fueled by a conservative game plan before Thanksgiving with an average depth of throw no higher than seven yards in any of his three games prior, Williams wasn’t shy about challenging a strong Lions secondary vertically (13.4 aDOT).
If you like the 49ers to take control of this game early, you’re going to want to bump Williams up your DFS rankings. He’s thrown for 376 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions in second halves over the past two games.
With only three games in the late slate this weekend, not to mention Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, and Joe Burrow all being off the main slate, there’s an argument to be made in Williams being used as a unique late hammer.
Outside of that situation, I’m not going in this direction in standard-sized leagues.
D’Andre Swift, RB
While the volume on the ground has been underwhelming of late for D’Andre Swift (consecutive weeks of a decline in carry count and under 15 in three straight), the combination of involvement in the passing game along with the spike plays has proven to be enough to keep in fantasy lineups.
Swift has earned nine targets in those three games and has a 29+ yard gain in that run of three straight against divisional opponents.
There’s only so much upside that comes with being tethered to this inconsistent offense, and I don’t expect that to change this weekend. However, with a bell-cow role between the 20s and a versatile skill set, Swift is a weekly starter for you, even if the odds of him taking over your matchup are low.
Roschon Johnson, RB
The Bears didn’t get stopped at the one-yard, and that meant that Roschon Johnson was rendered useless.
OK, so that’s only partly true. He left early on Thursday with a concussion and that puts his status in question for this week, though the mini-bye gives him a better shot at clearing protocol.
It doesn’t matter.
The six rushing scores are nice from a profile perspective, but you’re not playing a 4-6 touch player in a below-average offense if you can at all avoid it. Personally, I’m targeting players with more upside to round out my roster, no matter the format.
DJ Moore, WR
DJ Moore earned 44.4% of the targets on Thanksgiving on his way to an ultra-impressive 8-97-1 stat line. He’s caught at least seven passes in three straight games, the type of streak that can be sustained for extended periods of time when you flash the type of versatility that Moore has recently.
- Previous two weeks: 14 targets and 26 air yards
- Thanksgiving: 16 targets and 168 air yards
He’s trending in a great direction with consecutive top-10 finishes (he had only one top-20 finish before this run), and that’s great to see but doesn’t mean he is free of his risk. This Chicago offense remains spotty, something that is evident by the fact that Moore hasn’t seen an end-zone target since Week 8.
I’m Flexing Moore, ranking him in the same tier as Jerry Jeudy and Brian Thomas Jr., two receivers who carry a wide range of outcomes due to a lack of QB stability.
Keenan Allen, WR
Keenan Allen’s profile is changing. It gave you what you needed last week (5-73-2), but be careful in assuming that his increased reliance on deep passes recently is going to result in consistent production. In Weeks 10-11, the veteran receiver totaled 103 air yards, but over his past two games, he’s averaged 119.1 air yards per contest, a drastic usage shift that requires our attention.
Allen’s aDOT by week, 2024:
- Week 10 vs. New England Patriots: 6.2 yards
- Week 11 vs. Green Bay Packers: 8.3 yards
- Week 12 vs. Minnesota Vikings: 8.8 yards
- Week 13 at Detroit Lions: 13.3 yards
The deep shots have paid off recently (30-yard catch in consecutive games, his first grabs over 22 yards as a Bear); while those splash plays aren’t going to always connect, the fact that Allen has quietly seen at least seven targets in three straight (and five of six) games helps elevate his projectable floor.
He’s never going to rank as a WR2 for me due to the variance that comes with being attached to Caleb Williams and with significant target competition, but the 49ers allow touchdowns at the fourth-highest rate this season (27.4% of drives) — that makes him a perfectly reasonable Flex option in all formats.
Rome Odunze, WR
Rome Odunze has earned 16 targets over the past two weeks, growth that is nice to see as this young offense begins to take shape long-term. Unfortunately, like a toddler learning to walk, it’s not all seamless.
Despite all of the volume, Odunze has 13.4 PPR points to show for the spike in usage. He’s seen at least four deep targets in three straight games, and while that gives him the potential to break out any day now, this matchup doesn’t profile as the right spot to roll the dice.
Opponents average just 9.3 yards per deep pass against the 49ers this season (fourth-lowest), projecting this to be another game with plenty of shots and little success. Anthony Richardson has the lowest passer rating among qualified QBs this season at 64.3 — that’s 17.7 points higher than the number of opponents that have posted when throwing deep against San Francisco this season.
This looks like a conservative game plan for Caleb Williams, and that’s not the type of projection I want as an Odunze manager.
Cole Kmet, TE
The target distribution patterns are starting to take shape in Chicago, and that’s not good news when it comes to managers hoping that Cole Kmet can scratch across enough volume to matter.
Literally, anything in the world can happen one time. Outliers are a part of our game. If you remove the bizarre 10-target Week 12 loss to the Vikings, Kmet’s past five games have seen him turn 164 routes into 11 targets. That’s not going to get it done without high-end scoring equity, something that no one in this offense holds (KMet hasn’t scored since Chicago returned from London).
That outlier game against Minnesota is the only time since Week 3 in which Kmet earned more than five targets. Of the TEs on your waiver wire, most of them have a trait I trust. Be it the overall offensive environment, raw talent, or role — I’d argue that Kmet checks zero of those boxes.
