The Chicago Bears‘ fantasy football preview takes a look at the declining value of DJ Moore, while the Los Angeles Chargers‘ fantasy outlook deals with the breaking out of Joshua Palmer.
Chicago Bears at Los Angeles Chargers
- Spread: Chargers -8.5
- Total: 46.5
- Bears implied points: 19
- Chargers implied points: 27.5
Quarterbacks
Justin Fields: He sat out last week as a result of dislocating his thumb in the loss to Minnesota in Week 6, and there is some hope that he may be able to return this week. The matchup isn’t worrisome, but limitations for an inconsistent QB certainly are.
We will see where reporting on this injury goes with time, but I won’t have him ranked above Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff or Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud this week, two options you may be able to plug and play.
Justin Herbert: In his first three games this season, Herbert completed 74.4% of his passes, but he has been held under 60% in all three games since. I’m not sweating it.
With the Bears creating pressure at the fourth-lowest rate, Herbert should be plenty comfortable in an obvious get-right spot. As a heavy favorite with two elite playmakers by his side, not to mention upside elsewhere, Herbert is a must-start in all spots.
Running Backs
Roschon Johnson: The rookie suffered a concussion on Thursday night of Week 5 and has missed the past two games as he tries to move through the league’s protocol. Khalil Herbert’s stay on IR requires him to miss this game and one more, so there is still a window for Johnson to return strong value.
If he can return to action, it’ll be a favorable spot, albeit in a committee as part of a risky offense. Assuming he’s active, Johnson would be a fringe Flex play, understanding that his touch count doesn’t carry a massive ceiling.
D’Onta Foreman: Foreman was the story of Week 7 with his 120 yards and three scores against the Raiders. That stat line makes it easy to forget that Darrynton Evans actually got the first carry of the game and finished with one more snap played in the victory.
That’s not me saying that Evans (17 touches of his own last week) is the play over Foreman. He’s not. But the committee approach in Chicago, despite their top two options being sidelined, tells me that they aren’t fully sold on Foreman as a consistent mail carrier.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
This is why I’ll have Johnson ranked ahead of Foreman should he return this week, but not by much. I do think we’d be looking at a committee.
Should both play, Johnson will be a strong Flex play in my ranks, while Foreman ranks more in the Dameon Pierce class of “if you don’t have a better option” running back.
Austin Ekeler: Was Week 7 endlessly frustrating for Ekeler managers? Of course, it was.
After a month of struggling, Joshua Kelley rips off a 49-yard touchdown run and not one, not two, but seven Chargers had more receiving yards than one of the best pass-catching backs ever to play this game.
So yeah, Ekeler’s 5.1 fantasy points last week was maddening. But actionable? C’mon people. I can’t be the only one old enough to remember his zero-target season opener in 2021. He are his fantasy-point totals as a pass catcher alone, per the Week 8 Cheat Sheet, in the four games following that dud.
- Week 2: 10.6
- Week 3: 14.2
- Week 4: 10.3
- Week 5: 13.8
Relax. Ekeler is nothing short of an uber-elite in this game of ours, and I’d very much expect his box score to reflect as much in this spot.
Wide Receivers
DJ Moore: After a two-game run that saw Moore pile up 361 yards and four touchdowns, the Bears top receiver has seen 17 targets yield just 105 yards (zero TDs). I wish I could say that I am optimistic about him getting back on track, but there’s more risk than reward in my opinion.
It should be noted that Moore had a touchdown in his hands last week in his lone target that hit the ground, so it’s not as if he was far away from a strong performance.
That said, counting on this passing game is not something I’m comfortable doing. Moore ranks just outside of my top 30 receivers this week, in that same frustrating tier as Tee Higgins and Calvin Ridley.
Keenan Allen: For the first time this season, Allen cost you (four catches for 55 yards). It happens to everyone, and it probably shouldn’t have happened in this spot as Herbert missed him standing in the end zone on a nine-yard pass that should have been an easy score.
MORE: PFN Consensus Rankings
Nothing actionable here: Allen is clearly a WR1 and rock-solid foundational piece in all formats.
Joshua Palmer: We didn’t think we’d get clarity on the WR2 role in Los Angeles too quickly following the Mike Williams injury, but Palmer has distanced himself to such an extent that this is no longer a competition.
He put up 133 yards on the Chiefs in defeat last week, and you could argue that it should have been even better as he made a questionable cutback choice on a 60-yard completion that resulted in him being tackled at the 9-yard line instead of potentially scoring.
He’s my second favorite receiver in this game and is a viable Flex option in deeper formats, even with zero teams on a bye.
Quentin Johnston: There is no need to keep the rookie rostered. Bench spots on your fantasy roster right now need to have either immediate upside or a path to long-term potential.
At this moment, Johnston has neither. I’m open to watching and seeing him develop into a piece that we can justify stashing; there’s just not any evidence of that being imminent right now.
Tight Ends
Cole Kmet: If you didn’t get a chance to watch the Bears last week, let me assure you that Kmet did, in fact, play. I promise. He didn’t just play; he played a ton. He was on the field for 63 snaps and ran 26 routes — that’s a bust afternoon to be invisible in the boxscore.
The passing game in Chicago is not one I am going out of my way to target, and their tight end is no exception. He has been held to under 45 receiving yards in five of six games this season, and without much scoring equity in this offense, there’s no real appeal here. Even in a fine matchup, Kmet is easily outside of my top 15 at the position.
Gerald Everett: Tight ends who wear a single-digit jersey number are 20% faster than those who don’t. OK, so that may not be true, but Everett has been producing lately with a touchdown in consecutive games as the Bolts look to iron out their pass game sans Mike Williams.
While the past two weeks have been useful, let’s not get carried away. Donald Parham remains a threat inside of the red zone, and Everett really wasn’t featured last week. Sure, he was targeted on four of nine routes, but it’s the “nine routes” portion of that sentence that worries me.
As someone with a lot of Everett exposure, I’d love to tell you that he is trending straight up and ready to be locked into weekly lineups. In reality, he’s to be viewed as a high-end streaming option that is more of a bet on this offense as a whole than the role Everett currently holds.
Should You Start DJ Moore or Josh Downs?
Moore is trending in the wrong direction, and Downs — seeing over 25% of Gardner Minshew’s targets this season — is seeing his star rise. I’d rather bet on the offense that comes with the higher overall floor, even if it means banking on a WR2 instead of a WR1. I have Downs ranked a few spots higher for Week 8.
Should You Start Joshua Palmer or Drake London?
I think both are viable options this week, but I prefer the target consistency that comes in the form of London in a matchup against the fifth-worst defense on a per-pass basis. Both of these receivers are trending in the right direction, and in an even matchup, I go Palmer — that’s just not the case this week.