Bears QB Justin Fields (thumb) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders. He didn’t practice all week and, although Fields won’t have surgery, he isn’t a great bet to make it back for Week 8. Undrafted rookie QB Tyson Bagent makes his first career start this weekend. He’s not a viable fantasy play and makes WR D.J. Moore and TE Cole Kmet much riskier starts.
Bears HC Matt Eberflus labeled QB Justin Fields doubtful for Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders with his dislocated thumb. Fields’ status beyond Week 7 is “really going to come down to grip strength,” Eberflus added. We’ll look for a more concrete timeline for Fields’ return. He’s worth hanging on to in most fantasy leagues for the time being. Undrafted rookie QB Tyson Bagent figures to make his first career start this weekend. He had a solid preseason but looked overmatched against the Vikings on Sunday, averaging 5.9 yards per pass attempt with an INT and a lost fumble. Chicago skill-position players will be tough to trust in fantasy lineups with Bagent under center.
Bears WR D.J. Moore tallied a decent 5 receptions for 51 yards in Sunday's loss to the Vikings, despite losing QB Justin Fields halfway through. Moore logged 7 of his 8 targets and 4 receptions after QB Tyler Bagent took over. No other Bear caught more than two passes in the game. We'll see whether Fields can make it back for a Week 7 meeting with Las Vegas.
Bears WR D.J. Moore racked up 230 receiving yards and a single-game franchise record three TDs in Thursday night's win over the Commanders. He got going early with a 58-yard deep reception and a 20-yard TD on Chicago's first possession. Moore's assault continued throughout the night with a strong combination of route running and after-catch skills. In fact, he racked up a whopping 141 yards after the catch, per Pro Football Focus. His second TD came on an impressive contested grab from 11 yards out in the second quarter; the third a relatively easy 56-yard catch and run after CB Kendall Fuller tried to jump Moore's route for an INT. Moore has now topped 100 yards in two straight games and three of the last four. More importantly, he's racked up 32 targets on a 27.8% share over the past four weeks. Don't expect the Bears passing game to continue producing anywhere close to how it has these past two weeks. But QB Justin Fields looks improved and can certainly support Moore as at least a WR2 on this type of volume. Plus, Moore has three more favorable matchups on tap vs. the Vikings, Raiders, and Chargers.
Bears WR D.J. Moore caught eight of nine targets for 131 yards and a score in Sunday's loss to the Broncos. This Denver defense is the worst in the league right now, but it was nice to see Moore (and QB Justin Fields) take advantage of the matchup. Moore has now topped 100 yards in two of his last three games. More importantly, he's registered 24%, 30%, and 26% target shares the past three weeks. If Moore continues to see that type of volume -- and this Bears passing game can just be serviceable -- Moore will be a solid weekly fantasy starter. His stretch of favorable matchups continues the next four weeks vs. the Commanders, Vikings, Raiders, and Chargers.
Bears WR D.J. Moore roped in 3 of 6 targets for 41 receiving yards and 1 TD in Week 3’s blowout loss vs. the Chiefs. No other pass-catcher exceeded 2 catches or 25 receiving yards. This 41-10 pummeling marks the lowest point of Chicago’s season to date. It’ll be difficult to start any pass-catcher in this offense besides Moore with even a little confidence in Week 4 vs. the Broncos.
Bears WR D.J. Moore racked up 104 yards on 6 receptions in Sunday's loss to the Buccaneers. His 7 targets ranked second on the team and accounted for 24.1% of QB Justin Fields' total pass attempts. Moore also garnered 49.3% of Chicago's receiving yards. The Bears passed or took a sack (six of them) on 68.6% of offensive snaps, leaning that way even in the first half. We'll be curious to see if that split continues. The Bears' early tendency toward trailing opponents would certainly help to drive up passing volume. WR Chase Claypool led the team Sunday with 8 targets, catching three for 36 yards and Fields' lone passing TD. TE Cole Kmet finished with 6 targets, 4 receptions and 38 yards. Chicago heads to Kansas City in Week 3 before hosting the Broncos in Week 4.
Bears WR D.J. Moore struggled in his debut vs. the Packers, recording only 2 catches on as many targets for 25 yards. Teammate Darnell Mooney led the team with 7 targets, 4 catches, and 53 yards, along with a receiving TD. It’s bizarre that Moore saw such little volume, considering three different Bears (Mooney, TE Cole Kmet, RB Roschon Johnson) saw 7 targets in the Week 1 loss. Moore’s totals are even more puzzling when realizing that his new QB, Justin Fields, attempted 37 passes, two fewer than his career-high of 39 (2021 Week 15). Hopefully, the veteran can regroup in Week 2 vs. a Buccaneers defense that surrendered the second-most passing yards (344) in the NFL on Sunday. We'll chalk this one up to the occasional bad luck game for now.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune shared details on the health of Bears WR Darnell Mooney. Recall that he suffered multiple torn ligaments in his left ankle last November. “From what I hear, Mooney is doing well and there is a chance he will be fully cleared before the conclusion of the offseason program, which ends with mandatory minicamp in mid-June,” Biggs said. “If not, it’s expected he will be at full speed for the start of training camp.” Good to know. Mooney, the WR58 in FFPC best ball ADP, is set to enter a contract season. The 25-year-old watched as Chicago added D.J. Moore and Round 4 WR Tyler Scott this offseason. See where Mooney slots in our updated 2023 WR rankings.
The Bears selected Cincinnati WR Tyler Scott in Round 4 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Scott played RB in high school – and it shows. He’s excellent with the ball in his hands, combining vision, contact balance, and burst to average 6.6 yards after the catch per reception last year. He also has the speed to win deep, confirmed by a 4.44-second 40 time at the Combine. Scott is a raw prospect with just 1 season of big college production and plenty of work to do in the route-running department. But he has just three years of experience at WR and is only 21, so he should have more room for improvement than your typical rookie receiver. At 5’10 and 177 pounds, he’s likely destined for the slot as a pro. But he can be a dangerous after-catch weapon with seam-stretching ability from the inside. This isn’t a great landing spot for Scott on the run-heavy Bears. He figures to open the season behind at least D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Chase Claypool. Consider Scott more of a dynasty stash than redraft factor.
The Bears agreed to a trade sending the number one overall pick in the 2023 draft to the Panthers in exchange for the ninth overall pick in 2023, the 61st pick in 2023, two future picks, and WR D.J. Moore. There's certainly a lot to take in here. GM Ryan Poles managing to swing a high-end WR in Moore to go with QB Justin Fields is a tremendous boost for the team's future. Any doubts surrounding Fields and his cast of receivers are gone, solidifying his status as a top-end dynasty QB. There's got to be bad news for someone here, though. Between this move and the deadline deal that brought WR Chase Claypool over from the Steelers, it's hard to imagine a ton of fantasy upside for WR Darnell Mooney in this offense now. TE Cole Kmet also loses some value now that he seems doomed to be stuck between third or fourth in the pecking order for targets. As far as the Panthers are concerned, this is a significant investment made into finally solving their QB woes. Going up to number one enables the franchise to put an end to exploring retread experiments as they tried with QBs Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. New HC Frank Reich will have his pick of a young signal-caller to build toward the future with. One of either Alabama QB Bryce Young or Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud feels like a natural fit to plug in right away to a pro-style offense. Unfortunately, without Moore in the mix, this Panthers' offense is devoid of weapons for whoever ends up under center. It's tough to say right now who, if anyone, emerges from this Panthers' offense as a fantasy contributor. Free agency and the NFL Draft in April will help color in those missing pieces of information. Keep up with our coverage here at Draft Sharks as the offseason continues to unfold.
The Panthers named Thomas Brown their new OC. The 36-year-old spent the past 3 seasons working under Sean McVay in Los Angeles, serving as RBs coach and then TEs coach. He bounced around the college ranks prior to that, with his only OC experience coming at Miami from 2016 to 2018. Those offenses finished just 54th, 60th and then 105th in total yards per game. The first 2 were pass-centric attacks, while the 3rd shifted toward the run. Brown will be working under offensive-minded HC Frank Reich in Carolina. We'll see who ends up calling the plays. There's a good chance that Brown is working with a rookie QB in 2023. The Panthers hold the 9th overall pick of this spring's draft and only have QBs Matt Corral and Jacob Eason on the roster currently.
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