Bears Fantasy Football Outlook for Week 10: Should You Start D'Onta Foreman, D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, Either Quarterback and More?
It’s nearly time for Thursday night football, which means you need to be getting your week 10 lineups set if you want to start any of the players from that contest.
We already took a look at the Carolina Panthers, so now let’s look at some of the better fantasy options the Chicago Bears have for the Thursday contest.
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Quarterback Fantasy Outlook
Usually the title of this section includes a name instead of “quarterback” but because of the uncertainty surrounding Justin Fields, we have to go this route. Everything sounds like it will be decided based on how the Bears’ practice on Wednesday goes.
Fields started the first six games for the Bears, throwing 11 touchdowns to six interceptions and completing 100-of-162 passes for 1,201 yards. He was sacked 24 times in those contests. Fields has attempted 47 runs, going for 237 yards and a touchdown.
Tyson Bagent has played in Fields’ place. He’s thrown for 697 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 74-of-110 passes. He’s only been sacked five times and has run for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
Watch the injury report and social media for an update on Fields. I’m not sure the starting quarterback really alters the fantasy outlook for the other offensive skill players all that much, but I’d be more confident in players if Fields was playing.
It’s a fairly tough matchup for either quarterback, as the Panthers’ defense only allows 15 fantasy points per week. QBs average 194 passing yards and only 10 rushing yards. They’ve scored 13 total touchdowns and thrown five interceptions.
Fields is ranked 16th in our projections, while Bagent is 30th.
Running Back Fantasy Outlook
The Bears’ backfield is also in question, as Khalil Herbert could return from injured reserve.
D'Onta Foreman has done a solid job in Herbert's absence. Foreman has at least 10 touches in each of the past four contests. For the year, Foreman has rushed for 287 yards and two scores on 65 attempts. He’s added 43 yards and a score on seven receptions and 11 targets.
Roschon Johnson has dealt with an injury of his own, but has over 200 total yards and a touchdown on 48 touches this season. Darrynton Evans is getting a similar amount of touches lately and has 149 total yards on 35 touches this season.
This running back situation will get muddied even more if Herbert plays. You’d expect Foreman to still play a decent amount, and then one of Johnson or Evans would likely see their snaps and touches dry up.
The Panthers’ defense has struggled against opposing running backs, allowing 29 fantasy points per week. Backs average 120 rushing yards and 27 receiving yards, while scoring 15 total touchdowns already.
Herbert is the top-ranked Chicago back, coming in 36th overall. Foreman is ranked 43rd, while Johnson is 48th.
Wide Receiver Fantasy Outlook
The Bears’ wideout room doesn’t have any big injury news to follow before the game, but the situation at quarterback definitely affects them.
D.J. Moore is the team’s leader in most statistics. He’s caught 47-of-62 targets for 735 yards and five touchdowns. He’s played 540 offensive snaps and caught 5-of-7 red zone targets. His production has dipped without Fields at quarterback, with Moore between 44-55 receiving yards and no scores over the past four games.
Darnell Mooney is a distant second option at receiver. He’s caught 20-of-33 targets for 307 yards and a touchdown. He’s played 432 snaps and only caught one of his three red zone looks.
Tyler Scott is the only other wideout who played over 10 offensive snaps last week. He has been targeted at least twice over the team’s past four games. For the season, Scott has eight catches on 17 targets, going for 62 yards and no scores. He’s played 221 snaps and caught one of his two red zone targets.
Equanimeous St. Brown could also return from IR this week. He’s played 66 offensive snaps across two contests in October. He caught one of his two targets for 21 yards.
It’s a tough matchup for Bears’ receivers, as the Panthers’ defense is stout against opposing wideouts. They allow 29 fantasy points a week, which includes averages of 133 yards on 10.5 catches. Wideouts have only scored six touchdowns.
Tight End Fantasy Outlook
Cole Kmet is the only tight end on the team that’s produced anything noteworthy this season. Imagine this though, he’s banged up coming into the week.
This season, Kmet has caught 41 of his 50 targets for 374 yards and five touchdowns. He’s the team leader in red zone catches (8) and targets (10). He’s gotten 18 targets over the past two weeks and has played 492 total snaps.
If he can’t suit up, which seems unlikely to happen, Robert Tonyan would probably benefit the most. He’s played 138 snaps this season and caught seven of his nine targets for 58 yards, but no scores.
The Panthers’ defense is tough on opposing tight ends, allowing just eight points a game. Tight ends average 33 yards on three catches and have scored just twice.
Kmet is ranked ninth in the week 10 projections.
Kicker and Defense Outlook
Cairo Santos has been pretty solid while kicking for Chicago this season. He’s missed one field goal and one extra point.
Santos is perfect on his three field goal attempts over 50 yards, with a long of 54. He’s also perfect on his seven kicks under 40 yards.
The Bears’ defense is allowing an average of 336.6 total yards a game, which is an average total. They are bottom five in passing yards allowed (256.9) but top five against the run (79.7). Chicago is allowing 26.9 points per week, which is the fourth worst mark in the NFL.
Chicago’s defense only has nine takeaways this season, while Carolina has given the ball away 11 times. The Bears have 10 sacks on the season, while the Panthers have allowed 29 sacks.
Santos is the 16th-ranked kicker in our projections, while the Bears’ defense is ranked second.
Who to Start in Week 10
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the start/sit decisions for the Bears because of all the injuries the team is dealing with. Only really the running backs have matchups that you’d want to try to take advantage of.
I expect Chicago to rely on its running game regardless of who the quarterback is, and seeing as Carolina’s defense slows opposing quarterbacks down, I’d try to avoid Fields and Bagent this week. Hopefully there’s a better streaming option out there for you.
I like the idea of starting Foreman and Herbert (if he plays) this week. I’d expect both guys to get double-digit touches, and against a poor run defense, should be able to both have solid fantasy outings. If Herbert can’t go, I’d stick with just starting Foreman in standard leagues, and then maybe think about Evans or Johnson a bit more in deeper leagues.
Moore is really the only receiver I like for Chicago, and I would try to stay away from him if Bagent is the quarterback. If Fields plays, I think I’m comfortable enough starting Moore in standard leagues. Mooney is a guy I’d consider in deeper formats, but would prefer to go in another direction, especially if it’s Bagent that gets the start.
It’s hard to not be able to trust a top-end fantasy tight end like Kmet, but his matchup is a tough one this week. Add in that he’s not going to likely be close to 100% and I would prefer not to start him, if he indeed does play. You might not have any other options you are confident in, so I understand if you have to start him, just don’t be expecting much more than an average showing unless he can score a time or two. If Kmet doesn’t play, I’d only consider starting Tonyan in deeper formats.
In what I think will be a sloppy offensive contest, a kicker like Santos seems like a solid option. If your kicker is on their bye week, I wouldn’t mind sliding Santos into your starting spot. He’s been pretty good so far and should get at least a couple field goal attempts.
Chicago’s defense has a high projection, but I do not trust them at all, regardless of who they are playing. With four teams on their bye week, maybe this is your best option available, but they just don’t make enough big plays to score many fantasy points. I’d avoid them if I could.
