Fantasy Football Matchup of the Week – Week 8

Welcome back to another installment of my Fantasy Football Matchup of the Week. We are nearly halfway through the season, and fantasy managers are jocking for position with trade offers abound, draft regrets hitting hard and lineup decisions more crucial than ever.  It’s a long, grueling season and everyone is scratching and clawing for victories in the midst of one of the lowest-scoring fantasy seasons in decades. Luckily you’re not going it alone; I’m here to guide you through the jungle of action, looking out for what we should be watching every step of the way.

Fantasy Football Matchup of the Week – Week 8

This week has a few games I’m paying particularly close attention to. The Rams at Cowboys features two offenses with a few high-end playmakers. The Jaguars at Steelers has early, real-life playoff implications.  An honorable mention has to go to the Ravens at Cardinals game; Kyler Murray looks like he is ready to return to action after logging a full practice on Wednesday. I’ve stashed him in a few places, but I’m taking a wait-and-see approach with a bad matchup on tap in his first game back (potentially). As long as he comes out of the game healthy, I’ll probably be good to play him next week.

No, this week, instead of shining my fantasy spotlight on a top-end quarterback’s possible return, I’m focusing it on a matchup with two suspect defenses and surprising, offensive potential. Their defenses are allowing the 26th and 24th most points to opposing teams respectively. This week’s Fantasy Football Matchup of the Week is none other than the Bears versus the Chargers.

Chicago Bears vs Los Angeles Chargers

If someone told me at the beginning of the season that I would be writing about the Chicago Bears, I would have thought it’d be because Justin Fields is having a breakout season. Not only is that not the case, but I’m featuring a quarterback who was nowhere near the fantasy radar just a few weeks ago. Oh, how far we’ve come.

Quarterbacks

Tyson Bagent is a 6’3″, 213 lb., Shephard College, four-year starter with a slew of accolades unbeknownst to much of the fantasy community. What did become known, last Sunday, was that Bagent can play. In his first NFL action with Fields out nursing a dislocated thumb injury, Bagent looked poised, decisive, and accurate. He completed 72% of his passes en route to a 30-12 stomping of the Las Vegas Raiders.  It sounds gross to say, but in this matchup against the league’s worst defense against quarterbacks, Bagent is in streaming consideration in deep or Superflex leagues.

Justin Herbert, on the other hand, needs no introduction. Herbert is coming off his worst game of the season and he’s eager to get back out there and prove that he can lead his team to a much-needed victory. The Chargers are 2-4 at this point, and they need to start winning games if they’re going to snag a wild card spot. Herbert needs to elevate his play and get the most out of his playmakers. Chicago ranks 27th against QBs, and I like Herbert to rebound in glorious fashion this week. Start your QB1 over the likes of Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, and Trevor Lawrence.

Running Backs

Khalil Herbert is still on IR for another few weeks, so the starting duties will be handled by some combination of D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson, the latter of whom is trending toward playing this week after missing the last two games with a concussion. Foreman made the most of his guitar solo by shredding the Raiders for three touchdowns and 30+ fantasy points. Johnson looked like the next man up after Herbert’s IR stint began, but his head injury forced Foreman to center stage.

There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Bears’ backfield, and unless you have a source inside Chicago’s RB room, no one knows how the distribution will play out. My take on it is Foreman will remain the RB1 against Los Angeles, and Johnson will play the backup, change-of-pace role. I project Foreman to get roughly 65% of the work out of the backfield, making him a solid, backend RB2 with upside. I’d play Foreman over Alexander Mattison, Javonte Williams, Rachaad White, and Rhamondre Stevenson. Johnson is not startable in his first game back. I need to see what he, and this workload, actually looks like before I can have confidence starting him in a lineup.

2023 has not been kind to the NFL’s touchdown leader of the last two years at the running back position. Austin Ekeler has been back for two games since his high-ankle injury, and he’s played two games of underwhelming significance. He’s carried the ball 14 times in each of those contests for extremely pedestrian numbers (27 and 45 yards respectively). Still, he’s Austin Ekeler. He’s elite. You’re not sitting him. He looked like he picked up another ankle injury; he was seen limping around after a run against Kansas City. Rest assured, though, he’ll be a full go this weekend. He kicked off this week’s practice as a full participant on Wednesday.  Fire up Austin Ek-cellent!

Wide Receivers

Chicago

Chicago has only one receiver of relevance for fantasy managers: DJ Moore. His first game in a Bears’ uniform was a giant letdown, but since then, he’s been pretty good. We got a glimpse of his ceiling in Week 5 when he put up 8-230-3 against Washington, but he’s hit more of his floor these last two games going 5-51-0 and 8-54-0. Now with another full week of practice with Bagent behind center, Moore will still see his reliable WR1 target share, but hopefully, they’ll be more downfield and efficient. Being last in the league against quarterbacks means being last in the league against wide receivers, and that’s where the Chargers stand after Week 7. Play Moore as a WR2 with week-winning upside! I like Moore more than Terry McLaurin, Calvin Ridley, and DK Metcalf.

Darnell Mooney is the only other Bears receiver of note, and he’s had no more than four targets in any game over his last five. In those five, he’s laid a goose egg in two of them. Despite being the best matchup on paper, Mooney is not playable, even in deep leagues or dynasty fantasy football leagues.

Los Angeles

The Chargers passing attack lives and dies at the hands of Keenan Allen. Thankfully for Herbert and the Chargers, Allen has lived up to the role Los Angeles has needed, so much so that he is WR6 on the year in PPR scoring. Allen has always been known for his consistency and reliability in PPR formats, but this year, he’s showcased a ceiling that we forgot he had. In Week 2 he put up 8-111-2, and the very next week he delivered 18-215-0. He does have a lingering odor from the stinker he put up last week (4-55-0), but he’ll be ready to represent at home against Chicago’s 15th-ranked pass defense against receivers. Allen is firmly in the WR1 category, and is a great play this week, namely over Brandon Aiyuk, Davante Adams, and Ja’Marr Chase.

Joshua Palmer has stepped in admirably to the WR2 role for Los Angeles after Mike Williams‘ season-ending injury. Palmer has a rapport with Herbert that clearly sets him apart from his receiving mates, and has provided us useable fantasy value. Palmer is a great flex option for managers looking for a late-matchup savior. I’d start Palmer over Diontae Johnson, Tee Higgins, and DeAndre Hopkins.

It’s common for rookie wide receivers to take some time to make their impact on the NFL field, but someone forgot to tell rookie Quentin Johnston and OC Kellen Moore that at some point, you might want to get your first-round pick involved in your offense. Johnston has been downright terrible on a team that needed a replacement, downfield threat. If he can’t get anything going this year given the situation, he might not ever have a major impact on an NFL team. Absolutely don’t start Johnston.

Tight Ends

Just as Fields was getting used to using Cole Kmet in a meaningful way, he had to go and dislocate his thumb, ruining Kmet’s fantasy value. How inconsiderate, gosh. In all seriousness, Kmet is not a playable tight end option until Fields can return, which Bears’ personnel are hoping is Week 9 at New Orleans.  Even then, the matchup isn’t great and Fields may need a game to get back into the groove he found before his injury. This means you probably can’t play Kmet for two weeks, at best. Line up an alternate option in the meantime, such as Dalton Kincaid, Dalton Schultz, or Taysom Hill.

Gerald Everett came out of the Chiefs’ matchup with a quad injury and has now missed Wednesday’s practice with a hip injury. It’s unclear if these injuries are really one and the same, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter. If Everett can’t suit up for Sunday Night Football against Chicago, Donald Parham Jr., all of a sudden, becomes an interesting option. Parham has been a redzone threat this season having caught three touchdowns so far. If Everett doesn’t play, Parham Jr. is a sneaky backup plan for teams with questionable tight end options in earlier games. If Everett does play, Parham Jr. is out. Everett himself would be a TE2 versus Chicago’s 20th-ranked defense against tight ends.

Currently, DraftKings Sportsbook has this game at a 46.5 over/under with the Chargers 8.5-point favorites. I like this game to hit the over and for Chicago to cover. One thing about being a Chargers fan is that they always find a way to make winning hard. This inevitably tends to happen in games where they should win. Your fantasy team doesn’t have to go the way of the Los Angeles Chargers. If you want to win when you should, check out FFFaceoff.com for all your news, projections, and analysis. Don’t forget to follow us @FFFaceoff on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Good luck and high scoring!

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