The Chicago Bears are home week four taking on the 2-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Who should you start? Who should you sit? I’m your Bears fantasy expert.
The Chicago Bears are favored to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. With a higher than usual total, who are some fantasy buys and sells?
Start
Deciding fantasy starters with this Bears offense is tough. It’s early in the fantasy season but, if you’re already 0-3 in your league picking up a win is crucial to avoiding whatever last place punishment there is. Yes this list has a deja vu feel too it. Here are my Bears fantasy starters.
Jordan Howard: He is locked in my starting lineup until further notice. A nice goal line carry saved his fantasy week 3 performance. Howard had a season high 24 carries which led to only 61 yards. But the usage is what has fantasy owners excited! With the passing game struggling I expect the Bears to continue to lean on Howard. How do you fix week 3’s red zone woes? Run it to Howard. Definitely a RB1 starter.
Allen Robinson: Tampa Bay’s secondary is banged up. Robinson has 6 more targets, 2 more receptions, and 100+ more yards then any other Bears receiver. No receiver in this offense should be trusted as a fantasy WR1. Stick with Robinson, his targets are consistent and with Anthony Miller banged up, I expect him to step up big this week. Definitely a WR2 or Flex starter.
Defense/Special Teams: There is nothing else to be said about this defense that hasn’t already been said. They are doing everything you want your fantasy defense to do. I don’t care who starts for Tampa, it wont matter. This team is led by the D, and this D is on fire.
Sit
I was spot on with my week 3 sit predictions. If you’re in a league of 12 or less, I believe these players are worth the starting risk. Here are my Bears fantasy sits.
Tarik Cohen: It’s not that Cohen isn’t talented, he just isn’t being used. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Cohen has to ride your bench until we see more from this offense. He was supposed to be Tyreek Hill like in this offense, he’s not. Again if Cohen goes off and has a monster game it wouldn’t shock me, but the only RB to trust is Howard. Definitely a Flex option in 16 team PPR leagues, thats it.
You could convince yourself that if Anthony Miller doesn’t play these players will have a chance to be productive, they wont be. Dion Sims, Kevin White, Josh Bellamy, are all SITS.
Play’em at your own Risk
There could be more players in this category, but these are the only 2 with the biggest upside.
Mitchell Trubisky: At some point he will have a huge game, are you a gambler? If you answered yes, then start him. If you answered no, then don’t. I refuse to panic with Trubisky’s lack of production as a fan of this team. But as a fantasy owner trying to win he is a huge risk. This Tampa team is near the very bottom in most passing categories. They give up an average of 362 yards per game, this could be Mitchell’s coming out game. Key word COULD. Definitely a QB1 option in a league of 12 or more.
Trey Burton: I believe Miller wont play, having said that I believe Burton will benefit from that the most. I really wanted to put Burton in the start category, we all saw what Pittsburgh’s TE’s did on Monday Night Football. If Trubisky has a big day it will mean Burton has a big day. Burton is 3rd on the team in targets, 2nd in yards, and has one of the 2 td passes Trubisky has thrown. Lets put it simply, if you’re starting Mitch then also start Trey.
I expect week 4 to be a break out game for this offense, scoring over 30 points, and a huge day for Jordan Howard. But the defense will do most of the work setting up the offense with turnovers and great field position. As always add me on Twitter @MarkHespen so we can debate!