The 2023 NFL season has been a roller coaster for both regular and fantasy football. And nothing encompasses that sentence better than the Chicago Bears, who, after the Minnesota Vikings losing on Saturday, are now one game away from the No. 7 seed in the NFC and 1.5 games away from the No. 6 seed.
WR DJ Moore is a big part of this turnaround in Chicago –- they have won three of their last four games. However, the WR6 on the season is battling injury, and fantasy managers are left wondering if he will play in Week 15.
Is DJ Moore Going To Play Week 15?
Editor’s note:Â Moore is now active for Week 15’s matchup against the Browns.
The way that Moore trended in practice this week suggested he would be playing in Week 15. Moore did not practice on Wednesday, returned in a limited fashion on Thursday, and was a full participant on Friday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported late on Saturday evening that Moore is expected to be on the field for the Bears this week.
Moving to Chicago from the Carolina Panthers this offseason, fantasy managers were excited for Moore to be the recipient of a competent QB in Justin Fields. However, there have been some growing pains in the relationship between Moore and Fields, with Fields missing four weeks due to injury, putting an exclamation point on it.
During the first third of the season, in addition to the four weeks sans Fields, Moore only managed two finishes in the top 10 of fantasy rankings.
Fields returned in Week 11, and with the return of his QB1, Moore found success. In the last three weeks, Moore has been the WR6, WR12, and WR3, averaging almost 20 fantasy points over that period.
He had his second-best fantasy finish of the season in Week 14 against Detroit. He had ten targets and came down with six for 69 yards and one touchdown. He also had three rush attempts that turned into 20 yards on the ground and an additional touchdown.
The Bears play the Cleveland Browns this week, and it is a tough matchup for the WRs, to say the least. The Browns give up the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing WRs, so Moore will not have an easy outing. He is currently WR14 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings this week
Throughout this season, Cleveland has only allowed one receiving TD to opposing WRs, which came in Week 8. Even in tough matchups, Moore will continue to be Fields’ number one read in the passing progression as he averages 52% of the WR targets.
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Moore’s talent is well and good and greatly needed on the field, but he is officially listed as questionable for the game in Cleveland this Sunday. During last week’s game against the Lions, Moore twisted his ankle. He played through pain and ended with a great fantasy day.
Potential Fantasy Options If Moore Is Out Include Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet
Fantasy managers have the best situation with Moore in that the Bears play early on Sunday. Managers will not know if Moore is good to go until the team releases the inactives 90 minutes before kickoff, but if Moore cannot play, the Chicago offense will have to look elsewhere. Both WR Darnell Mooney and TE Cole Kmet could see an uptick in targets if Moore is sidelined.
Mooney has had a relatively quiet fantasy season, with only two weeks within the top 20, but if Moore is off the field, he comes into the low-end WR2 conversation for fantasy managers. Kmet has finished in the top 12 at the TE position in four out of the last six weeks, and he would become a start-worthy TE with Moore out, even in a tough matchup. Kmet is TE12 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings.
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