Where to Draft Bills' DJ Moore After Trade With Bears Questioned by Fantasy Football Expert

Since the Buffalo Bills traded a second-round pick for DJ Moore and a Chicago Bears' fifth-rounder, the move has been widely debated as far as the impact it will have on the Bills’ passing game this season.

The deal has had many supporters, but there have also been a large group of those less certain it was the right move for Buffalo. You can place Fantasy Life’s Ian Hartitz among those who question the trade’s viability.

“I see the whole ‘DJ Moore is Josh Allen’s No. 1 WR. Just draft him’ angle. I do,” posted Hartitz. “But can’t get past the thought that if this dude really still has IT, would’t [Bears head coach] Ben freaking Johnson have been able to figure something out? Or at least wanted to keep trying.”

Moore had the worst season of his career in 2025 with the Bears, recording career-lows in receptions [50] and yards [682], while his catch rate over expected [-5.7%] was the second-lowest mark of his career, according to Next Gen Stats. He hauled in just 58.8% of his targets [85], which was a significant drop off from the previous two seasons, during which he exceed a 70% catch rate.

His Pro Football Focus grade fell from 89.5, ninth among wide receivers, in 2023 to 73.3 in 2024, which ranked 45th, and then finally plummeted to 65.5, which was 58th among the 81 players graded at the position in 2025.

Many have chalked up Moore’s decline to a poor connection with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. However, as Hartitz points out, if Johnson, one of the game’s elite offensive minds, was unwilling to give it another kick at the can with his team’s WR-QB combo, who's to say things will work out in Buffalo?

Can Josh Allen be the answer for DJ Moore with the Bills?

Allen is an elite quarterback who has an MVP and many other impressive seasons under his belt. Still, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the future Hall of Famer upon the Bills welcoming new pass catchers into the fold.

Last season, Buffalo attempted to insert Joshua Palmer into the lineup, and while injuries ultimately ended his season, things weren’t working out very well between the Bills quarterback and wide receiver even before Palmer’s ailments overwhelmed him. With that said, years ago, when the Bills traded for Stefon Diggs, it was a boon for Allen, with Diggs finishing with four consecutive 1,000-plus-yard seasons before he was unceremoniously traded before the start of the 2024 season.

So we’ll see how things work out for Moore and the Bills.

Rekindling an important connection is Moore’s best hope of succeeding

Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore (2) catches the ball in the fourth quarter. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

While there’s certainly cause for concern regarding the move, there is also reason to be hopeful that the partnership between Buffalo and its new wide receiver will work out. First-year Bills head coach Joe Brady and Moore previously worked together and there are those who believe the two could recreate some of the magic they put on display during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

At the end of the day, while the price the Bills paid, a valuable second-rounder, for an aging veteran seemingly on the back nine of his career was steep, we will have to wait to see how Moore’s addition plays out on the field. The problem for fantasy football players is that many drafts will take place over the next couple of months leading up to Week 1 and they won’t have the benefit of hindsight when deciding on how to assemble their rosters for the 2026 season.

Where should Moore be drafted in fantasy football?

That makes selecting Moore near the top of one’s draft slate a challenging proposition for fantasy footballers. My advice would be to lie in wait and hope he falls past his current average draft position of 55, which places him as WR27, according to Fantasy Pros.

I think a more appropriate spot to target Moore would be somewhere near the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh round of a 12-team league. The Bills’ wide receiver’s season could swing either way, making him a risky pick.

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