Updated Loveland, Odunze, and Burden III’s Fantasy Values: Caleb Williams Week 3 Return Unlikely
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What a rollercoaster it has been since Sunday. From seemingly suffering a season-ending injury to then bringing forth the possibility of him being available as soon as Week 3, the timeline for Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams on when he will play again has been all over the place.
However, recently, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport may have given a clearer outlook on how much time fantasy managers can expect Williams to miss.
Ian Rapoport’s Comments On Caleb Williams
Williams in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings was carted off the field in the fourth quarter. After undergoing testing, his injury was revealed to be a right hamstring strain. Head coach of the Bears, Ben Johnson, said that he is week-to-week but is expected to miss time. Rapoport said the following on the Pat McAfee show on Tuesday, Sep. 22, regarding Williams.
"It certainly seems like Caleb Williams is unlikely to start this week, and next week we will see..." Rapoport said. "...2-4 weeks is generally the diagnosis for these kinds of hamstring injuries."
If Williams does miss time, the starting signal caller for the Bears will be Tyson Bagent or Case Keenum. Bagent would have been the clear starter, but he may also not be available. On Tuesday, Sep. 22, it was reported that Bagent was in concussion protocol.
Bears’ Pass Catchers' Fantasy Value With Tyson Bagent Starting
Bagent has made four career starts with Chicago and was solid. He averaged 194 passing yards per game and had a 3-3 TD-to-INT ratio. There were encouraging and discouraging parts to him being the starting QB for Chicago in regard to how it impacted the fantasy value of the Bears' WRs and TEs.
Overall, he did not provide extreme fantasy upside for the Bears’ TEs and WRs that Williams has in his young career at times. Only one TE or WR in the four games he was starting had over 15 PPR fantasy points.
On the other hand, a positive is that he targeted his TE1 heavily. TE Cole Kmet, in the last three games Bagent started in 2023, had a team-high 25 targets. He was the one player who had over 15 PPR fantasy points while he started, logging 10 receptions for 79 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Things Can Not Get Worse
Over two weeks, any fantasy managers who drafted Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, or Colston Loveland are scratching their heads. The three players have combined for just 14 receptions through two games, while the listed WR3 for the Bears, Kalif Raymond, has 13 receptions on his own. Loveland is also TE3 in s in PPR fantasy formats…on the Bears. Both Chicago TE2 Kmet and TE3 Sam Roush have more fantasy points so far this season than Loveland.
All of this sounds ridiculous, because it is. Something has to give, and even with Bagent or Keenum as the Bears' starter, the trio of Odunze, Loveland, and Burden III should start producing more fantasy points. All three, given where their fantasy values are currently, should be seen as buy-low candidates in fantasy football.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops