Fantasy Football Player Notes

While the news that Hockenson's ankle is 100% is great, this isn't exactly a matchup that you should feel comfortable rolling him out in. Hockenson's a mid-range TE2 going into the showdown against the Bears.

Johnson's a depth option in a rotational backfield. Unless D'Andre Swift completely misses this game, it's hard to see how Johnson sees enough work to be a reliable fantasy option. I recommend looking elsewhere if you can.

Swift gets a nice welcome to the NFL by going up against the vaunted Chicago bears defense. With the unknowns of how exactly this backfield is going to play out, plus Swift's potential injury concerns, it's probably best to leave Swift on your bench for this matchup. Adrian Peterson and Kerryon Johnson should both see some work this week, which leaves very little left over for Swift.

He's now on his fourth team in as many years, so it'll be tough for him to make an immediate impact, especially when we had little-to-no offseason. It does help that he's the only perimeter wide receiver with much appeal, but that also means he'll see the most of Tre'Davious White, one of the best cornerbacks in the league. While I don't think he shadows Perriman, it's in the realm of possibilities. Just how good is White? On 84 targets in coverage last year, he allowed just 552 yards (6.6 yards per target) with no touchdowns and six interceptions. Everyone knows by now that Perriman relies on big plays, right? Well, the Bills allowed just one receiver (DeVante Parker) to collect more than three receptions while averaging more than 16.6 yards per reception. The Bills allowed just 34 pass plays of 20-plus yards last year, the fewest in the NFL. They allowed just four plays of 40-plus yards, again, the fewest in the NFL. There are reasons to like Perriman as a tournament play due to low ownership against a great defense, but he's nothing more than a WR4/5 option this week. I'll update his notes as the week goes on because he's missed the last few weeks of practice with a knee injury, though they're expecting him to play.

What would you say if I told you Amendola had as many targets as Stefon Diggs last year? Seriously, 96 targets. He saw at least five targets in 10-of-15 games last year, including eight-plus targets in seven of them. He played a big role in their offense. Unfortunately, it led to just four games with more than 47 yards, so he wasn't a great fantasy asset. The Bears signed Buster Skrine before the 2019 season, and though I critiqued the move, he played well in his first season, allowing just 6.49 yards per target and a touchdown every 20.5 targets. As mentioned in the Marvin Jones paragraph, the Bears allowed just nine receivers to top five receptions all year, so it's highly unlikely we see Amendola amount to much in fantasy this week. He should catch a few balls for those in really deep leagues, but he's just a WR5/6-type.

Peterson's joining the Lions after being released by Washington and he figures to be a part of the game plan right away. With that being said, this is going to be a messy situation to figure out for fantasy football and none of these backs are worth starting against the Bears if you can avoid it. I'd recommend looking elsewhere if you can.