In the never-ending game fantasy football game called “Guess Which Tight End This Week,” that we must do with some of our fantasy football squads, it is fallacious to chase the guy who scored the touchdowns last week. This is true unless the guy who scored the touchdowns last week suddenly did so because of a change within the team.
If this team led to him being the beneficiary of a target outburst, it’s probably smart to chase those touchdowns. Last week, Brian Hoyer made his first start for the Chicago Bears, he had eyes for two receivers: Kevin White and Zach Miller, as the two of them each, had more targets than any Cowboy last week (14 and 9, respectively). After the dust had settled, however, Miller had caught 8-of-9 targets and White just 6-of-14.
This week, the Bears take on a Detroit Lions team that has been completely picked apart by the tight end this season, yielding five touchdowns to the position in a mere three games, including two week one to complete unknown Jack Doyle. This bodes well for Miller, as he will be the beneficiary of this lapse in defensive proficiency. Through three games this season, three tight ends have scored at least 13 fantasy points against these Lions, and the utter dominance of Jordy Nelson and the WRs in Green Bay merely kept the ball out of the hands of the tight ends. If a tight end this season has gotten six or more targets against Detroit, they’ve managed to produce at a very high level.
The injury situation in Chicago will likely keep that same issue from happening this week, as Alshon Jeffery is once again injured. Even if Alshon is a go Sunday, which isn’t a guarantee, his injury means decreased effectiveness, which likely means more targets for Miller, especially in the red, and more importantly, the end zone.
As soon as Hoyer took over for the Bears offense, he turned towards Zach Miller. As long as he is at the helm while Jay Cutler nurses an injured thumb, Miller will continue to be a big part of the offense. Hoyer lacks the chuck it deep mentality that Cutler has, meaning his style is more conducive to tight end productivity.
Even more, the Bears are already the team that rushes the least in the league, and an injury to starting running back Jeremy Langford means that that isn’t about ready to change anytime soon. Zach Miller is going to get the volume this week to make him a solid TE1 play. Get him into your lineups. That is, unless, you have absorbed an established target monster this season like Dennis Pitta.