Chicago is allowing the fifth-most yards per pass attempt on the NFL this season, and tight ends have had plenty of success against the Bears.
That's good news for Harold Fannin Jr, who racked up a career-high 40 routes run against the Titans and will be the primary tight end with the injury to David Njoku.
Fannin has been the first read for more than 25% of the pass plays where he's been on the field over the past three games, and Shedeur Sanders is going to look for him often, given the issues with his offensive line.
The Bears have allowed 52+ yards to opposing tight ends in six of their last eight games, and Fannin will just be the next name on that list.
Harold Fannin cashed for us last week at +300, and even after an 8/114/1 performance against the Titans, his touchdown price hasn’t moved much. He’s Shedeur Sanders’ favorite target, and the David Njoku injury is only increasing his involvement. Fannin might be the only TE/WR on this roster with red-zone looks from Sanders, and he’s scored in back-to-back weeks. A fair price here should be around +210 to +220.
I expect rookie QB Shedeur Sanders to come back to earth in this road start. He was able to overcome a horrible Raiders defense in his first pro outing but the Bears defense is a much more dangerous test. Chicago’s stop unit was soft to start the schedule but has improved since Week 10, more specifically against the pass. The Bears run a high rate of man-to-man coverage and thrive on takeaways, with a league high 18 interceptions. Sanders has played three zone-heavy secondaries in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Tennessee – three defenses that also sit 24th or worse in EPA allowed per dropback. Sanders, who completion rate dips below 42% versus man coverage, will be forced to throw into tight windows against a ball-hawking secondary.