Rome Odunze (leg) exits practice early on Thursday

Tyson Bagent, making his first NFL start, locked on to his boundary wideout in the first half, hitting Odunze for a couple long gains, including a nicely-placed 37 yarder. Odunze was second on the team in targets behind Colston Loveland, who saw nine looks on the day. Odunze is leading the Bears offense in air yards and profiles as a high-variance weekly fantasy option in an offense that leans toward the run. Odunze will be a solid flex option in Week 5 against a Green Bay secondary that struggles against boundary receivers.

Loveland led the Chicago offense in targets and was third — behind Rome Odunze and Luther Burden — in receiving yards with Tyson Bagent under center. Bagent found Loveland on a couple pinpoint middle-of-the-field throws in the first half before the Bears turned hard toward the run in the second half. Loveland now has ten receptions over his past two games after a miserable start to the year. You probably won’t find a better waiver wire tight end in Week 5, when Loveland takes on the Packers.

It was a fine outing for Burden after he showed signs of life in Week 3’s win over the Eagles. Burden was second on the team in targets, trailing Rome Odunze’s seven looks from Tyson Bagent. He ran a few more pass routes than Kalif Raymond, who had two grabs for six yards. Chicago operating as a run-first team is going to necessarily limit Burden’s opportunities, but he should suffice as a WR3/4 in the coming weeks. That includes next week against a middling Green Bay secondary.

Loveland matched his to-date season total of one reception on the second play from scrimmage and narrowly missed his first touchdown of the young season after replay assist ruled him down inside the one at the start of the second quarter. The offense would turn the ball over on downs four plays later after failing to punch it in, allowing the Eagles to remain in the game for longer than they otherwise should have been. Either way, it’s a step in the right direction for the talented youngster, although the absence of Caleb Williams could further dent his fantasy upside in the immediate future. Loveland continues to be a TE1 in fantasy circles despite the slow start, which holds for when the Bears play host to the Jets in Week 4.

Odunze continues to function as the deep threat in Ben Johnson’s offense, which spells trouble for his fantasy value in the immediate future considering the absence of Caleb Williams. Case Keenum got the start under center against the Eagles, and while he kept the offense on track through veteran savvy, his general lack of arm strength limited the offense to hefty rates of attacking the short-to-intermediate areas of the field. It is unclear whether Keenum or Tyson Bagent will draw the start in Week 4, but the decision could dictate whether Odunze can be inserted into fantasy rosters against the Jets.

Burden got the scoring started with a shovel-pass touchdown on the first possession of the game and continued to be the primary engine of the offense on a night the team was led by veteran journeyman Case Keenum. Head coach Ben Johnson handily outmatched his counterpart in Sean Mannion, keeping the offense in rhythm and unpredictable throughout. Burden should continue to improve upon his early-season returns for fantasy managers that chased him up draft boards this offseason, particularly once Caleb Williams returns to the starting roster in a few weeks. In the meantime, treat Burden as an upside WR2 ahead of a Week 4 meeting with the Jets in Chicago.

Raymond has now led the Bears in receiving in two of the team’s first three games, with Week 3 his best performance yet on the back of a 41-yard touchdown through busted coverage. It isn’t likely the career role player will lead the team in receiving throughout the season, but the early returns on investment must have fantasy managers ecstatic for those that either drafted him in the final round or scooped him off the wire following Week 1.

For whatever reason, Raymond again lead the Bears’ receiver corps in production, though Luther Burden did out-target him on fewer snaps. Cold comfort. Although Raymond out-snapped Burden, he was on the field 16 fewer plays than Rome Odunze. Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke charted Raymond as seeing more time in “12" personnel than his sophomore teammate. We would like to say this is bound to change going forward, but coach Ben Johnson had no problem featuring veteran Olamide Zaccheaus in 2025. Raymond is struggling to create WR4 value of his own, but he is certainly hampering Burden and Odunze’s production ahead of Week 3 against the Eagles.

It was Odunze’s second quiet statline in as many weeks to begin the season. The difference this time, of course, was the Bears scored only three points after dropping 59 on the Panthers in Week 1. They did attempt 35 passes, 26 of which came from Caleb Williams before he injured his hamstring midway through the fourth quarter. If Williams misses Week 3 against the Eagles as is currently looking likely, it would be difficult to jam Odunze into the WR3 ranks.

For the second straight week, Burden was out-produced by Kalif Raymond, who again led the receiver corps in production. D’Andre Swift “led” the entire team in receiving with five receptions for 54 scoreless yards. Burden is now sitting on eight catches for 95 yards through two weeks. It’s not the worst start anyone has ever seen, but fantasy managers were expecting better. It might not be coming in Week 3 if Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury costs him time against the Eagles, which seems highly likely. We are trying not to overreact to small-sample sizes, but Burden is definitely now more of a WR3 than WR2 heading into next Monday’s contest. That, of course, should still have him in most fantasy lineups.