Getty Anthony Miller of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears second-year wideout Anthony Miller was pegged by many as the fantasy football breakout player of the year at his position heading into 2019.
That belief was not too far-fetched when you take into consideration the fact that Miller finished 2018 with the second-most touchdowns by a rookie receiver, while a second-season for QB Mitchell Trubisky in Matt Nagy’s offense should have only done good for the team’s aerial attack.
However, the majority of this season had not gone the way that many Bears fans, and Miller-believers, would have hoped for the wideout out of Memphis. That is, not until recently.
Miller has seemingly emerged out of the blue over the past five weeks to become one of the most lethal fantasy options at the position.
Can Miller ride his stellar play into Week 16, and help his fantasy owners capture a league championship? Let’s discuss.
Follow the Heavy on Fantasy & Betting for all the latest betting news, odds, and picks
Anthony Miller’s Fantasy Outlook vs. Kansas City Chiefs
From Week 1 through Week 10, Chicago Bears wide receiver Anthony Miller was virtually non-rosterable. Over that span, Miller averaged just 4.1 ppr points per game, ranking as the 91st-highest scoring fantasy player at his position.
However, following Week 10, the Bears offense went back to the drawing board, and in return Miller has begun to flash his immense potential. Miller played an average of just 54.5% of the team’s offensive snaps over the first 10 weeks of the season. Since then, he has played an averaged of 82% of the team’s snaps, including 91.5% over his past two games. Even more notable is the fact that Miller has averaged 10.4 targets over the past five weeks, including four games with at least nine targets.
With this influx of opportunity, Miller has responded by averaging 6.6 receptions and 86.2 receiving yards since Week 10, while scoring touchdowns in back-to-back games. That type of production is good enough to make him the WR8 in fantasy over the past five weeks, as he’s seen a jump of 13.5 ppg from his Week 1-10 average.
Miller’s opponents on Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs, still get a rep of being a bad defense. However, in terms of fantasy, few teams are better at defending the wide receiver position. In fact, only the Patriots surrender fewer fantasy points to opposing wide receivers than the Chiefs do this season.
With that said, if they do struggle with anything, it’s high-volume receivers. As we stated previously, Miller has averaged 10+ targets over his recent five-game tear. Wideouts to see at least nine targets against the Chiefs this season average an impressive 16.8 fantasy points.
Should You Start or Sit Anthony Miller in Week 16?
Miller’s playing time and involvement in the Bears offense seems to be on an endless upward trajectory. The wideout has not scored under 11.4 fantasy points in five consecutive games, and is fresh off of seeing 15 targets come his way one week ago.
The matchup vs. Kansas City is a bit scary on paper, and putting your fantasy faith in the hands of a receiver being quarterbacked by Mitchell Trubisky is less than desirable. However, Miller has shown no reason not to believe in him of late, while the Chiefs issues with highly-targeted receivers is certainly welcoming.
View Miller as WR3 with WR2-upside on Sunday Night Football vs. the Chiefs.
- *Check out our Week 16 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems to further optimize your lineups
- Start-Sit [ QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
READ NEXT: AJ Brown Fantasy: Start or Sit Titans WR in Week 16?
Comments
Anthony Miller Fantasy: Start or Sit Bears WR on Sunday Night?