Fantasy football projections, Week 10: Bears-Buccaneers, featuring Alshon Jeffery, Zach Miller, Mike Evans, more

The Week 10 matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers features two elite receivers going head to head. We have the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Bears fans and football experts alike can’t stand the fact that Jay Cutler is back at quarterback for the team. Unfortunately, coach John Fox doesn’t have a choice, given that Brian Hoyer is out for the season with a broken forearm.

The only positive in the scenario is that it could help the fantasy value of Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery is a top-notch receiver, but he just couldn’t get going with Hoyer throwing the ball. Cutler, on the other hand, is much more familiar with him.

The Bears’ No. 1 receiver caught four passes for 63 yards and his first touchdown of the season in a surprising Week 8 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been fairly generous to wideouts in 2016. Although it’s been a rough season for Jeffery, it’s not unreasonable to think that he just might find the end zone for the second week in a row. If he does, he’ll score more points than his projections would have you think.

Tight end Zach Miller might do the same. He’s been arguably underutilized most of the year. Thanks again to Jay Cutler, the second half of the season may tell a different story.

Miller caught seven passes for 88 yards against the Vikings before the team’s bye week. The effort was enough to make Miller one of the top waiver wire additions heading into Week 10. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets a high volume of targets moving forward. Fantasy owners who’ve added him to their rosters can only hope that’s the case.

It’s too bad wide receiver Mike Evans was still in the NFL’s concussion protocol heading into Thursday’s practice because he’s coming off his best game of the season in Week 9.

He was targeted an incredible 17 times for 11 catches, 150 yards, and two touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons. He’s been targeted at least 11 times in all but one game this season. With the running game decimated by injuries, Evans should run wild over a Bears defense that has given up more fantasy points to wide receivers than any other team in the league. Evans is expected to play in Week 10, but fantasy owners better have a backup plan in case he isn’t cleared.

That backup plan may come in the form of Evans’s teammate Adam Humphries. Humphries caught five of seven targets for 46 yards and his first touchdown of the season against the Falcons. His best game of the year came in Week 3, when Humphries caught nine of 12 passes for 100 yards.

He has proved he can step up, and if the Buccaneers are without Evans, Humphries will be the best weapon the team has left in Week 10. Even if both receivers play, Humphries still has a high enough floor to garner consideration as a starter on Sunday.