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  1. DJ Moore Trade Update
  2. DJ Moore Stats
  3. Buffalo Bills Depth Chart
  4. Chicago Bears Depth Chart
  5. DJ Moore Fantasy Football Impact

The world has screamed for the Buffalo Bills to “do something”. Get Josh Allen a weapon. Well, they did something here - and they did something big. They traded for the Chicago Bears' wide receiver, who has four seasons of both 1,000+ yards and 135+ targets under his belt. They now have a true WR1.

But it goes a lot deeper than just the impact on the Buffalo Bills when it comes to fantasy football. So let’s take a look at DJ Moore and the fallout from the recent trade for both the NFL and fantasy football impact.

DJ Moore Trade Update

As of now, what we know is that credible sources, including the official NFL account, are reporting that the trade is in place with the Bills receiving DJ Moore. As soon as we know the compensation from the deal, we will update this section with that. What we do know from our previous Bears Free Agency Preview article is that the Bears are saving $16.5M in cap space with $12M in dead cap, while the Bears add a $24.5M cap hit for this year.

 

 

 

DJ Moore Stats

Over his eight years in the league, DJ Moore has averaged over 1,000 yards per season. But there have been some ups and downs along the way. He did have four straight seasons of 1,1000+ receiving yards on struggling Panthers teams. But then a down 2022 resulted in his trade to the Bears.

In his first year with the Bears, he was peppered with 136 targets and had a career year of 1,364 yards and 8 touchdowns. Over the next two seasons, his output dipped, especially last year, as he wasn’t necessarily a great scheme fit for Ben Johnson’s offense. One other thing worth mentioning is that Moore has been fairly healthy, starting every regular season game in five straight seasons. 

Buffalo Bills Depth Chart

The Bills wanted a solid outside presence. They used a second-round pick on Keon Coleman, hoping to find that, and also signed Joshua Palmer. Neither rose to the occasion. Instead, they now make a big move to trade for DJ Moore, who should slot in outside right away.

We know that Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid will likely occupy the slot area. That leaves one more outside role opposite DJ Moore. Coleman and Palmer are the top candidates, though free agency still looms - maybe they sign someone or bring back veteran Brandin Cooks. Both Tyrell Shavers and Gabe Davis tore ACLs in the Jaguars' playoff game, so they are likely off the table. 

 

 

 

Chicago Bears Depth Chart

The most interesting impact here is on the Chicago Bears' wide receiver depth chart. Last year, it was crowded with veterans DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, and Olamide Zaccheuas, so rookies Luther Burden and Colston Loveland had to carve out roles starting from a part-time spot. This trade allows Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Colston Loveland to all be full-time players. Cole Kmet could still be a cap casualty, as we speculated, or they could rotate an in-line tight end with a WR3.

DJ Moore Fantasy Football Impact

Yes, this is tremendous news for DJ Moore. And I think we see a big jump from his ADP for WR43 on Underdog. He will likely at least go in the WR2 range now that he’s paired with Josh Allen. And we could see him return to a career season, given the lack of other high-end weapons. Obviously, this is a bit of a knock for Khalil Shakir, who was already a part-time player, but it could also hurt targets for Dalton Kincaid.

On the Bears front, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest Luther Burden could jump all the way to WR1 range. We’ve seen guys like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, CeeDee Lamb, and Chris Godwin go from a part-time role like Burden had to full-time roles and completely explode for fantasy. It's easy to forget what the rookie year for JSN looked like or the second year for Chris Godwin - incredibly similar to what we saw from Luther Burden last year. 

Here is what Year 2 looked like for some of the guys mentioned. They all jumped squarely into the weekly starter conversation and, depending on format, finished in either the backend WR1 or WR2 range. 

The scheme is good, the quarterback looked great, and Burden has the size to play outside and in the slot just like Amon-Ra St. Brown did for Ben Johnson. This trade is great news for DJ Moore, Josh Allen, Rome Odunze, and Colston Loveland but it is FANTASTIC news for Luther Burden.