Jimmy Graham's Updated Bears Fantasy Outlook After Week 5 vs. Bucs

As the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19 Thursday night, Jimmy Graham let everyone know he wasn't too old or too slow. The NFL veteran is still here. 

With three receptions on five targets, the tight end picked up 33 yards and a miraculous one-handed touchdown that gave the Bears a 14-13 lead heading into halftime and the 33-year-old his fourth score in five games. According to the league, it was his 78th receiving touchdown since 2010, which is the second-most in that time frame, behind his Week 5 opponent, Rob Gronkowski.

But despite the records and highlight-reel grabs, Graham continued to rank in the middle of the pack when it came to targets from quarterback Nick Foles, who has only tossed the ball in his direction 28 times this season. While he is on pace to pick up more targets than the minuscule 60 he had through 16 games with the Green Bay Packers last season, Graham is just not a priority for the Bears' signal-caller—at least outside of the red zone, where he's caught four of seven targets.  

Graham is the leading scorer on the team thanks to his dependability at the goal line, but until Foles sends more targets his way, he simply cannot be counted on to help push fantasy teams over the edge on a regular basis. While his 28 targets rank second on the team, he is a far cry from catching up to the 57 wide receiver Allen Robinson II has seen. In Week 4, Graham posted 33 yards, and in Week 2, he had just 18. 

Against the Buccaneers, Robinson was targeted 16 times, while Graham saw just five attempts. 

In Week 6, the Bears will face a Carolina Panthers defense that is much stronger stopping the passing game than the rushing game. Before their Week 5 outing, they were allowing 227 passing yards per game (ninth-fewest in the league), compared to 125.2 rushing yards per game (12th-most).

With that in mind, expect the Bears to focus on running the ball next week, which will result in Graham having a quieter week when it comes to the fantasy scoreboard. He should factor in as a TE2.