Marion Barber Injury: With Bears RB Out, Whose Fantasy Stock Rises?

 The Chicago Bears signed running back Marion Barber during this past offseason to add some much-needed oomph to the team's offense in short-yardage situations. So far, that investment has yet to pay off, as the former Dallas Cowboys bruiser has missed both of the Bears' first two games. Now he is set to miss his third.

Barber will reportedly sit out Chicago's matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday as he continues to battle back from a calf injury. His absence means that Matt Forte will once again be the team's only real choice at running back.

Fantasy-wise this doesn't change much unless you owned Barber and expected a few red zone theft touchdowns. Forte will probably see almost all the action out of the Bears backfield today, as backup Kahlil Bell hasn't shown himself to be an effective option.

Meanwhile, because the Bears offensive line has been so ineffective in short-yardage running situations, expect the Bears to spread things out and attempt to throw against the Packers in the red zone. Green Bay is without veteran safety Nick Collins for the remainder of the season, and is allowing an NFL-worst 400 passing yards per game.

Expect the Bears to use Forte as a receiver out of the backfield in short-yardage situations as opposed to trying to run him up inside. Chicago will also attack Green Bay's secondary as often as possible, so expect to see Jay Cutler's numbers go up, at least from a yardage standpoint.