I see on the schedule that Cleveland is playing at Houston this year. That game did not get selected for national television, but it’s at least late in the year. That gives Deshaun Watson a better chance of being available for his first game against his former team.
For fantasy purposes, Watson is one of the most difficult players to grade right now. Facing 22 civil lawsuits alleging sexual and misconduct at massage sessions, he’ll probably be hit with a lengthy suspension – perhaps 6-8 games – but it’s up in the air. The league potentially could wait until those lawsuits are settled, maybe delaying a Watson suspension until 2023. Or maybe the suspension is even longer. Nobody really knows.
When Watson gets on the field, however, he should be one of the top half-dozen producers at his position. He’s an elite, playmaking quarterback, and he contributes as both a passer and a runner.
Consider the chart below. It shows the per-game numbers for the 26 quarterbacks who’ve started at least half the time over the last three years. There are five stats listed: Passing yards and touchdowns, rushing yards and touchdowns, and interceptions. Watson is the only quarterback who ranks in the top 10 in all five categories.
Using standard fantasy scoring, Watson has put up the 2nd-best overall quarterbacking numbers over the past three years.
The QB Watson is replacing, on the other hand, has averaged the 2nd-worst numbers during the same time period – with Baker Mayfield ahead of only Sam Darnold.
QUARTERBACKS: POINTS PER START (2019-21) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | St | Pass | TDP | Int | Run | TDR | Pts |
Lamar Jackson | 42 | 208 | 1.85 | .66 | 70 | .38 | 27.1 |
• Deshaun Watson | 31 | 279 | 1.90 | .61 | 27 | .35 | 26.5 |
Justin Herbert | 32 | 292 | 2.15 | .78 | 16 | .25 | 26.5 |
Patrick Mahomes | 46 | 295 | 2.19 | .52 | 19 | .13 | 26.4 |
Josh Allen | 49 | 245 | 1.89 | .69 | 34 | .48 | 26.3 |
Dak Prescott | 37 | 302 | 2.05 | .67 | 13 | .21 | 26.1 |
Kyler Murray | 46 | 249 | 1.52 | .73 | 38 | .43 | 25.0 |
Tom Brady | 49 | 285 | 2.18 | .65 | 2 | .16 | 24.2 |
Aaron Rodgers | 48 | 258 | 2.31 | .27 | 9 | .14 | 24.0 |
Russell Wilson | 46 | 248 | 2.08 | .52 | 22 | .15 | 23.9 |
Joe Burrow | 26 | 280 | 1.80 | .73 | 10 | .19 | 23.3 |
Ryan Tannehill | 43 | 236 | 1.76 | .60 | 16 | .41 | 23.1 |
Matthew Stafford | 41 | 279 | 2.09 | .78 | 5 | .00 | 22.9 |
Kirk Cousins | 47 | 257 | 2.00 | .55 | 7 | .06 | 22.1 |
Matt Ryan | 48 | 271 | 1.50 | .77 | 6 | .08 | 20.7 |
Carson Wentz | 45 | 227 | 1.55 | .64 | 16 | .15 | 20.4 |
Derek Carr | 49 | 264 | 1.44 | .63 | 6 | .10 | 20.2 |
Jared Goff | 45 | 263 | 1.35 | .82 | 5 | .13 | 19.9 |
Daniel Jones | 37 | 226 | 1.21 | .78 | 26 | .13 | 19.8 |
Philip Rivers | 32 | 274 | 1.46 | .96 | 0 | .00 | 19.7 |
Andy Dalton | 28 | 244 | 1.28 | 1.10 | 9 | .14 | 19.2 |
Teddy Bridgewater | 34 | 235 | 1.23 | .58 | 12 | .20 | 19.1 |
Ben Roethlisberger | 33 | 239 | 1.66 | .63 | 0 | .03 | 18.9 |
Jimmy Garoppolo | 37 | 240 | 1.45 | .81 | 3 | .10 | 18.8 |
Baker Mayfield | 46 | 226 | 1.41 | .91 | 9 | .10 | 18.5 |
Sam Darnold | 36 | 210 | 1.02 | 1.02 | 13 | .25 | 17.6 |
—Ian Allan