Oh boy, Deshaun Watson is looking to miss just six games this season, unless the NFL gets their way on appeal. Personally, I had hope for a whole season out of the gate but hey, maybe the NFL will finally do the right thing. So, since we are doing breakdowns of every notable fantasy football-relevant player throughout June, July, and August, I suppose we need to look at Deshaun Watson.
Deshaun Watson ADP and AAV:
Average Draft Position: QB18, 126 overall
Average Auction Value: $2.6
Deshaun Watson Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Att | Comp | Comp% | Yds | TD | Int | Comp/G | Att/G | Yds/G | TD/G | INT/G |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020 | 16 | 16 | 544 | 382 | 70.2% | 4823 | 33 | 7 | 34.0 | 23.9 | 301.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| 2019 | 15 | 15 | 495 | 333 | 67.3% | 3852 | 26 | 12 | 33.0 | 22.2 | 256.8 | 1.7 | 0.8 |
| Year | 4 PPTD | 6 PPTD | 4 PPTD/G | 6 PPTD/G | Year | Att | Yd | TD | YPC | Att/G | Yd/G | |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | 369.3 | 435.3 | 23.1 | 27.21 | 2020 | 90 | 444 | 3 | 4.9 | 5.6 | 27.8 | |
| 2019 | 320 | 372 | 21.3 | 24.80 | 2019 | 82 | 413 | 7 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 27.5 |
| Year | Air Yards | aDOT | Y/A | TD% | INT% | Sacks | Yds/Sack |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020 | 4790 | 8.76 | 8.87 | 6.1% | 1.3% | 49 | 5.98 |
| 2019 | 4406 | 8.90 | 7.78 | 5.3% | 2.4% | 44 | 5.84 |
2022 Deshaun Watson Overview:
It feels really dirty writing this, but if I don’t, part of the anti-woke mob will come for me. Watson settled all but one of his sexual assault allegation cases, which means he has one outstanding allegation from the two dozen he previously had. Apparently, that’s good enough to get just a six-game suspension… or maybe a year, I don’t know. The last time we saw Watson, he averaged 28 rushing yards and 301 passing yards per game, and he paced out to 38 total touchdowns and seven picks. That’s legitimate top-five at the position.
But, is it worth it? Is it worth staring at his name for almost two months before slotting him in against the new-look Ravens, only to maybe get some value out of breaking down your moral structure? If you can’t tell, I am writing this under duress. Don’t draft Deshaun Watson, you can win without him, and you will win without him (in the first six weeks of the season). What is the difference between that and the remaining eleven weeks? None.
2022 Deshaun Watson Fantasy Football Draft Strategy:
Deshaun Watson Salary Cap Value: $0
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet!
Personally, I’m not touching Deshaun Watson. I wrote a whole piece on it last season, but here’s where I self-plagiarize. I am good enough at this to win without Watson on my roster, and any winnings I get with him on my roster will ultimately feel tainted, anyway. So, because of this, I don’t want to associate my good feelings with Deshaun Watson. Therefore, I won’t be drafting him.
If you choose to draft him, he’s likely going to settle into the spot vacated by Trey Lance after he ascends in ADP thanks to the 49ers literally saying he would be starting. As of writing, that’s QB13 by ADP. He falls right after Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr, and a stack of one of those guys with Watson will get you through his suspension. But nothing will get you through your compromised morals.
Best Case Scenario:
Deshaun Watson eats a full-season suspension after the uproar toward the NFL forces Roger Goodell to act. You and I have different definitions of the best-case scenario, here.
Worst Case Scenario:
Watson misses six games and is rusty because when he plays in week seven, over 670 days since he last played. He falters and sputters and doesn’t help your fantasy team before his week nine bye. You then have compromised your morals for maybe four good games before the fantasy football playoffs.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
(Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Deshaun_Watson_%2845222907484%29.jpg under CC BY-SA 4.0)
