Deshaun Watson's Mess May Continue - NFL Fantasy Football Reaction

DFS Army’s Gthom breaks down the Deshaun Watson ruling for fantasy football. Follow Gthom on the cesspool they call twitter @GarettThomas.

Deshaun Watson’s near-term future has become clearer with the official announcement of a six-game suspension. Watson’s first game back, barring further appeals, will be at the Baltimore Ravens. It will be the first NFL football game for Watson since January 3rd, 2021. But there is a chance that Watson’s drama is not over.

The NFL has the ability to appeal this suspension decision, as does Watson and the NFLPA (NFL’s Player’s Association). Watson and the NFLPA have already stated they will not appeal the six-game ruling. However, the NFL has not made their intentions known but they must submit their appeal within three-days of the ruling. If the NFL decides to appeal the ruling, the drama may be ramping up for Deshaun Watson.

Check out the NFL’s only statement regarding the six-game suspension of Watson.

The NFL statement on the Deshaun Watson ruling pic.twitter.com/0kE7wiQi7C

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 1, 2022

CBS Sports is also reporting that “According to multiple reports, the NFL was hoping that Watson would get a suspension of at least one season and although that didn’t happen, the league could still aim for that in a potential appeal.” If the NFL does not appeal the six-game suspension, the Watson-NFL drama will be over.

Fantasy Outlook for Deshaun Watson

With Watson missing at least six games to start the season, in most fantasy leagues he will miss half of the fantasy season. That is far from ideal for redraft leagues, especially the leagues that cannot put a suspended player into an IR-slot. You also have to consider that he has not played football in 575 days. Getting up to “game speed” will certainly have to happen, even for players as talented as Watson.

Unless you have the patience, or a designated spot to put Watson, he seems like a tough fantasy asset to invest into for 10 and 12-team redraft leagues. It all just depends on how high his average draft position (ADP) is at the time of your draft. Keeper leagues, best ball leagues and 2-QB leagues is where Watson will have value for stakeholders. I would target him in those formats for the most part.

The Backup Plan

Jacoby Brissett will step-in as the temporary quarterback. While Brissett won’t light up the world, he has shown to be a competent back up quarterback when there is a defense and run-game to support him. Luckily the schedule is manageable in this six-game stretch. Cleveland will go up against the following teams: Panthers, Jets, Steelers, Falcons, Chargers and Patriots. There is a reasonable chance they finish 3-3 in this stretch.

Brissett is not much of a fantasy target in most leagues unless you are desperate. He may have relevancy for QB-streaming teams in 12-team redraft leagues or deeper, but at this point he is far from ideal. Brissett could be someone to consider as your 3rd or 4th QB in 2-QB leagues.

The Skill Players

David Njoku, Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones all move back into fantasy relevancy with much higher ceilings. Make sure to be realistic in your expectations: half of the fantasy season will not feature Deshaun Watson and there is no guarantee that Watson will immediately return to his Pro-Bowl form. Despite this, there will be fantasy relevant weeks for these three players within the first six games. The second-half of the season, for one of these players, may win you your league in a best-case scenario.

Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt would presumably get more scoring opportunities with Watson at the helm as well. This boosts their season-long outlook as a result. While Brissett leads the offense, this elite running back duo could keep this offense afloat. Chubb will always be held back by Hunt’s involvement; but if Hunt goes down with an injury, Chubb would become extremely valuable for fantasy.

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