It’s no secret that Chrisitan Watson’s fantasy football outlook for 2024 is largely based on his health and his ability to stay on the field.
Sadly, few clever fantasy team names come to mind for the speedster, and the same might be said for reasons to take a risk and draft him.
Below, I’ll discuss Watson’s outlook in more detail and tell you whether he’s a good pick for your fantasy team.
Christian Watson’s Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
If you were to deploy a fantasy football strategy like Zero-WR, I’m still not sure Watson would crack a potential starting lineup.
Since joining the NFL in 2022, Watson has played 23 of 34 games and started 20. When he’s on the field, he’s shown to be a massive deep-threat target for the Packers.
In 2023, he played nine games and caught 28 passes of 53 targets for 422 yards and five touchdowns. His 15.1 yards per catch average was fantastic, and if you were to extrapolate those statistics over a full 17 games, you’d get 52 receptions, 797 yards, and nearly double-digit touchdowns.
Again, this would be a fantastic stat line, especially for a player getting drafted as the WR43 and barely inside the top 100 overall.
Sometimes injuries can be somewhat overlooked, but when a player so early in his career has a history of concussions, soft tissue injuries, and knee issues, that’s a cause for concern, especially considering he’s a known vertical threat.
The Packers’ receiving corps is also getting more polished, with players like Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Luke Musgrave, and Tucker Kraft getting more reps under their belts.
Is Christian Watson a Good Fantasy Pick?
Without sounding non-committal, the short answer is simply “I guess.” Like players like Mike Williams, there are certain players you just know and have to expect to play less than a full season, and Watson is one of them.
Watson suited up between Weeks 4 and 13 and scored more than 20 points in two games in PPR leagues.
He was WR34 during that span. While he had those two splash games, he had four straight performances of 6.3 points or less.
According to TruMedia, three of Watons’s five touchdowns came on passes with 11 air yards or more, which was expected, but this shows that you’re hoping for a deeper pass for results.
The more I write about Watson, the more I think I’d rather pass and let someone else deal with this headache.
Watson is the type of player who won’t play a full season. While he has the boom potential, there’s a lot of bust potential, and you’ll have to play him every game he’s healthy in because it could very well be his last.
So, if I told you that Watson would play 10 games and he’d have three games with a high output and seven mediocre performances, but you had no idea when they’d happen, would you want to roster and/or start him?
The answer is no.
The Packers have a Week 10 bye week, so if he can stay healthy until then and mix in some good performances before that and you’re dead set on drafting him, that would be an excellent time to sell him off.
The temptation is there because of what could be, but we have to deal with the reality of what Watson is — an uber-talented downfield threat that simply cannot stay healthy.