Texans cut ties with Justin Watson

Watson will get his first chance to play since being placed on injured reserve in the middle of September. The 29-year-old wideout will be a depth piece for the finale against the Colts and Houston’s postseason run. Solomon Byrd was waived to make room on the roster.

Watson has been out of action since the middle of September with his Achilles injury. The 29-year-old could be an option in the final weeks, but in a role that provides zero fantasy upside.

Per Wilson, it’s not a torn Achilles for Watson and he is expected to return at some point this season. Watson was placed on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least four weeks. Watson was playing ahead of rookies Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins. With Christian Kirk expected to return this week, the rookies may have to wait a little longer to see the field more often.

The bad news is that his one incomplete target turned into an interception when Cobie Durant stole the ball from Higgins’ arms. The worse news is that both Higgins and Jaylin Noel (1/7 on two targets) were stuck behind Justin Watson (2/27 on two targets) in the pecking order, with Watson receiving 35 snaps to Higgins’ 27 and Noel’s 17. We believe in both Higgins and Noel, and both players clearly need to be a bigger part of the offense for this team to go anywhere, but they’re feeling like tough holds after Week 1.

After Houston added Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the draft, the wideout depth chart is getting a little crowded. Alexander had the Texans keep six receivers, and Metchie is projected to be squaring off with Xavier Hutchinson, Braxton Berrios, and Justin Watson for the final two jobs behind Higgins, Noel, Nico Collins, and Christian Kirk. Metchie may be a trade candidate at the roster cutdown entering the final year of his rookie contract. He’s still only 25, but has cracked 50 yards just once in a game in his career.

A “glue guy” role player for the Chiefs’ undermanned receiver corps the past three seasons, Watson will serve the same role in Houston as the Texans wait on Tank Dell (leg) to get healthy behind Nico Collins. Houston is also presumably moving on from Robert Woods, and is unsure if Stefon Diggs (ACL) will be back. Despite those depth issues, we would fully expect 29-year-old (next month) Watson to remain in the 15-20 reception range for 2025.

Coming off a surprising “career year” in 2023, Watson’s production declined across the board despite increased efficiency. Rashee Rice didn’t make it past Week 4, but Watson still never caught more than three passes in a game. He never caught more than two after Nov. 4. Not targeted during the playoffs, Watson is heading back to free agency two months shy of his 29th birthday. He’s always been a coaching staff favorite, but Watson might finally be at the end of the line in Kansas City.

Smith-Schuster’s 31-yarder in the first quarter set up the Chiefs near the doorstep of the red zone, and a 29-yarder did the same on Kansas City’s go-ahead touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter. Smith-Schuster handily outsnapped No. 4 and No. 5 wideouts DeAndre Hopkins and Justin Watson 37-12-11. There may not be enough balls to go around for Smith-Schuster to have more than this kind of splash DFS value in the Super Bowl, but he appears well ahead of Hopkins and Watson on snaps.

Watson was involved early but not often in this one. The 28-year-old beat the Steelers’ secondary deep for a 49-yard connection, and he hauled in an 11-yard touchdown from Patrick Mahomes not long after. That was it for Watson, but damage done for those who had him on their fantasy roster for some reason. He could be in for a decent amount of snaps in Week 18 against the Broncos.

Watson, additionally, had a brutal deep drop that likely would have been a score in the game’s opening three plays. He beat out Juju Smith-Schuster as the fifth option in the passing game today, but the lesson with the Chiefs right now is that they are going to spread the ball around. Watson will be a deep-leagues only play in Week 14, as he is every week.