Watson is far more valuable to the Chiefs than he is to Fantasy managers. He should be ignored in all Fantasy leagues barring a flurry of injuries or a big shakeup on the Chiefs depth chart.
Chiefs' Justin Watson: Catches three passes in win
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Watson secured three of his five targets for 62 yards in Sunday's 17-9 win over the Jaguars.
Watson finished second in receiving yards for the second-straight contest, as his 62 yards were just shy of Skyy Moore, who led the team with 70 receiving yards. Patrick Mahomes continued to spread the ball around Sunday, targeting 12 different players over the course of the game. With that said, Watson could struggle to maintain a clear and consistent role in the offense. Through two games, the 27-year-old has earned a solid nine targets, but his snap percentages of 26 percent and 45 percent in Weeks 1 and 2 leave much to be desired. Watson will look to become a more established part of the offense in Week 3 when the Chiefs host the Bears.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Solid showing in Week 1 loss
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Watson brought in two of four targets for 45 yards in the Chiefs' 21-20 loss to the Lions on Thursday night.
Watson checked in second in receiving yards on the night with the help of a 26-yard reception, as Patrick Mahomes spread the ball around generously in the absence of Travis Kelce (knee). The 2018 fifth-round pick of the Buccaneers put up a 15-315-2 line in his debut Chiefs campaign last season, and he's projected for a larger role to some degree in 2023. Watson's target total Thursday tied for second on the night for Kansas City, but it remains to be seen how his opportunities are affected if Kelce returns to action in a Week 2 matchup versus the Jaguars a week from Sunday.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Could work ahead of Rice, Ross
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Watson is expected to receive more playing time than rookie Rashee Rice and second-year wideout Justyn Ross early on during the 2023 season, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.
Teicher notes that based on how Kansas City utilized its receivers in training camp, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore and Watson will see the most snaps out of the gate, and Kadarius Toney (knee) should also factor into that mix if he's available to play in Thursday's season opener versus the Lions. Though Rice led the team with 14 catches in the preseason, and the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Ross profiles as a red-zone threat, the former had issues with drops and the latter spent the entire 2022 season recovering from a foot injury. As such, Kansas City is expected to hand the two young wideouts only limited roles early on, paving the way for Watson and some of the more established receivers to pick up more playing time. Watson handled snap shares north of 50 percent in all but one of the defending Super Bowl champions' final nine games of the 2022 regular season, but he generated just nine catches for 214 yards and no touchdowns on 20 targets over that stretch. Kansas City appears to value the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Watson mainly for his blocking prowess and special-teams contributions rather than as a high-priority target in the passing game.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Re-ups with Chiefs
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Kansas City re-signed Watson on a two-year contract Friday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Watson put together a career-best 15-315-2 receiving line on 34 targets across 17 regular-season appearances in 2022, his first year paired with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Now back with the Chiefs on a two-year deal, Watson figures to reprise his role as a rotational deep threat, one that mostly limits his fantasy value to best ball formats or extremely deep leagues.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Healthy to start Super Bowl prep
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Watson (illness) was listed as a full participant on the Chiefs' estimated injury report Wednesday.
Watson was inactive for the Chiefs' AFC Championship Game victory over the Bengals due to an illness that surfaced late in the week, but he appears to have cleared the aliment and should be full go for Kansas City's Super Bowl prep. The fifth-year wideout played 37 snaps during the Chiefs' divisional-round win over the Jaguars and secured his lone target for 12 yards. He also appeared in all 17 of Kansas City's regular-season contests, totaling 15 receptions on 34 targets for 315 yards and two scores.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Inactive for AFC Championship Game
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Watson (illness) is inactive for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Bengals.
Watson caught his lone target for 12 yards across 37 offensive snaps during the Chiefs' divisional-round win over the Jaguars, but he won't be able to play Sunday due to an illness that surfaced late in the week. In Watson's absence, Skyy Moore will be a candidate for increased snaps behind JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Small contribution in 2022
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Watson gathered in one of two targets for 67 yards during the Week 18 victory against the Raiders.
Watson beat his defender down the left sideline to reel in a perfectly placed deep shot from Patrick Mahomes on just the second play of the game, giving the Chiefs a first and goal inside the five-yard line. While it was an excellent way to start his day, Watson didn't contribute anything more to the box score. He's been targeted two or fewer times in six of the last seven games and has just three total catches in the last six. Despite logging north of 50 percent of the snaps most weeks of the season's second half, Watson doesn't get involved enough in the passing attack to warrant a look in most playoff formats and finishes out the regular season with just 15 grabs for 315 yards and two touchdowns on 34 targets. He enters the offseason slated to become an unrestricted free agent, so it's too early to tell where he will be playing in 2023.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Minimal involvement in passing game
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Watson caught one of two targets for 27 yards during Sunday's 27-24 win against Denver.
Watson made his first catch since Week 13 in this one and played only 22 offensive snaps (37 percent), falling well below his snap counts over the last three weeks. Even big snap counts don't tend to result in much fantasy production from Watson, who can be left on the waiver wire in most formats.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Another blank effort
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Watson hauled in zero of two targets for zero yards during Sunday's 30-24 overtime victory versus the Texans.
Watson hasn't hauled in a pass in either of the last two games despite playing 60-plus percent of the snaps in each of them. He hasn't drawn more than two targets since Week 11, and there's little reason to roster him in any format at this point.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Comes up empty in Week 14
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Watson didn't haul in either of his targets during Sunday's 34-28 win versus the Broncos.
Despite playing 64 percent of the offensive snaps, Watson drew just two targets and couldn't reel in either of them, finishing the day with an empty stat line for the first time since Week 6. That being said, Watson hasn't topped three catches in a game this season and has just two receiving touchdowns, so there isn't a ton to like from a fantasy perspective.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Minimal impact against Bengals
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Watson hauled in his only target for 15 yards during Sunday's 27-24 loss against the Bengals.
Watson's snap count dipped to just 62 percent (34 snaps) in this one, his lowest mark since Week 9 aginst the Titans. Even when he's seen more playing time, Watson hasn't tallied more than three catches in a game and has just one touchdown on the ledger, so he's not much of a fantasy asset.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Snares two passses
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Watson gathered in all two targets for 26 yards during Sunday's 26-10 win against the Rams.
Watson has seen the largest uptick in his snap count over the last three weeks with Mecole Hardman (abdomen) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) either sidelined or limited, while rookie Skyy Moore has also enjoyed an increased snap count. Once Smith-Schuster is back in full, the pair could see their workloads reduced a bit, though Hardman's continued absence should open the door for additional snaps. Even so, Watson hasn't reeled in more than three passes in a game this season, so he's not on the fantasy radar in most formats.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Nabs three passes
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Watson recorded three receptions (on four targets) for 67 yards during Sunday's 30-27 win versus the Chargers.
Watson logged a season-high 57 offensive snaps (88 percent) in this contest, which isn't shocking following the news that JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) and Mecole Hardman (abdomen) would be sidelined for the game and Kadarius Toney (hamstring) also left early and didn't return. If Toney and Smith-Schuster remain sidelined next week, Watson could be worth a look in daily fantasy and some season-long formats.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Could have prominent role on SNF
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Watson is in line for an expanded role Sunday against the Chargers, as Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports that both JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) and Mecole Hardman (abdomen, IR) will miss the game.
Kansas City's top four wide receivers will be Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Watson, Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore. Valdes-Scantling has been battling an illness this week, Moore's an unproven rookie who hasn't made much of an impact on offense, and Toney has been with the team for less than a month. Meanwhile, Watson has built up a rapport with Patrick Mahomes, albeit in a depth role, but he'll have some upside on Sunday night given the lack of healthy alternatives in Kansas City's high-powered passing game.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Gets big snap count Week 10
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Watson turned his lone target into a 12-yard reception in Sunday's 27-17 win over the Jaguars.
With Mecole Hardman (abdomen) inactive for the Week 10 contest and with JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) exiting early, Watson played a season-high 45 snaps on offense (73 percent share). That snap count actually handily outpaced Kadarius Toney (28, 45 percent) for third among Kansas City wideouts, but Toney (four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown, two carries for 33 yards) was far more involved than Watson. Given how Toney was able to capitalize on his touches, it wouldn't be surprising if his snap count surpassed Watson's in Week 11 against the Chargers, regardless of the statuses of Hardman and Smith-Schuster.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Targeted once in win
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Watson failed to secure his lone target in Sunday's 41-31 win over the Buccaneers.
Watson was held without a catch on one target for the second straight week, playing just 14 of the Chiefs' 80 offensive snaps Sunday. With so many mouths to feed in Kansas City, the veteran wideout find himself as an afterthought in the offense behind fellow receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore. Watson should remain out of fantasy lineups when the Chiefs host the Raiders in Week 5.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Gets just one target
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Watson failed to corral his lone target while playing nine snaps on offense in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Colts.
After recording a 41-yard touchdown reception in last week's win over the Chargers, Watson was unable to come through with a splash play Sunday while taking the field for just 15 percent of the Chiefs' snaps on offense. So long as Kansas City has all of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mecole Hardman available at receiver, Watson will be unlikely to find himself on the field for even a third of the Chiefs' offensive plays in most games.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Logs full practice
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Watson (chest) was a full participant at practice Wednesday.
Watson picked up a minor injury on his touchdown reception during Kansas City's 27-24 victory over the Chargers in Week 2, but it doesn't appear that it's going to hold him out of Sunday's game at Indianapolis. Through his first two games with the Chiefs, Watson has recorded two receptions for 50 yards and a score on three targets.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Good to go for Week 2
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Watson (chest) was a full participant in Tuesday's practice.
The Chiefs listed Watson as a limited participant on Monday's estimated report, but he didn't encounter any restrictions when the team held a more traditional practice session Tuesday. The 26-year-old receiver is in line to play Thursday against the Chargers, after he failed to catch his only target during last Sunday's season opener against the Cardinals.
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Chiefs' Justin Watson: Doesn't return to Sunday's game
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Watson suffered a chest injury during Sunday's win over the Cardinals, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.
Watson failed to secure his lone target during Sunday's season opener, and he was unable to return to the game after sustaining a chest injury during the second half. His availability for Thursday's matchup against the Chargers isn't yet clear.
