Fantasy Football: Biggest bust at each position
QB Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
I want to start by saying I hate that I have to put Deshaun Watson in this article and I’m a big fan. Honestly, I’d like to rail on Patrick Mahomes who is being drafted as a high-end QB2, but I’m not going to feature a QB2 here.
The upside and talent are both there for Watson and I think he’s going to be a great quarterback. The asking price is just outrageous right now. His ADP currently has him being drafted as the second quarterback off the board just ahead of Tom Brady and Russell Wilson.
There is just way too much risk here to pay that price. First off let’s start with the obvious. A large part of Watson’s arsenal is reliant on his athleticism and his ability to run. He’s coming off a torn ACL, which his scary just from the start.
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We’ve seen quarterbacks bounce back fine and then we’ve seen quarterbacks never be the same, like former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and fellow Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. So that in itself is a red flag, but not quite enough to scare me off on its own.
When a young player puts up massive and efficient numbers in a small sample size that appears to be unsustainable they usually are in fact unsustainable. He has set the bar so incredibly high for himself that it’s almost impossible for him to live up to expectations which is neither his fault or fair to him. He can be outstanding and still not approach the precedence he set as a rookie.
I’m also very wary of quarterbacks who use their legs as weapons heading into their sophomore season after an electrifying rookie campaign. We have seen time and time again that the league gets film on these guys, game plans and they struggle.
Sometimes it even happens late into a season. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to see how the rest of his incredible but short rookie year would have played out. He will have to prove that when defenses neutralize him on the ground and throw different schemes at him on the back end of the defense that he can still be a stud.
I have a tough time drafting him anywhere ahead of the QB6 slot and you’re probably better off waiting on a guy like Philip Rivers who is currently the 16th quarterback coming off draft boards and no one should be surprised if he outperforms Watson. First and foremost, hopefully, Watson is healthy. Even if he is he still has a lot to prove to justify him being the second quarterback off the board.