Each Friday during the 2022 NFL and fantasy football season, Eric Karabell will bring his always-reasonable perspective to highlight the biggest storylines heading into the weekend's games.
Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson had a three-season run for the Houston Texans, from 2018 to 2020, in which he was a top-five fantasy quarterback each year, producing impressive passing totals in combination with his unique running ability. That version of Watson was not on display last Sunday when he made his season debut against his former, tattered franchise, scoring 5.3 fantasy points against the worst team in the league. Marcus Mariota and Kyle Allen, now benched QBs, scored more. Browns WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, on one punt return alone, scored more.
The Browns won easily because the Texans are the Texans. The Cleveland offense scored nary a touchdown. Why exactly are we assuming the old, productive Watson, who before last Sunday hadn't performed in an NFL game in 23 months, returns this week? The Browns play a critical game Sunday against a Cincinnati Bengals team that has not only won four games in a row to tie for first place in the AFC North, but boasts a defense among the top five in preventing fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers.
Watson is not a top-10 quarterback in my Week 14 rankings and yes, with six teams on their bye week, it removes depth from the position and means some quarterbacks we may not want to rely on (Jared Goff, Tyler Huntley, etc.) ended up ranked better than Watson. The Bengals are really good, with an improving secondary and pass rush that flustered the great Patrick Mahomes on Sunday. Watson has a running game and Amari Cooper, but ... it seems optimistic to presume all the rust acquired from a nearly two-year absence is gone after one game.
Perhaps fantasy managers would feel better about the situation had Watson struggled against a stronger defense, but he missed open receivers with passes that bounced and also threw wide of the target with some regularity. He also tossed a goal-line interception that should not have been thrown. The Browns generally rely on their running game and Nick Chubb -- second in the NFL in rushing yards -- has a game with 163 total yards and two touchdowns and another with 133 yards and two touchdowns over the past two seasons against the Bengals. That would seem to be the way to go this week.