Justin

Watson

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.

Watson continues to play the most snaps at wide receiver for the Chiefs but took a backseat to both Travis Kelce and DeAndre Hopkins, the former of whom set a career-high with 14 receptions and the latter of whom scored twice in the overtime victory. Even so, Watson should continue to see elevated snap rates based on the currently available personnel on the roster, albeit still unlikely to return fantasy utility in the process.

Watson’s biggest contribution was a rub route that freed up Xavier Worthy for a fourth-quarter touchdown. The Chiefs’ pass-catching corps is too deep for Watson to be considered re-draft-viable.

Watson could have newfound relevance in the Kansas City offense with the season-ending knee injury to Rashee Rice. He logged a pass route on 28 of Patrick Mahomes’ 37 drop backs and out-targeted all Chiefs receivers except Xavier Worthy. Watson can be rostered in deeper formats following Rice’s injury.

Though he’s not taking every first-team practice rep with Brown sidelined, Watson — who had 27 catches as a wind sprinter last year in the KC offense — looks to be the favorite to join Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice in three-receiver sets until Brown is ready to return. Brown went to the hospital after sustaining a serious shoulder injury in the Chiefs’ preseason opener against the Jaguars last weekend. He could be in danger of missing the team’s season opener against the Ravens. Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore could have a rotational role while Brown is out. Moore was not targeted on seven routes last week against the Jags.

Watson, an every-down wideout for KC in 2023, came up gimpy during practice and did not return to the field after being evaluated by the team’s training staff. An extended absence for Watson could open up opportunity for Skyy Moore, who is trying to make the team after another disappointing season in 2023.

One of Watson’s missed connections was a ball that was thrown behind him that nevertheless should have been caught. Somehow the Chiefs’ No. 3 pass catcher with 460 regular season yards, Watson was an abysmal 66th in receiver yards per route run (1.25). He also committed four drops and lost a fumble. Hardly ideal when you’re a role player. Watson bettered 50 yards one time after Week 5. Heading into his age-28 season, Watson is signed for $1.47 million in 2024, but there is little chance he sees that full salary. If he’s back at all in Kansas City, it should be at a reduced rate.

Skyy Moore is on injured reserve and Kadarius Toney missed this game because of a hip injury, keeping Watson in the starting rotation for Week 16. He finished third on the team in targets and was just one shy of Travis Kelce. In a potential shootout with the surprisingly lively Bengals, Watson will have solid odds of finding the end zone again in Week 17. He will rank as a touchdown-or-bust WR5.