Justin Watson

Justin Watson

29-Year-Old Wide ReceiverWR
Houston Texans
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Watson was the third wide receiver added to the Texans' roster in a one-week span early in March. He followed the trade acquisition of Christian Kirk from Jacksonville and signing of Braxton Berrios. The 29-year-old Watson played 17 games for the Chiefs in 2024, snagging 22 of 32 targets with two touchdowns. He joins a team that revamped its receiver corps with Tank Dell (knee) expected to miss the season and Stefon Diggs moving on to New England. The WR room got even deeper after April's draft, when the Texans selected Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a contract with the Texans in March of 2025.
Targeted twice in opener
WRHouston Texans
September 8, 2025
Watson caught both of his targets for 27 yards in Sunday's 14-9 loss to the Rams.
ANALYSIS
Watson surprisingly had the third-most offensive snaps (35) among the wideouts. Part of that is due to hamstring injuries to Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios, but that Wilson was on the field more than either of the two rookie wideouts, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, is noteworthy. Houston's offense, particularly the passing game, stumbled through a lethargic performance and may not be indicative of target and snap distributions going forward.
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Fantasy/Red Zone Stats
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2025 NFL Game Log
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Snap Distribution / Depth Chart
Snap Counts
Snap %
Houston TexansTexans 2025 WR Snap Distribution
#% of Team Snaps

4884%
3968%
3256%
2442%
1628%
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Receiving Alignment Breakdown
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This Week's Opposing Pass Defense
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Monday, Sep 15th at 7:00PM
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2025 Justin Watson Split Stats
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Justin Watson See More
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Justin Watson See More
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2019
2018
Watson played at least 30 snaps in many games last year. In Weeks 11-16, the Chiefs actually had Watson on the field for over 40 snaps per contest. Despite the strong snap share, Watson is best known for his blocking ability. Otherwise, Watson does see occasional downfield shots from Patrick Mahomes. After posting between 45-62 yards in the first three games of 2023, Watson had just three other games with 40+ yards. The 62-yard game was the receiver’s best effort of the season. Between having a low scoring floor with little upside, Watson is little more than a depth piece in fantasy.
Watson logged more offensive snaps during the 2022 campaign than most expected, tallying 494 for an average of 29.1 per week. Despite the career-high workload, the wideout turned in just 15 catches for 315 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 34 targets in 17 outings. The 6-2, 215-pounder was primarily a downfield option in the Chiefs' passing attack, drawing 25 of his targets (78.2 percent) 10-plus yards from scrimmage. Watson logged a 5.5 percent target share last season, and even with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman out of the picture, he's unlikely to see enough volume to attain fantasy relevance in 2023.
The 2018 fifth-round pick saw minimal action in his rookie season, but that could change significantly in 2019. Adam Humphries, who logged a career-high 105 targets in 2018, is now in Tennessee, which leaves Watson with a potential clear path to a fairly sizable role in a new pass-centric offense. The Penn product is a much stouter candidate than Humphries for potential slot work, checking in at 6-3, 215 pounds. Moreover, Watson boasts 4.4 speed, so his route tree and overall utility in Bruce Arians' system could be quite diverse. However, dampening his prospects to an extent are the many mouths to feed on offense - Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Breshad Perriman and O.J. Howard, at a minimum, will all peg in ahead of him on the pass-catching hierarchy to open the season.
As an Ivy League receiver with fifth-round slotting, Watson's fantasy prospects as a rookie may be dismissed at first glance. However, Watson has the potential to be an exception to the rule, with a college resume that includes 286 receptions, 3,777 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns lending credence to that notion. Impressive measurables that include a 6-3, 215-pound frame, 4.44 speed and a 40-inch vertical certainly don't hurt his chances for success either, but as an unproven asset at the NFL level, Watson will have to make a strong case in training camp and the preseason. If he does nab a spot on the final roster, Watson conceivably could put a dent into Adam Humphries' opportunities, but it's extremely difficult to envision him climbing any higher than No. 4 on the depth chart. Moreover, with the Bucs already boasting an impressive array of pass-catching options ahead of him, Watson's value should be almost exclusively limited to keeper and dynasty formats.
More Fantasy News
Headed to Houston
WRHouston Texans
March 10, 2025
Watson is in line to sign with the Texans, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
ANALYSIS
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Another decent season in KC
WRKansas City Chiefs
February 13, 2025
Watson claimed 22 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns on 32 targets over 17 games during the 2024 regular season.
ANALYSIS
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Three targets in Week 18
WRKansas City Chiefs
January 5, 2025
Watson recorded one reception on three targets for five yards in Sunday's 38-0 loss to the Broncos.
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Follows up long grab with TD
WRKansas City Chiefs
December 27, 2024
Watson caught both of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown in Wednesday's 29-10 win over the Steelers.
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Blanked in Week 14
WRKansas City Chiefs
December 10, 2024
Watson was not targeted during Sunday's 19-17 victory over the Chargers.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could step up with Rice hurt
WRKansas City Chiefs
October 3, 2024
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Patrick Mahomes named Watson as one of the players he expects to step up while Rashee Rice is sidelined by a knee injury, per Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com. "You'll see guys like JuJu [Smith-Schuster] and Justin Watson and Noah Gray and really a lot of guys that are going to come in and make plays," Mahomes said.
ANALYSIS
Rice was originally feared to have suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the Week 4 win over the Chargers, but a firm return timetable has yet to be established. Even in the most optimistic scenarios, Rice appears poised for a multi-week absence, and Watson could be one of the main beneficiaries from a production standpoint. Watson has only six catches for 87 yards through four games, but his 460 receiving yards in 2023 were second-most among Kansas City's wide receivers behind Rice's 938.
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