Fantasy Football Impact of Deshaun Watson Injury | Will Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt Benefit? Does Stock of Amari Cooper and David Njoku Drop?

The 10th week of the NFL season is in the books, and another quarterback has been lost for the season. 

This time, it’s Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson, who has pretty much been banged up all season. He has a broken bone in his throwing shoulder. Watson also played through a high ankle sprain in the Browns’ comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens in week 10.

Unless Cleveland makes a move for another quarterback, it will either be P.J. Walker or Dorian Thompson-Robinson that takes over as the new starter. Will that mean bigger workloads for running backs like Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt? Do pass catchers like Amari Cooper and David Njoku see their fantasy value dip? Let’s discuss.

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The Season So Far

The Browns are 6-3 on the season despite Watson only playing in six contests. Cleveland went 5-1 in his starts.

Watson finished his season completing 105-of-171 passes for 1,115 yards. He threw seven touchdowns to four interceptions. Watson was sacked 17 times. He attempted 26 rushes, going for 142 yards and a touchdown. 

Walker has appeared in five contests, making two starts. He went 1-1 in those starts.

Walker has only completed 49% (48-of-98) of his passes for 618 yards and one touchdown, while throwing five interceptions. He’s been sacked seven times and added 31 rushing yards on 12 attempts.

Thompson-Robinson has played in three games, including one start. The Browns lost his start 28-3 to the Ravens.

Thompson-Robinson has completed 20-of-37 passes for 130 yards and no touchdowns, while being picked off three times. He’s been sacked four times and rushed four times for 24 yards.

I believe that Walker will be the team’s starter for the time being. Sitting at 6-3, the Browns can afford to test out Walker to see if he’s capable of leading the team the rest of the season. If he struggles, maybe Thompson-Robinson gets a chance, or the Browns might decide to make an external move.

Knowing what we know now though, Walker and Thompson-Robinson aren’t Watson. While Watson wasn’t playing super well, he was doing a pretty good job of taking care of the ball, something that Walker and Thompson-Robinson have struggled with this season.

Running Back Fantasy Outlook

The Watson injury probably wouldn’t matter nearly as much if the Browns still had Nick Chubb to fall back on. Instead, they will use the trio of Ford, Hunt and Pierre Strong to try to get through the season.

Ford has served as the team’s lead back since Chubb’s injury. He’s played 349 offensive snaps and gotten 145 touches - rushing 124 times for 532 yards and two scores, while catching 21 of his 29 targets for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Hunt was signed back to the team after the Chubb injury, and is now getting double-digit touches per game. For the season, Hunt has played 152 snaps and gotten 76 touches. He’s rushed 70 times for 228 yards and six touchdowns, while catching six of his nine targets for an additional 58 yards. Hunt has 14 of the team’s 23 red zone carries this season.

Strong looked to be taking on a larger role on offense a couple weeks back, but only has four touches the past two games, including none in week 10. He’s played 83 offensive snaps and gotten 36 touches. Strong has attempted 34 runs, going for 152 yards and a touchdown, while catching two of his three targets for 34 yards.

With Watson now out, I think the Browns will rely more on their ground game. Cleveland already ranks third in the league in rush yards and has the second-most rushing attempts. 

That boosts the value of Ford and Hunt, and I think they’ll both be fantasy starters in all formats just about every week. If either is available in your leagues, sprint to the waiver wire to pick them up. 

I also would think Strong would get some extra snaps and touches every week now. He’s owned in just 3% of leagues, but that number should go up a bit. I’d definitely take a chance on Strong in a deeper league setup, but hold off on him in standard leagues for now.

Wide Receiver/Tight End Fantasy Outlook

Cooper has easily been the Browns’ best pass catcher this season, but his touchdown production has been lacking. Maybe that means his fantasy stock isn’t hurt as much as one might think, but I’d also expect his other numbers (targets, catches, yards) to also take a step back.

Cooper has caught 41 of his 72 targets this season, going for 715 yards and two touchdowns. He’s caught half of his eight red zone targets and played 545 snaps overall.

Njoku is the second-best fantasy pass catcher on the team. The tight end has hauled in 38 passes on 54 total targets. Njoku has turned his receptions into 377 yards and two touchdowns. He’s caught half of his 10 red zone targets and played 548 snaps.

Elijah Moore is coming off arguably his best game of the season. He’s up to 34 catches on 57 targets, going for 314 yards and one touchdown. He’s got five catches on six red zone targets and has played 523 snaps.

Cleveland doesn’t have any other consistent fantasy assets that catch the ball. No other player has over 100 receiving yards or 10 catches. Tight end Harrison Bryant is the only other player to catch a touchdown.

Cooper and Njoku are the two most valuable fantasy assets at receiver or tight end. Cooper should be owned in nearly every league, while Njoku is near 90% owned, according to our charts. Moore is owned in about 43% of leagues.

I think the fantasy stock of all three players dip a bit. Cooper and Njoku should still be started for the time being, as the Browns have to pass the ball at some point, and they are the two most likely targets in the passing game. If they see their production drop over the next couple weeks, then the start/sit decision becomes a bit more complicated with them.

Moore was a waiver wire option this week after his solid week 10 showing. I’d cancel that waiver wire transaction if you still can, as aside from the occasional score, I don’t anticipate Moore being fantasy relevant going forward.

Final Thoughts

Watson wasn’t an elite fantasy quarterback by any means, but he was at least a serviceable quarterback that kept the Browns’ offense moving. Without him there, I’d expect the Browns to really rely on their run game to power the offense, and then hope their defense can keep them in contests.

Walker and Thompson-Robinson haven’t looked good this season, but maybe with the extra practice reps and game action, they can be at least average quarterbacks, both in real life and for fantasy purposes.

The running back duo of Ford and Hunt should benefit the most from the Watson injury, while I can also see Strong getting some run. Start Ford and Hunt until further notice, and keep an eye on Strong and his snaps and touches these next couple weeks.

The Browns’ passing game wasn’t that good before, so the fantasy values of Cooper and Njoku don't drop all that much. They likely won’t be as consistent as they were before, and should drop a few spots in the projections and overall rankings as time moves on. Moore wasn’t really a fantasy asset this season, and his promising showing in week 10 gets snuffed out by the Watson injury.