With Keke Coutee out of the lineup for Thursday night’s game against the Dolphins, it was Will Fuller’s time to step up and dominate across from DeAndre Hopkins — and he did just that. After roasting the Dolphins’ secondary to the tune of 124 yards and a touchdown on five receptions, Watson targeted Fuller on one more deep ball, but the oft-injured wideout got his cleat stuck in the turf, which resulted in what the Texans’ fear is a torn ACL. This injury will not only end his season, but it results in a fantasy hit to the rest of the Texans’ offense — primarily Watson and Hopkins.
We all know about Fuller and Watson’s unreal rapport… the two connect for a touchdown almost every time they’re in the lineup together. In fact, the two accounted for 10 touchdowns in their first seven games together, which is just obscene. Fuller finally looked healthy on Thursday night after dealing with a hamstring injury, which is extremely unfortunate for both Watson and Fuller owners. Barring a miracle on Friday’s MRI, the Notre Dame product just can’t catch a break from the injury bug.
From a fantasy perspective, this hurts both Watson, Hopkins and the run game a bit, but it should benefit Keke Coutee owners. Fuller is Watson’s best deep threat who has the ability to score from anywhere on the field — as seen on his 73-yard touchdown reception. Fuller’s 4.32 speed and ability to take the top off the defense makes the opposing safety choose between him or Hopkins, but now Nuk will be seeing a ton of double teams. Although Hopkins has put up numbers in the past without Fuller, his presence alone just makes the passing offense that much more dangerous. With safeties now able to cheat over to the Alpha-WR1, [a healthy] Coutee now has a chance to develop into a legitimate fantasy receiver who could be a mainstay in your lineup. With a Watson shaking off the rust from his own ACL injury, hopefully this offense can continue to be a fantasy goldmine.
