The biggest trade of the offseason thus far has easily been the one between the Texans and Cardinals. We’ve touched on the effects the trade has had on DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, David Johnson and Kyler Murray. But now we look to the Houston signal caller and the unfortunate events of losing his top weapon.
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It’s no secret how valuable Hopkins has been to Houston’s offense and Watson. In the three years Watson has been the starter, Hopkins has averaged 105 catches for 1,372 yards and 10 touchdowns. It’s pretty clear he’s either the league’s best wide receiver or pretty damn close. So now what happens when you take this guy out of the offense….
How the fook do you trade this manpic.twitter.com/yi4Gi26zAI
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) March 20, 2020
and replace him with Randall Cobb AND this?
Close your eyes, David Johnson owners 🤮 pic.twitter.com/XeyYtdvvB2
— Roto Street Journal (@RotoStJournal) November 12, 2019
Overall, it’s a tough look for the Texans offense. Especially when new WR1 Will Fuller can’t make it through 8 games without his hamstring falling off the bone. Not to mention, WR2 Keke Coutee has also had his fair share of injury woes. Then, the addition of Cobb will be like putting a band-aid on a bullet hole.
Hopkins covered a near 30% target share of Watson’s looks in 2019, and it’s safe to say there won’t be a Texans receiver in 2020 who’s capable of replicating those numbers, or even one who will have somewhat of a similar impact on the offense as a whole. There’s still time to bring in another veteran receiver, but at this point it wouldn’t make a huge difference.
Instead, Bill O’Brien continues to make head scratching decisions by trading for three separate running backs over the span of less than a calendar year.
Make no mistake about it, Watson still has immense talent. His rushing ability and big-play upside will always make him a top-tier fantasy QB. As long as the offensive line improves from 2019 and his playmakers can remain healthy, he should still be a solid fantasy quarterback.
However, with the loss of Hopkins, Watson has fallen down to The Wolf’s QB10, which is six spots below the ECR on his most recent Big Board (Free Agency Update).
