Who Should I Start? Aaron Rodgers or Deshaun Watson

Wednesday, June 11, 5:27 PM

Theoretically, The Athletic's Mike DeFabo writes that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won't have as much pressure to win games with his right arm alone on a team that has the league's highest-paid defense and features a run-heavy offense that will limit his exposure. Pittsburgh pretty much did the same last year with Russell Wilson, and although they made the playoffs, they scored just 14.2 points per game in their final five games. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of the 41-year-old signal-caller, who now lacks mobility after tearing his Achilles in 2023. Rodgers was the NFL's worst QB against the blitz in 2024 and has thrown double-digit interceptions in his last two full seasons. His completion percentage (63%) was the fourth-lowest of any season in which he played at least 16 games. In a run-first offense, Rodgers will be a low-end QB2 in fantasy with minimal upside.

Monday, May 19, 10:25 PM

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles) has been throwing to receivers Jerry Jeudy and David Bell at the team's facility and has been out of his walking boot for several weeks, a league source told The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. However, Watson is not part of the offseason QB competition among Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. The 29-year-old Watson had a second surgery on his Achilles back on Jan. 9 and is not expected to be ready to play at the start of the 2025 season this fall. In fact, he's widely expected to miss all of the 2025 campaign, with many believing that he's already played his last game for the Browns. Still, Watson has made "excellent progress" in his recovery from a torn right Achilles that he suffered last season. But given his injury and his off-field drama, Watson's NFL future remains very murky.