Who Should I Start? Christian Watson or Xavier Smith

Wednesday, April 15, 5:43 AM

Injuries have forced Packers wide receiver Christian Watson to miss 21 games across his first four seasons, but when healthy, he's shown continued flashes of game-breaking ability, and with Green Bay recently thinning its receiver ranks, he could have a path to fantasy greatness. After tearing his ACL in the final week of the 2024 season, Watson missed the first seven games of 2025, but upon his return, it didn't take long for him to endear himself to his fantasy managers. From Weeks 8 through 17, Watson was the WR9 in Half-PPR formats, finding the end zone six times across his final seven outings and once more in a Wild Card playoff loss to the Bears. Green Bay has since allowed Romeo Doubs to leave in free agency and has traded away Dontayvion Wicks, opening up a combined 127 targets from 2025. Health and a competing cluster of talent at wide receiver have been the biggest obstacles to Watson's sustained fantasy success, but with at least one hurdle seemingly cleared, he will enter the season 20 months removed from his ACL tear and atop the depth chart. Tight end Tucker Kraft, who was the team's best pass-catcher through the first half of the 2025 season is rehabbing his own ACL injury and could be limited to start the year, leaving Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed as Watson's greatest target competition one year after combining for 539 receiving yards and one touchdown, numbers exceeded by Watson in fewer than half the games played.