Who Should I Start? Cooper Kupp or Christian Watson

Saturday, June 29, 1:27 PM

ESPN's Sarah Barshop lists Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp as one of the team's most surprising offseason standouts, which even she admits is odd. Kupp, who was the 2021 receiving triple-crown winner, has played through significant injuries in each of the past two seasons. He finished 2023 with 59 catches for 737 yards and five touchdowns, his fewest receiving yards since 2018, when he played in only eight games. However, Kupp is healthy this offseason, and it showed on the practice field. Head coach Sean McVay said during organized team activities that he doesn't think "anyone really understands the amount of things [Kupp was] working through last season" with his injury and that the receiver has been able to build his body "from the ground up." Fantasy managers shouldn't be expecting the 2021 version of Kupp anymore, especially with Puka Nacua in the fold, but if he's healthy, he can still deliver value as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 in 2024.

Tuesday, July 16, 4:33 PM

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (hamstring) finally feels he's in a good place injury-wise following his offseason visit to a local specialist. As Matt Schneidman of The Athletic writes, "keeping Watson on the field is paramount for this group to reach its potential since he might be their biggest game breaker." The Packers have one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the NFL, but that doesn't negate the fact that having the former first-rounder healthy would be huge for Jordan Love and the Packers' progression. "Maybe Year 3 is the one we finally see in consistent stretches the brilliance we've seen from Watson in spurts over the last two seasons," Schneidman added. Watson caught 28 passes for 422 yards and five touchdowns in 2023 as his faulty hamstring limited him to just nine games. His inability to stay healthy so far has dropped him to the WR4 range for fantasy football, but he could see his value rise by playing close to 17 games in 2024.