Who Should I Start? Deshaun Watson or Joe Burrow
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18.9 | 16.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Deshaun Watson News
Saturday, September 5, 9:29 AM
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson won the starting job, but his preseason left plenty of reasons to stay cautious in fantasy. Watson looked comfortable in the opener against Chicago, completing 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards, although he lost a fumble on a fourth-down sack. A week later, the offense went nowhere against Buffalo. Watson finished 5-for-12 for 36 yards with an interception before Cleveland shut down its starters for the preseason finale. Todd Monken still gave him the Week 1 job after evaluating the full offseason, camp, joint practices and games, so the Browns clearly saw more than the uneven game tape. Fantasy managers don't have to be as patient. Watson hasn't played a regular-season snap since tearing his Achilles in October 2024, then re-rupturing it and missing all of 2025. The job is his, but the August inconsistency did little to suggest an immediate fantasy rebound. Watson is best left to deeper Superflex formats until he shows he can string together productive games again.
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27.7 | 10.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Joe Burrow News
Thursday, September 3, 8:22 AM
Speaking on teammate Ja'Marr Chase's new podcast, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said he is extremely optimistic about the 2026 season and has high hopes for the team, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "I just want to win this year," Burrow said. "I just want to win. The rest will take care of itself. I think we'll break a bunch of records eventually, but I think we're going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for. I don't know about you, but I could really feel it in my bones, in my soul in OTAs this year -- different from years past." Burrow has also compared this Cincy squad to his 2019 LSU squad that won the national championship and has said he is "trying to manifest" another Super Bowl run. The 29-year-old three-time Pro Bowler is one of the few QBs who has top-five fantasy upside at the position strictly because of his arm and his elite pass-catching duo of Chase and Tee Higgins. As long as Burrow can stay healthy, he should bounce back as a high-end QB1 in fantasy football in 2026.
Deshaun Watson vs. Joe Burrow
Still trying to decide between Watson and Burrow? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Deshaun Watson is projected to score 18.9 points this week while Joe Burrow is projected to score 27.7 points.
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