Who Should I Start? Marcus Mariota or Deshaun Watson

Thursday, December 18, 5:29 PM

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota has a tough matchup in Week 16 against his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Mariota will remain Washington's starter for the remainder of the regular season after the team shut down Jayden Daniels (elbow) after aggravating his elbow injury in Week 14. The 32-year-old signal-caller has been solid all season while filling in for Daniels, completing 62% of his passes for 1,600 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while adding 49 carries for 298 yards and a touchdown as a runner in 10 games (seven starts). Mariota is averaging 18.4 fantasy points per game in his seven starts, which would be tied for QB11 on the season among quarterbacks with at least six games. Mariota profiles as a QB2 on Saturday against an Eagles defense that has allowed the 10th-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

Friday, December 19, 1:27 PM

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that a decision on activating quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles) to the 53-man roster will be made next week, according to Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. The deadline for the Browns to activate Watson from the Physically Unable to Perform list is next Tuesday. Watson has been ruled out for the Week 16 contest against the visiting Buffalo Bills. Even if the 30-year-old is activated from the PUP list before the Week 17 divisional matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, rookie Shedeur Sanders is expected to remain Cleveland's starter to close out the 2025 season. If the Browns don't activate Watson by next Tuesday, he'll be ineligible for the final two games of the year. The three-time Pro Bowler's NFL future remains incredibly murky, although he's expected to stick around in Cleveland next year and compete for the starting job with Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.