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Deshaun Watson Fantasy Outlook Could Plummet Without DeAndre Hopkins in 2020

By Jason Schandl

Deshaun Watson's fantasy outlook in 2020 could plummet with DeAndre Hopkins gone from the Houston Texans offense.
Deshaun Watson's fantasy outlook in 2020 could plummet with DeAndre Hopkins gone from the Houston Texans offense. / Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images
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The Houston Texans offense is going to look a lot different in 2020, playing without DeAndre Hopkins for the first time since 2012. That will have a big impact on the team as a whole, and it could have a serious effect on the fantasy football value offered by quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Deshaun Watson Fantasy Football Value 2020

One of the league's premier young passers, Watson has been a strong fantasy football producer so far. He finished fourth among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring in 2019, fourth in 2018 and first on a per-game basis in 2017 (he played in seven games as a rookie).

A massive part of his offense leaves with Hopkins, though. Over the last two seasons, Hopkins has 313 targets, 2,737 yards and 18 touchdowns. Those account for 31 percent of Watson's passes, 34 percent of his yards and 35 percent of his touchdowns.

Yes, those yardage and touchdowns shares are close to Hopkins' target share, so it may not seem like he was actually bolstering Watson's production, but you also have to account for the impact having to scheme a defense around stopping Hopkins has on the other players.

The Texans are also bringing a very unexciting receiving corps into the 2020 season so far. Will Fuller has missed 20 regular season games over the last three seasons, and no other returning player had more than 600 receiving yards in 2019.

Watson's still a phenom — ranking top-10 in NFL history for both total passing yards and touchdowns for a QB under 25 years old, and he's still going to provide some fantasy football upside. Unless Houston manages to make a surprise addition to this offense, however, he should not be considered a top-five fantasy football QB for the season.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.