Week 14 vs Kansas City Chiefs
Ben Watson is the TE57 through Week 13, and despite tepid expectations from yours truly, he's still managed to disappoint. Watson is averaging 24.5 receiving yards per game and hasn't scored a single touchdown, which isn't surprising given his two total red-zone targets. If you can't find a better option at tight end for the first week of the fantasy playoffs, you're probably trying to lose.
Week 13 at Houston Texans
Ben Watson drew a single target in Week 12, and he remains off-the-radar as a fantasy starter in Week 13. Matt LaCosse returned to the lineup and outproduced Watson on 15 fewer snaps, and he caught one target for five yards. If that weren't enough, the Texans defense has been one of the stingiest in the NFL to the tight end position. Watson isn't seeing nearly enough of a target share to return value, and he should be left in the fantasy free-agent pool even in deeper leagues.
Week 12 vs Dallas Cowboys
Ben Watson had his best game of the season against the Eagles last week with three receptions on four targets for 52 yards. It's a sad indictment of the position overall that this made him the TE21 for the week, but it keeps him on the radar for TE-friendly matchups moving forward. Only six teams have an aFPA to tight ends higher than Dallas, which could make this game one of those matchups. Watson has seen a dominant snap share among Patriots tight ends, and it's been above 70% for every game he's played in, so he does have the snap volume to be fantasy-viable. Unfortunately, his target rate doesn't follow suit, and at 6.4% it's the second-lowest behind Sony Michel among Patriots offensive players. Watson is a low-floor TE2 against Dallas this week.
Week 11 at Philadephia Eagles
Ben Watson leads all Patriots tight ends in both snap share and target rate, but in a post-Gronk 2019, that's an incredibly low bar. Watson was not only the only Patriots tight end to play a down in Week 9 against Baltimore, but he also lined up for 100% of the Patriots' offensive plays, as New England lined up in 11-personnel (three wide receivers, one tight end, one running back) for every single play against the Ravens. Watson converted five targets into four receptions and just 28 receiving yards. Watson is averaging just 3.7 targets per game in 2019, and currently ranks as the fantasy TE61 through ten weeks. Unless the Patriots suddenly and drastically increase their tight end target share, Watson is best left in the free-agent pool. There is almost certainly a better option available to you for fantasy purposes in Week 11.
Week 9 at Baltimore Ravens
Ben Watson received just one target in Week 8 after being targeted five times in Week 7. Watson still has the ability to put up fantasy-relevant numbers, but until he's implemented into this Patriots offense as a receiver more regularly, he's nothing but a dart-throw at the position for fantasy purposes. Watson is averaging a 73% snap share through his first two games, but his 5.5% target rate ranks him 48th among all tight ends.
Week 8 vs Cleveland Browns
Ben Watson is back for a second tour with the Patriots, and he stepped into a commanding 76% snap share in Week 7. His 8.1% target rate was a direct result of him being essentially the only game in town at tight end with Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse inactive with injuries. Watson had a couple of key first downs in the game, and that kind of clutch reliability is certain to be rewarded to some extent with an increased target rate.
Watson's week to week fantasy viability is destined to be difficult to project, given Tom Brady's tendency to find the open receiver rather than heavily target a given player. The addition of Mohamed Sanu gives Brady a deep group of options among which Watson is at best fourth in line, but tight end is fairly shallow in 2019, and he's likely to be fantasy-viable moving forward. For Week 8, he's not startable as a top-24 tight end.
Week 7 at New York Jets
Ben Watson was re-signed by the Patriots this week after he was released following his four-game suspension to begin the 2019 season. He returns with a lower cap hit and a fully guaranteed remaining salary, and he should immediately step in as both an effective blocker and an experienced receiver. He's a risky start this week, as it's yet to be determined whether the Patriots will lean more heavily on tight end targets than they have so far this season with Watson available, but he's certainly someone to keep an eye on given the generally barren wasteland that is the tight end position.
Week 5 at Washington Redskins
Finally! There's a New England tight end worth considering! Following Rob Gronkowski's offseason retirement, the Patriots have lined up without a tight end on the field more frequently than any team but the Arizona Cardinals. It's fair to say that New England's options at the position haven't been quite Gronkowski-level. While the Patriots are likely to continue to lean more heavily on their wide receivers and running backs moving forward, it will be shocking if they don't immediately implement Watson regularly on both rushing and passing downs, especially with the loss of fullback James Develin.
Washington has been fairly stingy against tight ends so far in 2019, as they've yet to allow one to surpass 54 receiving yards despite having faced both Zach Ertz and Evan Engram. Washington has very little tape to study this season with New England utilizing tight ends and nothing that includes Ben Watson, which should benefit him slightly. This isn't an endorsement to start Watson expecting a TE1 return, but 4 catches for 58 yards made Engram the TE18 last week in 0.5 PPR formats, and that's well within Watson's range of outcomes.
**UPDATE 10/5 @ 12:00pm: Welp, my Ben Watson enthusiasm was premature. He was ruled out for the game today, and should head straight to your bench. If you picked him up for this week (or already had him), hang onto him, as he should be the primary tight end for New England moving forward.**
Week 19 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Ben Watson caught two-of-three targets for 29 yards in the Saints’ Week 17 loss to the Panthers. Watson, who plans to retire following New Orleans’ playoff run, has not seen more than three targets in his last eight games. He has also not gone over 50 yards receiving in that same span. Ranked as our TE8 for the Divisional Round, avoid Watson in DFS play this weekend. The Saints simply don’t use him.
Week 17 vs. Carolina Panthers
Ben Watson caught one-of-two targets for six yards in the Saints’ Week 16 win over the Steelers. He hasn’t seen more than four targets since Week 9 and has completely fallen off the fantasy radar. Avoid Watson in all formats on Sunday when the Saints host the Panthers.
