Deshaun Watson should be fine in fantasy without DeAndre Hopkins

Deshaun Watson can overcome the DeAndre Hopkins loss in fantasy football.

Though losing DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals in a trade for David Johnson hurts the Houston Texans‘ chances to three-peat in the AFC South, it shouldn’t mean the end of the world for Deshaun Watson as a fantasy football quarterback in 2020. Here is why he’ll still come out alright this fall, even if Hopkins now plays in the opposite conference than him.

The Fantasy Footballers previewed the entire AFC South in their latest episode. The first team they touched on was the two-time defending division champion Texans. Though they have their doubts about Houston’s viability to three-peat with the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans also having strong teams, they aren’t all that concerned about a major Watson drop-off.

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Had the Watson-to-Hopkins connection remained intact, Watson would be a top-four fantasy quarterback this fall. That would have been a tandem many fantasy players would love to have their entire roster built around. It was a double-down that would have been certainly worthwhile. However, that’s no longer the case, but you’d be foolish to ding Watson too much this season.

Deshaun Watson should still be a top-10 fantasy quarterback in 2020.

The thought is Watson has always had a proclivity for throwing touchdown passes at all levels of football. In fact, he’s the type of player who will make a marginal fantasy tight end like Darren Fells viable week-to-week. Will Watson have to build a stronger rapport with some of his teammates now that Hopkins is gone? Sure, but we’re also forgetting he’s an adept ball carrier as well.

See, this is where Watson can attempt to make up the potential loss of passing production with the Hopkins trade. Watson may have to scramble a bit more this year, which will only add to his fantasy value. Though he may not have a bona fide No. 1 in Hopkins anymore, he can still chuck it deep to often-injured Will Fuller or dump it off to newcomer Johnson out of the backfield.

Ultimately, Watson is a sure-fire QB1 on any fantasy roster he is a part of this year. Though he’s not going to be the first quarterback off the board in fantasy, he’s the type of player you can absolutely assemble a championship roster around. Watson is a complete football player and he should be able to adjust just fine, even if Hopkins calls the Valley of the Sun home these days.