IR
Injury Achilles
Est. Return 10/26/2025
2025 Receiving Stats
REC
3
YDS
30
TD
0
AVG
10.0
TAR
4
Rest-of-Season Projections
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Watson was the third wide receiver added to the Texans' roster in a one-week span early in March. He followed the trade acquisition of Christian Kirk from Jacksonville and signing of Braxton Berrios. The 29-year-old Watson played 17 games for the Chiefs in 2024, snagging 22 of 32 targets with two touchdowns. He joins a team that revamped its receiver corps with Tank Dell (knee) expected to miss the season and Stefon Diggs moving on to New England. The WR room got even deeper after April's draft, when the Texans selected Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Read Past Outlooks
Should return in 2025
Houston executive vice president and general manager Nick Caserio said Tuesday that he expects Watson (calf/Achilles) to return later this season, Sam Warren of the Houston Chronicle reports.
ANALYSIS
Watson sustained the injury in Week 2 and landed on injured reserve, which requires him to miss at least four games. Judging from Caserio's comments, Wilson will likely miss more time than the minimum. While responding to questions about the team's injured players, the GM put Watson in a bucket of players whose timeline is less definitive than others. Watson served as a backup through the first two weeks, when Christian Kirk was unavailable due to a hamstring injury. When Watson is healthy, he's unlikely to have much of a role.
Watson sustained the injury in Week 2 and landed on injured reserve, which requires him to miss at least four games. Judging from Caserio's comments, Wilson will likely miss more time than the minimum. While responding to questions about the team's injured players, the GM put Watson in a bucket of players whose timeline is less definitive than others. Watson served as a backup through the first two weeks, when Christian Kirk was unavailable due to a hamstring injury. When Watson is healthy, he's unlikely to have much of a role.
NFL Stats
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Fantasy/Red Zone Stats
See red zone opportunities inside the 20, 10 and 5-yard lines along with the percentage of time they converted the opportunity into a touchdown.
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Advanced NFL Stats
How do Justin Watson's 2025 advanced stats compare to other wide receivers?
This section compares his advanced stats with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank.
The longer the bar, the better it is for the player.
Air Yards Per Game
17.0Air Yards Per Snap
0.62% Team Air Yards
3.3%% Team Targets
2.8%Avg Depth of Target
8.5 YdsCatch Rate
75.0%Drop Rate
0.0%Avg Yds After Catch
4.3% Targeted On Route
12.9%Avg Yds Per Route Run
0.97Loading Advanced NFL Stats...
2025 NFL Game Log
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2024
2023
2022
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2020
2019
2018
2025 NFL Game Log
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Snap Distribution / Depth Chart
Snap Counts
Snap %
Receiving Alignment Breakdown
See where Justin Watson lined up on the field and how he performed at each spot.
Detailed
Grouped
Side
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This Week's Opposing Pass Defense
How does the Seahawks pass defense compare to other NFL teams this season?
The bars represents the team's percentile rank (based on QB Rating Against). The longer the bar, the better their pass defense is. The team and position group ratings only include players that are currently on the roster and not on injured reserve. The list of players in the table only includes defenders with at least 3 attempts against them.
@ Seahawks
Monday, Oct 20th at 10:00PM
Overall QB Rating Against
68.3
Cornerbacks
64.0
Safeties
87.1
Linebackers
53.1
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2025 Justin Watson Split Stats
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2019
2018
Watson played at least 30 snaps in many games last year. In Weeks 11-16, the Chiefs actually had Watson on the field for over 40 snaps per contest. Despite the strong snap share, Watson is best known for his blocking ability. Otherwise, Watson does see occasional downfield shots from Patrick Mahomes. After posting between 45-62 yards in the first three games of 2023, Watson had just three other games with 40+ yards. The 62-yard game was the receiver’s best effort of the season. Between having a low scoring floor with little upside, Watson is little more than a depth piece in fantasy.
More Fantasy News
Lands on IR
Watson (calf/Achilles) was placed on IR by the Texans on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
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Two more targets in loss
Watson caught one of two targets for three yards in Monday's 20-19 loss to Tampa Bay.
ANALYSIS
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Targeted twice in opener
Watson caught both of his targets for 27 yards in Sunday's 14-9 loss to the Rams.
ANALYSIS
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Headed to Houston
Watson is in line to sign with the Texans, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
ANALYSIS
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Another decent season in KC
Watson claimed 22 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns on 32 targets over 17 games during the 2024 regular season.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could step up with Rice hurt
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Patrick Mahomes named Watson as one of the players he expects to step up while Rashee Rice is sidelined by a knee injury, per Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com. "You'll see guys like JuJu [Smith-Schuster] and Justin Watson and Noah Gray and really a lot of guys that are going to come in and make plays," Mahomes said.
ANALYSIS
Rice was originally feared to have suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the Week 4 win over the Chargers, but a firm return timetable has yet to be established. Even in the most optimistic scenarios, Rice appears poised for a multi-week absence, and Watson could be one of the main beneficiaries from a production standpoint. Watson has only six catches for 87 yards through four games, but his 460 receiving yards in 2023 were second-most among Kansas City's wide receivers behind Rice's 938.
Rice was originally feared to have suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the Week 4 win over the Chargers, but a firm return timetable has yet to be established. Even in the most optimistic scenarios, Rice appears poised for a multi-week absence, and Watson could be one of the main beneficiaries from a production standpoint. Watson has only six catches for 87 yards through four games, but his 460 receiving yards in 2023 were second-most among Kansas City's wide receivers behind Rice's 938.