Christian Watson start or sit: Week 9 fantasy football advice

The Green Bay Packers haven’t had the season they hoped through eight weeks in the first year under QB Jordan Love. The Packers sit at 2-5 on the season and enter a Week 9 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. The passing game hasn’t clicked all season and that’s impacted WR Christian Watson so much in fantasy football we have to beg the question of whether or not to play him. Let’s take a look.

Fantasy Football analysis: Packers WR Christian Watson

Watson had three catches on eight targets for 33 yards in Week 8 vs. the Vikings. He only has 11 catches for 176 yards and a TD on the season.

Start or sit in Week 9 PPR leagues?

Start. The Rams could be without starting QB Matthew Stafford. Not that it matters for L.A.’s defense but this could put the Packers in good field position most of Sunday. The Rams’ defense is starting to cave a bit having allowed 67 points over the past two losses. Watson is averaging 6.0 targets per game through four contests in 2023, so it isn’t like Green Bay isn’t trying to get him the ball. Eventually the target volume should translate to a big game, perhaps a long TD, something we saw last year from Watson. In PPR, Watson is still an OK FLEX play.

Start or sit in Week 9 standard leagues?

This is a tougher call but would still lean toward starting Watson. He has too high a ceiling if it ever comes back. The Rams don’t have a great pass rush, so that could free up Love to find Watson in space or deep. All it takes is one big play for Watson to be a WR2 or FLEX in standard formats. Stick with him this week.

Player(s) you would start ahead of Christian Watson

Rankings have Watson as a fringe top-30 WR for Week 9. That would put him in the realm of starting as a FLEX in leagues with an extra WR or FLEX spot. In shallow leagues, you may not be in line to start Watson. Jordan Addison, Gabe Davis and Tee Higgins make for better plays in Watson’s range.