Packers WR Christian Watson tore his ACL in Week 18 of last season, and it has caused him to miss the entire offseason as well as the first five weeks of this season. However, there is good news, as the Packers designated him to return from the PUP list on Monday and he practiced with the team for the first time since the injury. The Packers now have 21 days to activate him to the roster.
Whether or not he is ready to roll for Sunday’s game against the Bengals remains to be seen, but when Watson does come back, I expect it to be incremental. We have to keep in mind that it’s only been nine months since the injury. Don’t expect him to come back to double-digit targets and a 75% snap share in his first game. Watson should see a gradual increase in action when he does return, and hopefully, he will be up to 100% for the second half of the season.
In the meantime, Green Bay has plenty of depth at that position. Despite Jayden Reed’s injury, the team can still rely on the likes of Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks. When Watson does return, I would expect him and Doubs to be the top two options at wideout. When Reed, Doubs and Watson are all eventually healthy, along with Golden and Wicks, opposing defensive coordinators will have nightmares thinking about how to stop all of Green Bay’s weapons. Watson is coming off a season in which he posted career bests in both receiving yards and yards per catch. He finished the 2024 season with 29 catches for 620 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games.
Now that we’ve looked at his potential role in this offense and when he could possibly return, let’s take a look at his fantasy football outlook for the rest of the season.
Personally, I don’t think Watson will be fantasy-relevant at any point this season. Green Bay simply has too many mouths to feed. I already mentioned some of the names in their crowded receiver room, but left out names at other positions, like TE Tucker Kraft, who leads the team in receiving through four games. When Watson was healthy and on the field last season, he was a non-factor in fantasy scoring. He averaged 7.5 FPTS over his 15 games on DraftKings, making him WR78 in that category.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Watson had one or two breakout games in the second half of the season, but I don’t think he will be consistent enough to be fantasy-relevant in season-long leagues or DFS formats.
