Should I start Deshaun Watson or Tyjae Spears in Week 7?

Updated Oct 21, 7:26 AM ET. Week 8 answers post Tuesday.

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Oct 21, 1:43 PM ET: Tyjae Spears: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Deshaun Watson: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Tyjae Spears's 39 percent of the snaps and 8 percent of the carries. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.

Should I drop Tyjae Spears for Deshaun Watson?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Deshaun Watson projects 161 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 10 games), Tyjae Spears 64 (6.4 a game over 10 games).

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Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.

Deshaun Watson

QB21 · CLE · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 3-3

Overall rank: 134

Tyjae Spears

RB50 · TEN · bye 9

2026 vs carries line 1-5

Market-based projection: 6.2 pts a game Wk 6 price
Overall rank: 135

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The gap

Board size303 draftable players

Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Deshaun Watson, and the board ranks him 134th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Tyjae Spears, and the board ranks him 135th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Deshaun Watson is 13.7 PPR points a game off 3 markets across 8 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Tyjae Spears is 1.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Deshaun Watson's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Deshaun Watson has been on the field for 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 220 times and thrown 7.3 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 46 of 220 dropbacks and scrambled 22 times.

In Week 4 against PIT he completed 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 5 times for 24 yards.

In Week 5 against NYJ he completed 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 6 times for 40 yards.

In Week 6 against BAL he completed 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 8 times for 29 yards.

Through Week 6, Tyjae Spears has been on the field for 42 percent of TEN snaps, taken 14 percent of the carries, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 48 third down targets, had 0 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have come 2.7 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 4 against BAL he carried 2 times for 7 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for -1 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against HOU he carried 2 times for 0 yards, caught 9 of 9 targets for 28 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against IND he carried 1 time for 1 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

The season feed carries no line for Deshaun Watson in the last completed season.

In 2025 Tyjae Spears played 13 games and scored 111.7 PPR points, 8.6 a game, finishing RB44.

He carried 72 times for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 45 of 50 targets for 264 more yards.

That came to 5-6 carries a game at 3.9 yards a carry and 3-4 catches a game.

He was on the field for 46 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Side by side

Deshaun Watson is a quarterback and Tyjae Spears a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Deshaun Watson is off in Week 11 and Tyjae Spears in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Tyjae Spears for Deshaun Watson?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Deshaun Watson projects 161 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 10 games), Tyjae Spears 64 (6.4 a game over 10 games).
Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Tyjae Spears?
No. Keep Deshaun Watson: he projects 161 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 10 games), Tyjae Spears 64 (6.4 a game over 10 games).