Start Deshaun Watson or Aaron Rodgers? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 8:41 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET, set your lineup before then.

Start Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers

Start

Deshaun Watson

QB · CLE · at TEN

Market projects: 14.8; recent weeks avg
TEN D vs QB: 15.5; 11th fewest to QBs (2026)
Snap share: 100%; Through Week 6

Sit

Aaron Rodgers

QB · PIT · at NO

Market projects: 13.3; recent weeks avg
NO D vs QB: 17.1; 16th fewest to QBs (2026)
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Aaron Rodgers for Deshaun Watson?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Deshaun Watson projects 164 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.4 a game over 10 games), Aaron Rodgers 142 (14.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Deshaun Watson at 14.8 points and Aaron Rodgers at 13.3, a gap of 1.6. No player market is posted for Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 14.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (13.4 and 16.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Aaron Rodgers this week yet, so his 13.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (12.0 and 14.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 13.4 and 16.3 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 14.8, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Aaron Rodgers yet. His market-based projections were 12.0 and 14.5 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 13.3, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Deshaun Watson 1.6 points ahead of Aaron Rodgers on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Deshaun Watson and CLE visit TEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TEN allowed 15.5 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 5 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 229 yards and a touchdown a game against TEN, with 0.4 interceptions.

Aaron Rodgers and PIT visit NO on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

NO allowed 17.1 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 5 games, the 16th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 228 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NO, with 0.2 interceptions.

By points allowed to the position, Aaron Rodgers has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Aaron Rodgers is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 220 times and threw an average of 7.3 air yards per attempt.

Deshaun Watson, Week 3 against CAR: 69 of 70 snaps, 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 9 carries for 47 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 4 against PIT: 64 of 64 snaps, 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 5 carries for 24 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 5 against NYJ: 68 of 68 snaps, 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 6 carries for 40 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 6 against BAL: 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 8 carries for 29 yards.

Through Week 6, Aaron Rodgers played 98 percent of PIT snaps, dropped back 252 times and threw an average of 7.7 air yards per attempt.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 3 against CIN: 62 of 62 snaps, 19 of 33 passes for 292 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 12 yards.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 4 against CLE: 72 of 72 snaps, 22 of 40 passes for 299 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 5 against IND: 58 of 60 snaps, 22 of 31 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 6 yards.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 6 against TB: 33 of 47 passes for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Aaron Rodgers played 16 games for PIT and scored 234.1 PPR points, 14.6 a game, finishing QB18.

He completed 327 of 498 passes for 3322 yards, 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and ran 21 times for 61 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 95 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Aaron Rodgers for Deshaun Watson?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Deshaun Watson projects 164 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.4 a game over 10 games), Aaron Rodgers 142 (14.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.
Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Aaron Rodgers?
No. Keep Deshaun Watson: he projects 164 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.4 a game over 10 games), Aaron Rodgers 142 (14.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.