Start Deshaun Watson or Caleb Williams? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 8:26 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Caleb Williams over Deshaun Watson

Start

Caleb Williams

QB · CHI · at SEA

Market projects: 17.2; fantasy pts
SEA D vs QB: 11.6; 2nd fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 53 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 97%; Through Week 7

Sit

Deshaun Watson

QB · CLE · at PIT

Market projects: 15.5; recent weeks avg
PIT D vs QB: 13.2; 4th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 50 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 100%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Caleb Williams?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Caleb Williams projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Deshaun Watson 145 (16.1 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Caleb Williams over Deshaun Watson.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Caleb Williams over Deshaun Watson in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Caleb Williams at 17.2 points and Deshaun Watson at 15.5, a gap of 1.6. Caleb Williams's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. No player market is posted for Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 15.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (16.3, 16.9 and 13.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Market coverage on Caleb Williams is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 17.2 fantasy points for Caleb Williams, with 70 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Caleb Williams is 226 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (7, 9 and 8 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 16.3, 16.9 and 13.5 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 15.5, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Caleb Williams 1.6 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Caleb Williams and CHI visit SEA on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

SEA allowed 11.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 158 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against SEA, with 1.1 interceptions a game.

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

PIT allowed 13.2 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 230 yards and a touchdown a game against PIT, with an interception a game.

By points allowed to the position, Deshaun Watson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Caleb Williams is not on the injury report.

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Caleb Williams played 97 percent of CHI snaps, dropped back 150 times and threw an average of 7.0 air yards per attempt.

Caleb Williams, Week 1 against CAR: 75 of 75 snaps, 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 10 carries for 65 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 2 against MIN: 64 of 74 snaps, 15 of 26 passes for 138 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 5 carries for 42 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 6 against ATL: 77 of 77 snaps, 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 4 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 7 against NE: 69 of 69 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 308 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 19 yards.

Through Week 7, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 258 times and threw an average of 7.4 air yards per attempt.

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: 62 of 62 snaps, 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 8 carries for 29 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 7 against TEN: 70 of 70 snaps, 25 of 36 passes for 308 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 19 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Caleb Williams played 17 games for CHI and scored 325.2 PPR points, 19.1 a game, finishing QB5.

He completed 330 of 568 passes for 3942 yards, 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and ran 77 times for 383 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 99 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Caleb Williams?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Caleb Williams projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Deshaun Watson 145 (16.1 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Caleb Williams over Deshaun Watson.
Should I drop Caleb Williams for Deshaun Watson?
No. Keep Caleb Williams: he projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Deshaun Watson 145 (16.1 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Caleb Williams over Deshaun Watson.

Should I drop Deshaun Watson?