Start Deshaun Watson or Justin Herbert? Week 9
Updated Nov 3, 4:36 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Deshaun Watson over Justin Herbert
- Market projects
- 15.2
- recent weeks avg
- NO D vs QB
- 17.8
- 15th most to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 100%
- Through Week 8
- Market projects
- 12.9
- recent weeks avg
- HOU D vs QB
- 18.5
- 11th most to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 100%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Justin Herbert for Deshaun Watson?
Not on these numbers alone. Justin Herbert projects 125 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (13.9 a game over 9 games) and Deshaun Watson 126 (15.8 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Justin Herbert.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Deshaun Watson over Justin Herbert in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Deshaun Watson at 15.2 points and Justin Herbert at 12.9, a gap of 2.3. No player market is posted for Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 15.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.9, 13.5 and 15.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Justin Herbert this week yet, so his 12.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (13.8 and 12.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.
What the market projects
No Week 9 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 16.9, 13.5 and 15.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
No Week 9 player market is posted for Justin Herbert yet. His market-based projections were 13.8 and 12.0 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 12.9, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
That puts Deshaun Watson 2.3 points ahead of Justin Herbert on these projections.
Week 9 matchups
Deshaun Watson and CLE visit NO on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
NO allowed 17.8 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 15th most in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 250 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NO, with 0.6 interceptions a game.
Justin Herbert and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.
HOU allowed 18.5 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 11th most in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 263 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against HOU, with 0.4 interceptions a game.
By points allowed to the position, Justin Herbert has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.
Justin Herbert is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 9
Through Week 8, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 306 times and threw an average of 7.2 air yards per attempt.
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.
Deshaun Watson, Week 8 against PIT: 27 of 39 passes for 324 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 3 yards.
Through Week 8, Justin Herbert played 100 percent of LAC snaps, dropped back 255 times and threw an average of 7.4 air yards per attempt.
Justin Herbert, Week 4 against SEA: 71 of 71 snaps, 19 of 31 passes for 189 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 6 carries for 40 yards.
Justin Herbert, Week 5 against DEN: 67 of 67 snaps, 14 of 23 passes for 121 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 6 carries for 54 yards.
Justin Herbert, Week 6 against KC: 68 of 68 snaps, 22 of 37 passes for 204 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 5 carries for 26 yards.
Justin Herbert, Week 8 against LAR: 24 of 31 passes for 257 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 4 carries for 15 yards.
Their 2025 seasons
In 2025, Justin Herbert played 16 games for LAC and scored 299.9 PPR points, 18.7 a game, finishing QB10.
He completed 340 of 512 passes for 3727 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and ran 83 times for 498 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He was on the field for 97 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.
Their other Week 9 calls
Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Justin Herbert for Deshaun Watson?
Not on these numbers alone. Justin Herbert projects 125 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (13.9 a game over 9 games) and Deshaun Watson 126 (15.8 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Justin Herbert.
Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Justin Herbert?
Not on these numbers alone. Deshaun Watson projects 126 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (15.8 a game over 8 games) and Justin Herbert 125 (13.9 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Deshaun Watson over Justin Herbert.
Week 9 on the board
- Is Deshaun Watson playing Week 9?
- Is Justin Herbert playing Week 9?
- Browns depth chart
- Chargers depth chart
- Week 9 QB rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings