Houston Texans Fantasy Outlook: Will Fuller, Randall Cobb, David Johnson
by Alan Seslowsky

Fantasy players are relying heavily on team beat reporters for information this season. Those reporters who are well connected and have boots on the ground will be one of the keys to solving the fantasy football puzzle in 2020. On Rosterwatch podcast #276, our co-founder Alex Dunlap talked to one of the best reporters in the industry, Deepi Sidhu, who covers the Houston Texans. Below are some of the key takeaways from their discussion.

Will Fuller

It is not breaking news that Will Fuller has been a major injury headache for fantasy players. We also know that Fuller is one of the few WRs that has week-winning upside, even on modest volume. Paired with Deshaun Watson, a healthy Fuller can reasonably be projected as a top 12 WR any given week. There is a case that Will Fuller can lead the team in targets. Fuller’s 2019 ADP of the late-fourth round was fair but did not include an injury risk discount. In 2020, the price is actually better on Will Fuller – even in a year in which he has lost a prolific producer like DeAndre Hopkins as target competition. Fuller can routinely be drafted in the late-6th round or many times the 7th without having to fight your draft room for him. Fuller still has the same injury risk until we see him play 16 games, but the ADP is accounting for it in 2020. Sidhu suggested Fuller’s injuries have been more bad luck, citing that he was not injured during his days at Notre Dame. 

Randall Cobb

In PPR leagues, Randall Cobb has been a useful player for years. During his peak in Green Bay, Cobb was often a top 36 overall player for fantasy. RosterWatch co-founder, Alex Dunlap pointed out that even though Cobb is more of a role player now he was targeted 83 times in 2019 in the Cowboys offense. Fantasy players who picked up Cobb off the waiver wire last year in need of a playoff push were rewarded with an average of 18 PPR points per game from weeks 10-12. The appeal of Cobb is that he is a low-cost WR who profiles differently from the other key WRs on the team. Cobb projects as the slot WR on a team that does not have an established pass-catching TE to deploy in the short and intermediate areas of the field. If you drafted using a “robust RB” strategy and are looking for low-cost PPR points, Cobb is an excellent pick late in your drafts. 

 

David Johnson

The Texans offense is going to look different this year. Long time superstar WR DeAndre Hopkins is gone, and RB David Johnson is in. David Johnson is one of those RBs getting drafted in the top 50 that most fantasy players do not feel great about. There has been no worse fantasy investment than DJ the last three seasons cumulatively. He cost you a first-round pick in 2017-2019 and did not deliver. RosterWatch co-founder Alex Dunlap pointed out that David Johnson was productive for fantasy in the first six weeks of 2019, averaging 20 PPR fantasy points per game, even with a tough matchup versus Baltimore wedged in there. Dunlap admitted David Johnson did not look right after he returned from injury, though. Deepi Sidhu suggested that David Johnson is healthy now, and has been practicing every day; rotating first-team reps with Duke Johnson. RosterWatch concedes David Johnson is a “hold your nose”-and-click draft pick, but he is one of the last starting RBs with a certain role to be available in most drafts. If you drafted WRs, a premium TE, or Lamar/Mahomes early, David Johnson is a defensible pick as your RB2. We’d like him best as our RB3 or flex option with upside.