Despite the team trading away his top receiver in the offseason, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has been playing about as well as he has ever played.
Watson has finished as fantasy's QB1 -- not "a" QB1, but "the" QB1 -- in three of his past six games. Watson has also been a QB1 (i.e., a top-12 fantasy quarterback) in six of his past seven starts. (The exception was a bad-weather game in Cleveland.)
Over the past half season (eight games), Watson has scored 20-plus fantasy points in all but one game. Again, the exception to the rule was the Cleveland game, where he battled difficult weather.
Watson has compiled a 15-to-none TD-INT ratio (not counting another rushing score) over his past six games. In addition, Watson has 300-plus passing yards in six of his past eight games and multiple passing touchdowns in eight of his past nine.
Regardless of how you slice it, Watson has been playing great.
Going forward, he'll have to do it without Will Fuller, who had really stepped up this season. Part of that can be attributed to the PED that has led to his six-game suspension, which will carry over into Week 1 of 2021.
Another challenge to keep his strong play rolling will be this week's difficult matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, who have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Justin Herbert: 10-for-10 in games of 300+ Yards and/or 2+ TDs
While he didn't have his best performance against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Herbert still scored 17.44 fantasy points (QB14) and threw for 316 yards. Before the streak ended in Week 12, Herbert had seven consecutive top-12 performances.
Only four quarterbacks -- Kyler Murray (10), Aaron Rodgers (nine), Patrick Mahomes (eight) and Russell Wilson (eight) -- have more QB1 performances this season than Herbert (seven), who is tied with Watson and Tom Brady for fifth-most.
A late Hail Mary allowed Herbert to reach the 300-yard weekly milestone against the Bills. The likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year has now thrown for 300-plus yards and/or multiple touchdowns in all 10 of his NFL games. Only two other quarterbacks (Mahomes and Rodgers) as many such games this season.
Even though the Week 13 matchup is a challenging one for any quarterback, especially a rookie, Herbert remains an every-week must-start for fantasy managers.
MORE: Herbert is listed as a start in Week 13 Fantasy Football Start'em, Sit'em
Taysom Hill: 4 Rushing TDs, Zero Passing TDs
We are about to witness Hill's third (and perhaps final?) act as a starting quarterback in Week 13. Through two NFL starts (and his career, for that matter), Hill has yet to throw a touchdown. And it hasn't even mattered for fantasy owners.
In his two starts combined, which includes a matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11, Hill has 20 carries for 93 yards and FOUR touchdowns. Because of his rushing production, he has scored 24.22 (QB4) and 18.52 (QB11) fantasy points in the last two weeks, respectively.
Last week was an anomaly with the entire Denver Broncos quarterback room on the COVID-19/reserve list. Only favored by three points this week, Hill and the Saints will likely have to throw more than 16 times in Week 13.
The table below lists our fantasy quarterback rankings for Week 13.
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