San Francisco 49ersOur read
Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6
Watkins runs fifth among San Francisco receivers behind Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr., De'Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson, and the published projection has him at 2.9 points in PPR scoring for Monday night against Washington. He's clean on Sunday's report, but he's at 2.7 PPR points a game over 3 games with 0 touchdowns, including back-to-back zeros the last two weeks. Washington does give up 41 PPR points a game to receivers, 31st of 32, yet that work flows to the men ahead of him, not a fifth receiver. Find a fill-in and leave Watkins on your bench.
Written Oct 17, from his facts through last season
The number that matters most is 2 targets. Six weeks into 2026, that is the whole accounting of his season: two targets, two catches, 60 yards, no touchdowns, and 2.7 points a game across three appearances. The 8 points in week 3 of 2026 is the only week anything happened, and weeks 4 and 5 of 2026 put a zero in both boxes.
The role never really existed. He was a fourth-round pick in 2025 who played 2 games all year, and last season he ran routes on just 10.3% of the snaps with a 2.4% target share. This year the depth chart lists him fifth among SF receivers, behind Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr., De'Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson. Kyle Shanahan is still calling the plays himself, and the pecking order in the target tree has not moved. In 2025, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle took 45% of the targets between them before anyone else ate.
The crowded room is a real cost, not just an aesthetic problem. Among players in his spot, scoring fell 0.9 points a game from one season to the next on average. He missed weeks 1 and 2 of 2026, our preseason number was only 30 points over 10 expected games, and there is no ADP on record for him. The bye lands in week 8 of 2026, one week away. Unless your league runs very deep, he is a name to let someone else carry. We would cut him for any add with a clearer weekly path.