Thanks to household names like Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins catching passes from Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals have an overlooked depth issue at their wide receiver position. However, one of the NFL's more underrated wideouts, Justin Watson, would be just what the doctor ordered in Cincinnati.
Watson is a member of the Houston Texans at present, but their C.J. Stroud-led passing attack has a lot of fellas to feed. In other words, the Texans aren't really beholden to Watson. He should also want a chance to play more elsewhere. That's where the Bengals could come in, as Watson would at least be strong competition for the WR3 spot against Andrei Iosivas.
If Houston is willing to trade with a fellow potential Super Bowl contender, Cincinnati should jump at the chance.
Watson's skill set is precisely what Bengals WR corps needs
For the skeptics arguing this isn't realistic, or that Justin Watson isn't some magical upgrade, allow me to explain.
Look at how deep the Texans' wide receiver room is for starters. Nico Collins is a legit WR1. Tank Dell is coming back from an injury and should be a big contributor. Houston drafted ex-Iowa State teammates Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel in the second and third rounds respectively last year, and Lewis Bond in the sixth round this year. Even Xavier Hutchinson is a factor.
Where does that leave Watson in the reps pecking order? Fifth at best? Sixth?
If Watson were to land in Cincinnati, he'd be joining, yes, the AFC North's best receiver group, yet it's really Chase and Higgins who do a lot of the heavy lifting there.
In the event that either Chase or Higgins gets banged up and misses time, the Bengals would be counting on some combination of Iosivas, Mitchell Tinsley, and rookie fourth-round pick Colbie Young. All due respect to those gents, that's not exactly a winning strategy.
Harsh? Maybe. True? Definitely.
Or at least that's how it appears. Iosivas ranked 119th out of 126 qualifying receivers in PFF grades last year. Tinsley managed to only haul in eight of his twenty-four targets. That's staggering inefficiency.
As for Young, well, he's young and had a grand total of 37 receptions for 507 yards and three TDs the last two years at Georgia. That's 39 yards per game.
Now granted, Mike Gesicki is the Bengals' glorified No. 3 receiver, yet the Bengals do need someone else who they can truly count on as a boundary threat. Someone with good speed, ball skills and the ability to track downfield throws from Burrow to make explosive plays.
Watson fits that description to a T. He's an underrated separator, and flies way under the radar because he missed most of last season with a calf/Achilles issue (not torn, to clarify).
However, not so long ago, Watson was with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had three catches for 54 yards in the Super Bowl LVIII win over the 49ers, and in his last 50 regular-season games in KC with only 20 starts, he had 64 receptions, 1,064 yards (16.6 average) and seven TDs.
With fresher legs this year and less wear and tear on him than most 30-year-old wideouts, Watson is the perfect one-year stopgap plan to bolster Cincinnati's group while still allowing room for Young to develop.
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