When healthy, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson is one of the best players in fantasy football. A healthy Watson for a full season will be a league-winner in 2026. That is worth betting on, according to Alex Kay of Bleacher Report.
“If Christian Watson can stay healthy, he will be one of the top-performing wide receivers in fantasy football this year,” wrote Kay. “While injuries have been the unfortunate story of the Green Bay Packers wideout’s career, that may finally change in 2026.”
Watson is entering his fifth year in the NFL. Over that time, he has only been active for 48 of the 68 career games. However, the team signed him to a four-year, $92M extension this offseason. So, they are confident that he will be fully healthy and live up to his ability.
Green Bay Packers Need a Healthy Christian Watson
There are some reasons to believe that Watson can be fully healthy. He suffered a hamstring injury in 2022 and missed three games. The hamstring hit him again in his second year, and he missed eight games in 2023.
Then, in 2024, he tore his ACL, and it carried over into the 2025 season, where he played just ten games. However, he has not had hamstring injuries in the past two seasons.
He played 15 games before his ACL injury and was fully healthy for 10 games after returning the following year.
So, as things stand, it looks like he is going to be healthy to start the season, and there should not be any lingering concerns. Because of his past, you are able to buy him at the price of an injured player, but he has been healthy since Week 7 of last season.
Packers Offense Has Potential Entering 2026 Season
More than that, the Packers wide receiver room appears to be much more condensed, which could lead to more confined targets for Watson. The Packers traded Dontayvion Wicks and let Romeo Doubs walk in free agency.
Matthew Golden is expected to step up into the role that they played. Still, that is just one player for the role, and the second-year player struggled in his rookie season.
Jayden Reed will play the slot, but does not play often when the Packers go into two-wide receiver sets. So, there is an easy path for Watson to be the top target in an offense that does not have as much target competition already.
Kay notes that Watson was one of the best fantasy assets in the stretch run of last season.
“He finished as the WR12 or better four times between Weeks 11-17, ending that stretch as the WR11 with an average of 15.1 points per game,” wrote Kay.
Now that he is healthy, in a better offense with more confined targets and a better chance to be the leader in targets, his production could explode beyond that.
Packers $92M Playmaker Called Potential Fantasy League-Winner