5 Fantasy Football Splits That Matter for Week 9

Targets Will Still Be There for DeAndre Hopkins

The league was shook when rookie Deshaun Watson tore his ACL during Thursday's practice on a non-contact play. Though the Houston Texans had scored at will, averaging 39 points with Watson under center the last five weeks, this news isn't all bad for DeAndre Hopkins,

With Tom Savage slated to make his second start of the season, note that five of his 13 attempts (38.4%) in Week 1 were thrown towards Hopkins. Dating back even further, 23 of Savage's 73 attempts (31.5%) in 2016 were also directed towards Houston's star wideout. A presumed target share in the 30th percentile is great for any receiver, but these numbers still need be taken with a grain of salt.

Targets from Savage are not the same as targets from Watson, after all. Hence Hopkins (formerly) pacing for a career-high 62% catch rate from Watson this season, whereas the receiver finished with a 52.2% catch rate with Savage throwing to him just last year.

It might be all for naught in the short term. The Indianapolis Colts, for example, remain the league's worst pass defense according to Adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP). Savage probably won't light the world on fire with his performance this week, but he doesn't have to in order to potentially take advantage of such a harsh unit.

In other words, there's no need to bench Hopkins if he's on your fantasy football roster. Having led Houston in red zone targets (three) with Savage under center last season, there's still plenty of room for upside in this particular matchup.