2018 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Debating Deshaun Watson vs. Andrew Luck as the No. 3 QB

Jamey Eisenberg and Heath Cummings go head-to-head in a player comparison of Deshaun Watson vs. Andrew Luck as the No. 3 quarterback this year. The Google Assistant will have the deciding vote.

Need Fantasy Football draft advice? Talk to CBS Sports on your Google Assistant to get insights on the best sleepers and to help decide between players. Just start with, "Hey Google, talk to CBS Sports."

Every week for the rest of the preseason, we're going to debate two players in our rankings we disagree on. The goal is to help you make a decision you might be struggling with on Draft Day.

To help break the tie, we're using the Google Assistant, which is here to help with your Fantasy advice this season. You can talk to CBS Sports on your Google Assistant to get up-to-date projections to solve every tough decision. 

And that's what we did. Just start with, "Hey Google, talk to CBS Sports," and you'll have the answer you need.

For this week, Heath Cummings and I are debating the No. 3 quarterback this year between Deshaun Watson and Andrew Luck. Watson is my guy, and Cummings has Luck. But clearly we like both.

Here's our arguments, and then you can see what the Google Assistant decided.

Eisenberg's case for Watson

First of all, let's just hope both of these guys stay healthy. The NFL is a better place when we have great players, and these should be two of the best quarterbacks in Fantasy and reality this year.

But unless you play in a two-quarterback league, you might have to choose one of these guys for your Fantasy team. And the one to draft first is Watson.

He only gave us a seven-game sample size of his potential in 2017 before suffering a torn ACL prior to Week 9, but it was awesome. In his final five starts, Watson averaged 35.8 Fantasy points, including three games with at least 40 points. 

Like Luck, Watson will also run the ball, but Watson has a higher ceiling in that category. During his six starts in 2017, Watson averaged 5.8 Fantasy points with his legs.

Watson also has the edge in receiving corps, and he's the player with more upside. And when it comes to quarterbacks this season, I want all the upside I can find. Because if Watson fails, you can still get someone good off waivers that will absolutely still help your Fantasy team.

And if Watson hits, hopefully at the level we saw last season, you have a pretty good chance to win your league.

I'm looking for Watson right after Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady come off the board in all leagues. And if I miss on Watson, then hopefully Luck is still there as a fallback option. 

Cummings' case for Luck

The six and a half games we saw from Watson were one of the most impressive stretches we've seen from an NFL quarterback. They were also highly unsustainable. His 9.3 percent touchdown rate was double the league average (and almost three points higher than Aaron Rodgers' career mark). His 8.3 Y/A and 7.5 YPC are both going to regress as well. 

That's about the extent of the bad things I have to say about Watson. He's awesome, he's a thrill to watch, and I can't help but cheer for him. But his efficiency masked what could be a hurdle for Watson when it comes to finishing as a top-three quarterback -- volume.

When comparing Watson to Luck in my projections, I actually have Watson projected for a similar Y/A and TD rate as Luck. I also have Watson projected for a lot more production on the ground. 

So why do I have Luck ranked higher? Passing volume. Watson was on pace for 502 pass attempts last year, or 31 per game. Luck has averaged 37.8 attempts per game and has twice attempted more than 600 passes in a season.

The Texans have a much better defense than the Colts, and their two running backs would be the best running back in Indianapolis. Once again, the Colts will be a pass-happy team, and Luck will ride that volume to a top-three finish. Watson will be awesome on a per-attempt basis and stake his claim to join the elite at the position, but unless he throws the ball a lot more than he did in 2017, it's going to be very difficult to be better than Luck in leagues where passing touchdowns count for six points.  

Notice I didn't mention health for either of these quarterbacks. That's because I'm not worried about it for either. Don't skip out on the upside of either of these guys because of injuries they had last year. If they do get hurt again there will be plenty of options on the waiver wire.

The Google Assistant says ...

"Take Deshaun Watson. He is projected to be the No. 3 quarterback, and Andrew Luck is projected to be the No. 5 quarterback."