Should I Pickup Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson? Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 8

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles') is now done for the season after tearing his Achilles' tendon in his Week 7 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was the worst starting quarterback in the league, and it's likely his replacement could be more fantasy relevant than he was.

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston and second-year pro QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (finger) are Cleveland's two remaining quarterbacks with a chance at the starting job -- former New England Patriots QB Bailey Zappe was signed after the injury for added depth.

So should you add Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson in your fantasy leagues?

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Jameis Winston Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook

The author of the legendary 30/30 season (33 passing touchdowns and 30 interceptions) is set to start his first full game since early 2022. He's a wildly entertaining player that's fantasy relevant because of the volume he puts up. He was actually the QB4 overall in 2019 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

👑 JAMEIS WINSTON: The FRESH PRINCE of the AIR ✈️

NFL Ranks in 2019:

#1 in Intended Air Yards (ALL-TIME NFL Record‼️)
#1 in Completed Air Yards
#1 in Passing Yards
#1 in CAY/Cmp
#1 in 1st Downs
#2 in Yards per Completion
#2 in CAY/PA
#2 in IAY/PA
#2 in AYTS pic.twitter.com/1iUGUGn366

— Author Jameis1of1 (@jameis1of1) January 11, 2020

Winston is an immediate upgrade over Watson fantasy-wise, and should be added in all leagues. He has top-12 potential despite not having the best receiving corps. The Browns lost their top target, Amari Cooper, to a trade before Week 7, so the gunslinger will have tight end David Njoku and wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore and Jamari Thrash to work with.

It took Deshaun Watson getting injured and Dorian Thompson-Robinson going down as the backup QB for the Browns to finally go to Jameis Winston, as the emergency QB, while any NFL fan who has ever watched football knew Jameis was the best QB in that room. pic.twitter.com/x3ywwBZY20

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) October 20, 2024

He's just better than Watson, but it seems like that was already known. He completed five passes on 11 attempts for 67 yards and an impressive touchdown strike to Njoku in relief of DTR on Sunday.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook

DTR was actually the QB who started in place of Watson initially. He was terrible, though. He threw 24 passes, completing 11 for 82 yards and two interceptions. He did rush for 44 yards, though. It's clear he doesn't give the team a chance to win, but it's possible he could start in the future.

Sources: The #Browns plan to start Jameis Winston at QB vs the #Ravens in Week 8, with Deshaun Watson out for the rest of the season.

My understanding is Dorian Thompson-Robinson was Watson’s backup on Sunday strictly from a gameplan standpoint. pic.twitter.com/2jTgSpkxlF

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 23, 2024

The Browns seem to be tanking, so it's possible he could get the start. If he does, we'll probably have a situation where none of the team's players are worth starting in fantasy, except maybe Njoku.

Should I Pickup Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson For Fantasy Football?

Thompson-Robinson is not good enough to be a starting quarterback in this league. Winston is a fantastic waiver-wire pickup. There's not much thought to put into this. Since we don't know who will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, it's a bit risky to pick up the former No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, but at least he has upside.

UPDATE:

A lot of you have been DM’ing me about the Jameis Winston vs. Dorian Thompson-Robinson situation.

Okay, here’s the deal:

Yes, the Browns think Winston is ‘slightly’ better than both Deshaun Watson and DTR.

BUT. They also view Watson to Winston as a ‘parallel… pic.twitter.com/QloPBuDdJW

— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) October 20, 2024

Yes, teams start terrible players who are younger to evaluate their futures. It's unfortunate for fantasy football managers, but it's life. Only time will tell how this situation shakes out.

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