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It's hard to imagine that there is a more frustrating player in all of fantasy football than Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins. That's true even while he's on a bit of a tear, recording at least one touchdown in each of his last three games.
Watkins set a season high with 12 targets in the Bills' Week 14 loss to Philadelphia, but he was only able to haul in five for receptions, accruing 81 yards and a touchdown in the process. The potential for a much bigger stat line was there, but Watkins and the Bills couldn't get it done.
The previous week against Houston, Watkins caught three passes for 109 yards - a three-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and then two separate 53-yard gains - on just four targets. The 109 yards and a touchdown were lovely, but the four targets were not; a lack of involvement in the offense has been a running theme for the Bills and Watkins all season.
That lack of targets issue reared its ugly head most definitively in Week 12, when Watkins absolutely torched Kansas City to the tune of 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six receptions - all in the first half, on nine targets. The second half? One target. Zero catches. That was an excellent half of fantasy football, but a half is not a whole game. Watkins' day was, assuredly, far less frustrating to fantasy owners than it was to Bills fans that day, at least.
Point is, if you're still alive in the fantasy playoffs, you're probably playing Watkins this weekend, because he's been on a roll lately, and because the Bills are facing off against a Washington Redskins defense that, while solid at times on the whole, doesn't necessarily scare anyone. But if you're playing Watkins, you're probably also very nervous about his role in your semifinal matchup.