I would take Watkins over Hill, Gabriel & Mitchell if you are able to be looking past this week. It's the playoffs. Game changers can win playoffs. I don't believe any of those others will. It will be like throwing darts for which one you can put in there. If Watkins doesn't play you still would have had three darts to pick from.
And I agree, I would have gotten rid of AJ. Even before this latest news I didn't hear anyone that thought he would be back.
Respectfully, Hill scored ~36 in my IDP PPR league where all 3 TDs counted. Dude can ball - and they send him on end-around and reverses, and use him as a deep threat and in the screen game.
And KC shows no signs of moving away from him - in fact his usage appears to be increasing. That's pretty "game changer-Ish".
Not for nothing but Hill is looking like more of a "game changer" right now than Watkins. I'm not saying Watkins can't or won't be a game changer for fantasy teams, (or the Bills for that matter) but the reality is that he isn't there yet. When he comes out wih a WR1-2 type game and then manages to stay healthy into the next week, I'll agree.
But until then he's a risky upside guy with a high ceiling and a ton of risk. Including the very real risk that someone will fall/step/roll on his foot and knock him out of play. Greg Papa said the Raiders are going to double cover Watkins this week and use a high safety to try to take him out of the game because Harvin & Woods are both doubtful/out. The lack of other weapons might limit Watkins upside as well. So while I agree that his ceiling is high, it seems many here are ignoring his floor.
And just like game changers can win playoffs, ignoring the risks associated with risky players can lose playoffs for teams.
Again, not a hater; just not wearing rose-colored glasses.
That said, I probably would have dropped Gabriel instead just in case Sammy did prove that he's a game changer in the next couple weeks.