Bryce Young has gone from early-season afterthought to one of the most intriguing names on the fantasy waiver wire.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback has flipped the script in a big way. In Week 1, he torched the Chicago Bears for 361 passing yards and four total touchdowns.
He followed that up on Sunday with 287 yards and three scores against the Atlanta Falcons. For fantasy managers, that two-game stretch marks the first time in Young’s career that he has topped 20 points in back-to-back games.
That kind of production has pushed him onto the radar in a hurry. Even so, Young is still rostered in only 34 percent of leagues, according to Matt Okada at NFL.com. Okada slotted him second overall on his waiver wire rankings for Week 3 and first among quarterbacks.
There’s good reason for the buzz. Young has been piling up strong numbers across the board, including 8.9 yards per attempt, an 8.0% completion rate over expected and a 113.3 passer rating through two weeks. Okada also noted that Young has a tendency to deliver against Atlanta, which he did again on Sunday.
For fantasy teams dealing with an injured or underperforming quarterback, Young looks like a strong pickup and a startable option for the time being.
The schedule won’t get any easier, but it does offer more to work with. Next up is Cleveland, which ranks 16th in passing yards allowed per game and 11th in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. After that comes Detroit, and the Lions have allowed more fantasy points to quarterbacks than any other team.
So if you need help under center, Young has earned a serious look.
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The Browns now have a short week ahead of their next game, which could factor into how they handle the position moving forward. For the Panthers, it means preparing for a Cleveland team with an unsettled quarterback situation hanging over it, and possibly one more headline waiting to surface after this one. [Read more 🡒]