Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule Hints at Adding Bryce Young
Discussing Bryce Young's rookie season and his favorable schedule ahead, which makes him a waiver wire option for a team desperate at QB.
It’s been a rough rookie season for Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. The Panthers are 1-10, and they recently fired a number of coaches.
It’s a shame he’s having such a poor season, because there’s been a lot of down play from the quarterback position this season. There’s also been a multitude of injuries.
Despite that, our charts show that Young is owned in just 20% of leagues right now. Why do I mention that? Because I think you should add Young for the stretch run. Let me explain.
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Young’s Season Numbers
Young has completed 216-of-350 passes this season for a weak 61.7%. He’s thrown for 1,877 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. Young has been sacked 40 times while rushing for 161 yards on 25 attempts.
Young has topped 200 passing yards in four contests, but has not gone over 250 yards yet. He’s also had two games under 150 passing yards.
He’s only had one game in which he threw for more than a touchdown. He also has three games without a passing TD. Young has only been intercepted in four contests, but has thrown multiple picks in three of those games.
Young has taken three or more sacks in all but two games. That’s a product of the offense as a whole, but a bit of that falls on the rookie quarterback and his decision making.
The rookie hasn’t been very consistent as a runner, with just two games over 25 rushing yards. He’s finished with less than 15 yards on five occasions.
Young’s Fantasy Outlook
Those numbers aren’t great, and they definitely aren’t good for fantasy football. The reason Young is a sneaky waiver wire option now is because of his schedule ahead.
The new FantasySP strength of schedule page has Young with an A+ for his remaining games. Let’s take a closer look at the games ahead.
In week 13, the Panthers square off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams will also meet in week 18. Tampa Bay’s defense currently allows 19 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per game, which is the fifth-most in the entire league.
Young will face the New Orleans Saints in week 14. The Saints’ defense only allows 15 fantasy points to quarterbacks, but Young actually was solid in the team’s first meeting early this season. Young completed 22-of-33 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. He added 34 rushing yards on two attempts.
In week 15, the Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta’s defense allows 19 fantasy points as well. Young struggled against them in week 1, completing 20-of-38 passes for 146 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Week 16 is a battle with the Green Bay Packers, before Carolina hits the road for a week 17 clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Packers allow 14 fantasy points to quarterbacks, while the Jaguars allow 20.
There’s some below-average matchups ahead for Young, but he avoids the elite defenses.
How to Proceed
If you are one of the fantasy owners that lost a quarterback to injury, or have simply been underwhelmed by your quarterbacks so far, you might be part of the group of people that’s been streaming your starting QB for several weeks.
I don’t expect Young to breakout anytime this season, but he can be an average fantasy QB if he takes care of the ball. He’s likely going to remain available in leagues most weeks, and be a streaming option.
With some of the matchups Young has, starting in week 13, I’d suggest simply adding Young now and stashing him for the rest of the season. If you don’t like any QB’s matchups for a given week, you can plug Young into your lineup. The worst that can happen is Young continues to struggle, and you simply release the rookie quarterback.
Another reason I’d want to add Young now is in case the firing of several coaches ignites the Panthers’ offense. It doesn’t seem like a very likely thing to happen, but sometimes a midseason shakeup does just that. If Young explodes this week against a weak defense, he could be a hot commodity on the waiver wire going into week 14. Avoid the stress of other owners claiming him and take a chance on Young now.
