Bryce Young

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Benching Bryce Young early in the 2024 season seems to have turned the light on for the former number-one overall pick from the 2023 draft. He had five games to watch Andy Dalton and when the team turned to Young again, he had improved noticeably. He has thrown a touchdown in his last ten performances, with an interception in only four of those games. Add in a fantasy bumping five rushing touchdowns in this timeframe and he seems a player to derive fantasy value from in 2025. The team has been throwing talent his way over the last two drafts. Xavier Worthy, and Ja’Tavion Sanders in the first and fourth rounds last year and Tetairoa McMillan was high in the first this year. Add in the fortune to get Jalen Coker undrafted last year and have Chuba Hubbard turn into a strong running back. Landing a 1000-yard rusher from last season in ex-Cowboy Rico Dowdle is just a bonus. 

"Late season bounceback is encouraging"

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Young finished the year as fantasy football's QB20, but he delivered production commensurate with QB12 during the final 10 weeks of the year.During this span, Young accounted for 20 touchdowns and 2,327 yards of offense. His pre-snap performance against Steve Spagnolo's tricky Chiefs offense was masterful in Week 12.Quarterback is an improvisational performance craft that draws upon technique and theory. If you overthink on stage, you're too slow to succeed in the game. When you struggle it leads to a vicious cycle of overthinking and slow, stiff performance.The time off gave Young a chance to calm down, reset, and focus on playing without overthinking. You can only do this if you already have the necessary skills ingrained. Young does.  The fantasy consensus is basing Young's '25 value off his '24 value when it's wiser to value the final 10-12 games the most.The line should be a year better, the veteran weapons a year wiser, and Young enters the year with earned confidence.

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Bryce Young was phenomenal last year from Weeks 8-18 after returning from his early-season benching. Over that span, Young ranked seventh in PFF’s Passing Grade, second in Big Time Throws (26), eighth in Average Depth of Target (9.3), and had the 11th lowest pressure-to-sack percentage (14.9%). The All-22 film told the same story. Young consistently threw with elite anticipation, made decisive decisions, diagnosed and read defenses both pre- and post-snap, threw with accuracy, and exhibited playmaking ability—all of these point to an elite mental processor and a very good NFL quarterback. Despite a slow start to his NFL career, Young’s resurgence should come as no surprise. He was an elite quarterback prospect rightfully drafted number one overall in 2023. The offensive environment around Young has significantly improved, and it is bringing out the best in an awesome player. The time to draft him is now.

"Young came alive to end the 2024 season, scoring a TD in nine straight games and multiple TDs in six of those games. From Week 8 on, he was the QB12 in fantasy. This could be a breakout season."