For the final part of this mini-series, we’ll analyze players still on the waiver wire at the end of the 2023 season, rostered in fewer than 50% of leagues (excluding injured players), that could make some noise next season. If you missed parts one and two, you can go back and read about the future outlooks for the top waiver adds of 2023,
Without further ado, let’s dive into some players and why they should be making their way from the waiver wire in 2023 to your roster in 2024.
- Top 2023 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Additions + 2024 Outlooks (Part One)
- Top 2023 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Additions + 2024 Outlooks (Part Two)
Top 2023 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Leftovers & 2024 Outlooks
Bryce Young (QB, Carolina Panthers)
I promise this is less of me being a homer and more about optimism that the Carolina Panthers brought in Dave Canales as their new head coach. Canales should give Bryce Young a chance to live up to his draft-day clout as the No. 1 overall pick.
It was tough to watch Young in 2023. It was tough to watch the Carolina Panthers as a whole in 2023. For Young, he found little success in real life and maybe even less in fantasy lineups. The offense never found a rhythm; it was stagnant and putrid. The Panthers only scored 23 total touchdowns all season, which was second-fewest in the NFL, ahead of only the New York Jets. Young was also sacked 62 times over 16 games played, the second-most in the league.
The hope here is that Canales will get the most out of Young’s skill set. Canales was the passing game coordinator in 2020 for the Seattle Seahawks when Russell Wilson had a career year in touchdowns, completions percentage and yards. He was also the QB coach during Geno Smith‘s stellar 2022 season and the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past year, during which QB Baker Mayfield put up the best numbers of his career.
Admittedly, there’s a lot that has to go right for Bryce Young to find success in the NFL. There’s probably even more that has to go right (like the team signing a relevant WR) for Young to find his way into your fantasy lineup in 2024. It’ll be essential to watch what commitments and moves Canales and new general manager Dan Morgan make this offseason to position Young for the future.
Kendre Miller (RB, New Orleans Saints)
Picked in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, RB Kendre Miller went into training camp and immediately began earning hype, leading to speculation that he could eat into the workload of Alvin Kamara and be fantasy-relevant. Unfortunately, knee and hamstring injuries derailed much of the promise Miller had built up.
In the two games this season in which Miller received double-digit touches, he also produced double-digit fantasy points. The sample size is small, but Miller certainly has more juice than RB Jamaal Williams, who is heading into his age 29 season. He is also arguably more explosive on the ground than RB Alvin Kamara, who will also be 29 this offseason.
Williams has a dead cap hit of over $6 million for the 2024 season, so while he was unproductive, he could stick around on the roster, which limits Miller’s upside. But particularly if the Saints reduce Kamara’s workload and feature the sophomore back more, Miller could be a credible weekly FELX start and one of the league’s top insurance backs. He may have fallen short of your waiver wire hopes for 2023, but he could be a top add in 2024.
Romeo Doubs (WR, Green Bay Packers)
I’d love to tell you who will lead the way in the Green Bay WR corps next season, but truthfully, it looks pretty ambiguous.
Rookie Jayden Reed burst onto the scene to lead the Packers in receiving yards with 793, and he tied Romeo Doubs with the most receiving touchdowns at eight. Both WRs also produced seven top-20 WR weeks. However, Doubs ran significantly more routes than Reed on the season. Meanwhile, second-year WR Christian Watson spent the year plagued by hamstring injuries, but he remains the Pack’s biggest playmaker when healthy.
Reed and Watson will be the flashy picks and most likely garner a higher Average Draft Position (ADP) once redraft season ramps up. But it’s important to remember that Reed plays a pretty different role for this offense than Doubs, who ran 121 more routes on the season. I’ll be looking to ensure I have exposure to this Green Bay offense, and Doubs could be the best draft-day value of the trio.
Thanks for reading my top 2023 fantasy football waiver wire leftovers & 2024 outlooks. Looking for more fantasy football advice? Follow me on Twitter @ThatMattKelley.
*Photo Credit: Stephen Lew – USA TODAY Sports*