Throughout the preseason, we heavily emphasize identifying potential impact players throughout the season that others may not recognize as they aren't necessarily "stars". In our 'Preseason Players to Watch' series, we highlight potentially noteworthy players in each night's game(s) that may be impactful for fantasy football, both in the 2024 season and beyond.

Here are our top players to watch for in tonight's preseason action:

Travis Etienne Jr. (RB - Jacksonville Jaguars) - at ATL, 7:00 PM on NFL Network

By the sounds of it, the Jaguars' starters will get quite the extended look in the preseason finale against Atlanta with HC Doug Pederson hoping "to get maybe two quarters out of them".

We have seen Travis Etienne very sparingly utilized this preseason, sitting out last week and getting about two series of work in the preseason opener (where he had 4 carries for 3 yards, plus 1 catch for 9 yards and a TD). The expectation is for us to get a more complete look at Etienne's anticipated utilization in the offense.

Last offseason, the rumors were that Etienne was anticipated to get a reduced workload with the emergence of rookie RB Tank Bigbsy, something that definitely did not happen with Etienne tallying 325 total touches (3rd in the NFL) and accounting for over 76% of the backfield work in Jacksonville. This offseason, similar rumors have risen about Jacksonville wanting to reduce Etienne's workload to involve Bigsby more, but that has yet to be proven on the field.

This week's 'dress rehearsal' for the Jaguars' starting offense should give a fair indication as to whether Bigsby will serve just to give a 'breather' to Etienne or if there will be a larger role for him in the offense. How the workload is distributed among the starters should give some insight as to whether another top-5 finish should be anticipated for Etienne or if expectations should be tempered.

Rachaad White (RB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - vs MIA, 7:30 PM

It sounds like the plan is for the Buccaneers' starters to get their first and only action of the preseason tonight against Miami based on HC Todd Bowles' comments on the starters: "It's not a matter of success, it's a matter of playing in a game before we play a real game so the continuity on both sides of the ball, the communication needs to be there".

This offseason, the Bucs brought in 4th-round RB Bucky Irving to the backfield, potentially to relieve some of the 336 touches (2nd-most) Rachaad White managed in 2023 as his first full year as the starter. We've seen Irving in action this preseason, getting work in each of the team's first two games (12 for 54 and a TD, 4.5 YPC) but this should give us our first look at whether there's an anticipated timeshare between the two or if it will be just a change-of-pace/backup role for Irving to open 2024.

Very similar to Etienne with Bigbsy, the split among the starters should give some indication on if we're to anticipate a comparable workload for White to his 2023 numbers or if we should anticipate a sizeable reduction in role (and potentially production) in 2024.

Brock Purdy (QB - San Francisco 49ers) - at LV, 10:00 PM on NFL Network

It hasn't been confirmed but it sounds like Head Coach Kyle Shanahan is anticipating for the starters to get some work in the 49ers' preseason finale tonight.

We haven't seen much from the 49ers' offensive starters this preseason with most of the notable weapons having not played in either of the team's first two games, but we did see QB Brock Purdy get some work last week. It wasn't pretty for Purdy against New Orleans, getting three series of action (granted, working with backups) and going just 2/6 for 11 yards.

It is highly unlikely we see Brandon Aiyuk at all given his contract/trade situation but one would anticipate potentially seeing some of the likes of Deebo Samuel, Juan Jennings, and George Kittle even if for a brief period of time.

Hopefully, we do see the starting weapons alongside Purdy to give us a little bit better of an evaluation than last week in hopes of either slightly dismissing or slightly emphasizing the reports of notable struggles throughout camp from Purdy. Even if for a series or two, seeing him in action alongside starting-caliber weapons should give us a rather decent look at what to expect in 2024 beyond the existing camp reports/