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:

Bryce Young (QB - Carolina Panthers) - at BUF, 1:00 PM

It sounds like Carolina Panthers' Head Coach, Dave Canales, does indeed plan to play the starters, including 2nd-year QB Bryce Young, in the team's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills. This would make for the first time this preseason that we'd be seeing the Panthers' starters and Young in game action after a very rough 2023 season but a reportedly solid training camp.

The success of Bryce Young will dictate the success of the Panthers and their weapons' fantasy relevance. We already know the likelihood of Young being a meaningful fantasy option in 2024 is rather low, but we should be anticipatory of his first action to see exactly how low. Another season like 2023 would mean a lack of fantasy value for Diontae Johnson and company, but a step forward, even to middle-of-the-pack production from the 2023 1st overall pick, would indicate potential sneaky value in Johnson, RB Jonathon Brooks, and possible later-season relevance from rookie WR Xavier Legette.

Russell Wilson (QB - Pittsburgh Steelers) - at DET, 1:00 PM on NFL Network

The Steelers are one of the very few teams that have definitively announced their starters are playing in the preseason finale and are the only one of those teams to have not yet announced their Week 1 starting QB.

All of the talk throughout camp and the preseason has been it is a true competition between veteran Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to become the opening-day starter for Pittsburgh. After missing most of training camp due to a calf injury, allowing Justin Fields the opportunity to have a strong camp unopposed, Wilson finally got onto the field last week and looked rather mediocre in his preseason debut vs the Bills (in large part due to offensive line struggles). Now, Fields didn't look exceptionally better but has rejuvenated the Steelers' offense with some life each of the last two weeks. However, Fields did play from the end of the 1st quarter through the end of the game, which would (in theory) imply HC Mike Tomlin may be leaning toward the veteran.

Regardless, both Wilson and Fields will get some more time this week to battle it out for the starting gig. Who is the starter will likely influence the supporting cast's fantasy values with Wilson starting benefiting the likes of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren while a Fields' Week 1 start would likely slightly benefit Pickens and Freiermuth based on the two QBs' historical tendencies.

Deshaun Watson (QB - Cleveland Browns) - at SEA, 10:00 PM on NFL Network

At the time I'm writing this, it sounds (emphasis on sounds) like the Browns' starters are expected to play at least sparingly, including QB Deshaun Watson. This would mark Watson's first game action since November of last season.

Coming off a lengthy suspension before a really rough end to the season in 2022, the expectation was Watson return somewhere closer to his Houston self after a full offseason to knock off the rust. Unfortunately, 2023 was a bit of a mixed bag for the QB, featuring rather solid performances where he was a top-10 QB in 3 of 5 full games and a top-15 QB in a fourth game. He did end up battling injuries most of the season, missing weeks 4-6 to a rotator cuff (shoulder) injury, then returning in Week 7 and aggravating his shoulder mid-way through the 1st quarter, returning in Week 9, and finally undergoing surgery for a fracture in his shoulder, keeping him out the remainder of the season.

We didn't get to see much of him in 2023 and we haven't seen him thus far in the preseason, so hopefully we will get to see him at least some this week. With the Browns' acquisition of Jerry Jeudy and the likely extended absence of RB Nick Chubb well into the season, Cleveland's offensive success will heavily fall on Watson. It's yet to be seen if we're getting 2023/Houston Deshaun Watson or if we're getting 2022 Watson, something that'll heavily influence the likes of Amari Cooper and David Njoku but also dictate whether Watson can break back into the top-10 for fantasy this season.