NFL Schedule Release! Best and Worst Matchups, Avoid All Giants? (05/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today: NFL Schedule Release! Best and Worst Matchups, Avoid All Giants? (05/14 Fantasy Football Podcast) – May 15, 2025

Hosted by Adam Azen with analysts Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and the CBS Sports Fantasy Football team.

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Introduction

In this insightful episode of Fantasy Football Today, host Adam Azen and his panel of analysts delve deep into the recently released NFL schedule, dissecting the best and worst matchups for fantasy football players. They also explore whether managers should avoid drafting players from the New York Giants due to their challenging schedule.

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Analyzing the Giants' Tough Schedule

The discussion kicks off with Dave Richard highlighting the New York Giants' daunting schedule based on last year's performance metrics.

Dave Richard [03:34]:

"It's by win percentage. So they have the toughest schedule win percentage last year."

Adam expresses skepticism about relying solely on past data to predict future performance.

Adam Azen [04:07]:

"I just think it makes me clench up and get angry when people use old data to try and make points on future events like games and stuff."

Despite reservations, Dave emphasizes the Giants' difficult upcoming matches, including duels against formidable teams like the Chiefs and Eagles.

Dave Richard [05:00]:

"The NFC east team’s got a very difficult schedule now. You’re facing a lot of losses, probably for the Giants right now. That means Jackson Dart."

Adam concurs but cautions against over-reliance on past schedules, advocating for a more nuanced approach that considers current team dynamics and defensive strengths.

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Favorable Schedule Insights

Shifting focus, Adam outlines several teams with favorable schedules that could benefit fantasy managers:

• Baltimore Ravens: Two significant home stretches that are advantageous for players needing stable performance periods.

  Adam Azen [09:22]:

  "The Baltimore Ravens have not one, but two home stretches like home stands in baseball that make me feel really good about..."

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A strong finish to the fantasy regular season with manageable defenses in the latter weeks.

  Adam Azen [09:22]:

  "...just another reason to kind of dig Mike Evans, especially if he slips on draft day."

• Buffalo Bills: Despite an early tough schedule, the latter part of their games positions them well for a fantasy postseason push.

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Identifying Players to Avoid Based on Schedule

The analysts caution against drafting certain players whose early-season matchups could impede their fantasy performance:

• Calvin Ridley: Faces a series of challenging defenses in his initial games, potentially leading to a slow start.

  Dave Richard [16:51]:

  "Calvin Ridley is a guy that I think I don't want to draft and I'm interested in him this year."

• DeAndre Swift: Early games against strong run-defensive teams in Minnesota and Detroit could limit his productivity.

  Dave Richard [18:42]:

  "DeAndre Swift’s first two games are against Minnesota and at Detroit. That could be trouble."

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Defensive Matchups and Their Impact

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to analyzing how defensive schedules can influence player performance:

• Malik Neighbors (Giants): Faces a slew of tough cornerbacks twice, which could hamper his effectiveness.

  Dave Richard [22:56]:

  "He’s going to face Malik Neighbors, on paper, he does have a pretty tough schedule."

• Brian Thomas Jr.: With defenses like the Chiefs and Chargers lined up, his ability to produce fantasy points may be constrained.

  Dave Richard [22:28]:

  "Brian Thomas Jr. [faces] Kansas City. Seattle could be tough. Rams could be tough."

Adam, however, argues that other factors such as improved quarterbacks and offensive dynamics might mitigate some defensive pressures.

Adam Azen [22:56]:

"It’s more about Neighbors and all the other issues that are underlying in New York."

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Strategic Takeaways for Fantasy Managers

The panel provides actionable strategies for fantasy football enthusiasts:

1. Use Schedule as a Tiebreaker: Instead of making schedule a primary factor, utilize it to break ties between similarly ranked players.

2. Monitor Defensive Changes: Stay updated on teams that have altered their defensive strategies or personnel, as last year's data might not reflect current realities.

   Adam Azen [26:20]:

   "If you believe that matchups are important to fantasy football, then you should believe that the schedule is important and taking everything as at least a tiebreaker is smart."

3. Focus on Player Resilience: Consider players whose offensive schemes can compensate for tough defensive matchups, ensuring they maintain consistent fantasy output despite challenging opponents.

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Conclusion

In wrapping up, Adam and Dave reiterate the importance of a balanced approach when evaluating player schedules. While acknowledging the Giants' tough slate of games, they emphasize not to rely solely on past performance but to consider current team improvements and defensive adjustments. The episode serves as a comprehensive guide for fantasy managers aiming to optimize their drafts and weekly lineups by understanding the intricate interplay between NFL schedules and player performance.

Adam Azen [27:13]:

"Have a great night. We'll talk to you on Thursday morning with the Mailbag."

---

Stay tuned for more expert insights and strategies to help you dominate your fantasy football league on Fantasy Football Today.

Transcript

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[Adam Azen]

Today from CBS Sports. What a play. Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Dave Richard]

Off to the races and he stays on his feet. This is gonna go the distance.

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Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Dave Richard]

Who's ready for Cowboys Eagles to start the season? Dave, you ready?

[Adam Azen]

George Pickens, baby. Let's go.

[Dave Richard]

I don't love it. I don't love it.

[Adam Azen]

I, I don't love it for George Pickens, but kind of like it for the Eagles.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, I don't love it for the, for the, for the NFL part. Like I think we could have done better than the Cowboys. You know, maybe the Cowboys would be good again, I don't know. But I would have loved to see like Packers, Eagles, something like that, that kind of rematch but, well, okay. Oh, well, you know what? And then that's Thursday, September 4th, Friday, September 5th. We are in Brazil. We'll be there.

[Adam Azen]

We are?

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, we're. You didn't hear?

[Adam Azen]

We're going, we're going to Brazil.

[Dave Richard]

You and I are calling the game. They couldn't find broadcaster, so we're doing it for YouTube TV.

[Adam Azen]

I remember my swimsuit.

[Dave Richard]

Kansas City and the Chargers in Brazil. All right, welcome to our bonus episode. Here it is Wednesday night, and we are going to look at some of the best and worst matchups for players, for teams. The Giants have the hardest schedule. We talked about that earlier on Wednesday, and I think, I think Bleak Neighbors might be, you know, maybe my player. I'm most concerned about based on schedule. And look, we're not going to make too much of schedule. But, Dave, I just was making the case earlier that I think the fact that the Giants have such a hard schedule, if they're struggling, that means Jackson dart early, and I think that's probably a bad thing. And not only that, I think Malik Neighbors has some really, really tough cornerbacks on his schedule. He gets the Chiefs. He gets the Eagles twice. He gets the Broncos, gets the Bears. I don't know that that'll be too tough. The packers are a good defense. He gets. Christian Gonzalez gets Minnesota.

[Adam Azen]

So, yeah, you're not quite selling me. First of all, how did you determine that they have the toughest schedule?

[Dave Richard]

Oh, it's by win percentage. So they have the toughest schedule win percentage last year. Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

So we're assuming that every team is going to have the exact same win percentage.

[Dave Richard]

No, I'm not assuming that. But based on win percentage last year, the Giants have the toughest schedule. Look, they're playing the NFC east, which is very good, other than the Giants, and they're playing the AFC west, which is very good. So on paper, I'm sure they will not end up having the toughest schedule. But right now, the Giants have the toughest and the Patriots have the easiest schedule on paper.

[Adam Azen]

Okay. I mean, I, I, I, I don't have all the answers. I try and subjectively grade each team's defense. I'm in the process of doing that now. I'm not going to guarantee that the Giants won't have the worst schedule because of what you said. Obviously, they do take on a lot of tough defenses, but I, I just, it just makes me clench up and get angry when people use old data to try and make points on, on, on future events like games and stuff like that. Like, there are Some teams that were terrible last year, they really changed how their personnel looks. And there's teams that were really great last year. Their personnel is changing, and it's going to be for the worse.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, Dave, I get that.

[Adam Azen]

I'm not ready to. I'm not ready to look at their schedule. Which teams are definitively going to have easy and difficult schedules?

[Dave Richard]

All right. The Giants.

[Adam Azen]

We're definitely going to have some clues toward it.

[Dave Richard]

The NFC east, the NFC north, and the AFC West. Every team in the NFC east gets that. That's really tough. You've got Packers, Vikings, Bears, Lions, Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, and then the NFC East. They. The NFC east team's got a very difficult schedule now. What does that mean? They're facing good defenses? Not necessarily, but that's a lot of losses, probably for the Giants right now. And that means Jackson Dart. I don't want to. Well, maybe I don't. I don't want to get into the Giants. I do want to. Let me read you something, Dave.

[Adam Azen]

Now, you don't want to get into. It's the first podcast history where you don't want to get into the Giants. Here. Something you said.

[Dave Richard]

All right.

[Adam Azen]

There's something you said that we really need to underscore here, and it's. You don't want to make a big deal out of the schedule. And I think for the most part, that's true. Like, I know that Jamie and Heath really don't take the schedule into consideration at all.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

Because they. They wisely understand that defenses change how they play as the season rolls on. Some teams start off slow, they stink. And then it all clicks by October, and then they're off to the races. Some defenses look great on paper, and then they suffer a ton of injuries, like the 49ers, for example, and they stink. Some defenses stay healthy all year, but their offenses stink and they're forced into tough situations. They ultimately give up points. So I like to use the schedule, if anything at all, as a tiebreaker. And also just, like, things to know going into the draft, like which weeks are going to be the worst for buys. We kind of lucked out this year. I remember last year when we had six teams on by in week 14, and we were all pulling our hair out because we didn't know how we were going to, like, even set a lineup in week 14, and we had playoff births on the line. It's not that bad this year. Week 8 won by NATO the entire season. So that's. That's a positive. That's something that fantasy managers can look at. And maybe that ends up being a tiebreaker, too, for your teams when you're on draft day.

[Dave Richard]

The four teams on by in Week 14, just before the fantasy playoffs start are the Patriots, giants, panthers, and 49ers. Those are the four teams on by in week 14. We do not have any teams on by in week 13, which is probably Thanksgiving week. Yep.

[Adam Azen]

Right.

[Dave Richard]

All right, so let me read you something. By the way, Dave says to me, make sure your kids read every night. 15 minutes. She never said anything about me reading, but I'm going to read it to you. This is from CBSSports.com if you're looking for a surprise playoff contender, one team to watch in 2025 could be the New England Patriots, who have the easiest strength of schedule in the afc. The team. Okay, I think I, I may have been mistaken. I said easiest in the NFL. It might just be in the afc, but I'll continue. The team with the easiest schedule in the AFC has finished with a winning record in six, seven straight seasons. So. How about that?

[Adam Azen]

It's based on last year's win percentages. Yeah, it's based on literally nothing that's happened since the end of last season.

[Dave Richard]

But, like, it's not like every team just redrafted, like it's a dynasty league. Dave, the rosters are pretty similar over the past.

[Adam Azen]

You tell me, you look at that Dolphins defense and you tell me that they're a better defense now than they were last year, especially if Jalen Ramsey is not on the team. You look at that Buffalo defense from last year and look at it now and tell me that that's, that's a better defense. The Bills made improvements. They're going to be better this year. The Dolphins are going to be worse. The Dolphins have three pass rushers and that's it. If they get rid of Jalen Ramsey. Yeah, I am. I, I'm. I, I'm not ready to say that just because a team had a great record last year, they're going to be great again this year. They sucked last year, even more next year. That's what the strength of schedule suggests. If you.

[Dave Richard]

Last year's data still, I mean, it's.

[Adam Azen]

A data point using. You want to know what's a better data point? Is using the over under win totals.

[Dave Richard]

Okay.

[Adam Azen]

That the odds makers put out there. That's better information because at least that's looking forward, not looking backward.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, no, I get it.

[Adam Azen]

Getting off my soapbox now.

[Dave Richard]

Okay, good. I don't like it. Rinse I'll rinse your mouth out with your soapbox.

[Adam Azen]

Yeah, try it. We'll see what happens.

[Dave Richard]

All right, so then what's the little faster. God, what stands out to you then? Who are some, who are some players or teams that have favorable schedules?

[Adam Azen]

So I, I haven't broken it down team by team necessarily. I'm just going to tell you a couple things that stand out to me. One that really stands out to me in a good way is that the Baltimore Ravens have not one, but two home stretches like home stands in baseball that make me feel really good about, I don't know, a squad that's got a 30 year old running back that could use a lot of time off of an airplane. Weeks five through eight, they've got the Texans, the Rams a buy and then the Bears. I, I the Texans are probably the toughest defense of those three, but that's a nice little span there. And then in weeks 13 through 15, they're against the jets, the Bengals on Thanksgiving and then the Steelers. So some tougher defenses there. The jets and Steelers, not the Bengals. The Bengals are another defense that. Man, if they get rid of Trey Hendrickson, they could really suck this year. That makes me feel a little bit better about drafting Derrick Henry. Makes me feel better about the Ravens in general. Just knowing that they don't have some crazy road trip. They do have three straight on the road, but it's not that bad. It's the Dolphins, the Vikings, it's the Browns, it's weeks nine through 11, but two homestands. You almost never see that. In fact, Adam, just overall, you never see as many three game home stands or three game road trips as what the NFL threw at us this year. There's a ton of teams that have that. Cincinnati, three of their first four games on the road. The Browns in Week 1, at the Vikings in Week 3, at the Broncos in Week 4. Tough defenses, tough start. I don't think it, I actually think this is great news for, for their offense because their defense, I don't think they're going to be that good. And they're playing against teams, some of them have some pretty good offenses there. It's going to force the Bengals to throw and we should get great starts from guys that were already starting anyway. But it should just embolden you to consider Jamar Chase at number one overall to take T. Higgins late round two to put a circle around Joe Burrow's name and include him with the elite tier quarterbacks. You get my point. Other teams that have interesting schedules for the first five games for Buffalo are at home three consecutively against the Dolphins, Saints and Patriots. One drafting those guys mostly anyway. How about three straight home games for Tampa Bay against the Cardinals, the Saints and the falcons in weeks 13 through 15? And then after the Falcons, they've got Carolina on the road and Miami on the road to end the fantasy regular season. So it's Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins, unless those defenses. Tampa Bay. So unless those defenses are a lot better than I think they are going to be, this is going to be another strong finish for Bucky Baker, Bevins Bodwin, maybe even a Mecca Buka, anybody that's got a B in their name in Tampa Bay. But it, it just makes me feel a little bit more emboldened about those guys finishing strong. It's not that I'm going to send anybody up and down in my rankings because of the schedule. It's just little things like that that are going to stick in my head and say, okay, it's, it's just another reason to kind of dig Mike Evans, especially if he slips on draft day. Chris Godwin, especially if he slips on draft day. Could make these guys really great fantasy league winners because their playoff schedule looks good right now.

[Dave Richard]

Well, it's just that, I mean, I think you look at the NFC south, the NFC south, not a very good division of defenses. It would. It would appear so. The NFC south is going to have. Yeah. And then like Tampa, I mean usually you can run, you can't really run on them, but you can throw all over them.

[Adam Azen]

Typically they've had a hard time having a healthy secondary. I do think their pass rush is going to be pretty good. So that's always a factor. But yeah, if they're, if their secondary gets banged up again.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, but, but the NFC first round.

[Adam Azen]

Pick on a receiver. Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

The NFC south teams are going to have favorable playoff schedules because they're going to be playing at least one NFC south team and pro and oftentimes they're going to be playing two. Some teams that I found with good playoff matchups, I like Minnesota down the street because I think, you know, their passing game should be good against Tampa Bay. But so New Orleans at the jets at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay for. That's Miami. Sorry, that's Miami. Minnesota, Washington at Dallas at the Giants. Detroit could be some very high scoring games there. I like the jets end of season schedule.

[Adam Azen]

I do too. Jaguars, Saints, Patriots.

[Dave Richard]

Like the Rams last six games. I did have Tampa Bay on my list as well. Seattle at Atlanta, Colts.

[Adam Azen]

Did you have the 49ers on your list? No Titans at home.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

At the Colts home against the Bears. And that's all after their buy in week 14.

[Dave Richard]

I looked at. Well, how about some bad matchups before I go into that? Any bad matchups that you want to.

[Adam Azen]

Highlight in the fantasy playoffs anywhere?

[Dave Richard]

Anything at all that stands out to you?

[Adam Azen]

So again, I haven't had the chance to fine tooth comb it, nor do I know exactly all of the defenses that I think are going to be really, really tough. I, I just think it's going to be challenging Here. Here's one that's interesting. You can give me your opinion on this one.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

In the fantasy playoffs, the Commanders have divisional matchups. So I like that. The Giants have a great pass rush. I'm not sure if they have anything else. The Cowboys, if they keep Michael Parsons, should have a pretty good pass rush, should have a decent defense overall. And the Eagles defense is, is very good. But just the fact that it's the Round 2 matchups against Divisional rivals for Washington, I think that makes that challenging for them.

[Dave Richard]

So let's, let's take a quick break and I'm going to tell you one player that. Well, yeah, I'm gonna tell you one player that I, I really think if there was, if there was one guy, based on the hour I spent looking at the schedule, if there was one guy that I'd say I'm probably not going to draft him because of the schedule. I'm gonna tell you who it is after this quick break. Hey everyone, I want to talk about something really important. Life insurance and ethos.com FFT is the place to go to get affordable life insurance. When I became a father, it made me pause and think if something happened to me, would my family be okay? Would they be financially prepared to handle everything from mortgage payments to everyday bills? This weighed on me. I need affordable life insurance. And you can get that through Ethos. And I love that. Ethos makes it simple. No medical exam required. You just answer a few health questions online. I got an instant rate and it took less than 10 minutes to get my free quote. It's all 100% online and you can even get same day coverage. Life insurance helps provide that financial cushion so your family can keep up with mortgage payments, college tuition, whatever life throws at them. And with Ethos, it's way more affordable than I thought. Some policies started just $2 a day. Build monthly. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free [e-mail] FFT that's ethos.com.

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[Dave Richard]

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[Dave Richard]

Calvin Ridley is a guy that I think I don't want to draft and I'm interested in him this year. But thinking Cam Ward wins the job, right? I assume his first four games are at Denver, the Rams at home, the Colts, who just got Charvarius Ward big off season edition. Colts had a terrible defense last year. And at Houston you were talking about Patrick Sir Tan, you're talking about Trevarius Ward, you're talking about Derek Stingley, and you're talking about the first four. And I didn't mention the Rams. Like the Rams have a good, probably a very good young defense. Right. So the first four games of Cam Ward's career, Denver, Rams, Colts, Houston, two of them on the road. It gets easier after that. But I think you can make a case. Don't draft Calvin Ridley. And maybe you look at him as a buy low candidate. I would anticipate him getting off to a slow start based on their schedule.

[Adam Azen]

Yeah. And we're gonna give you more names like this as we move forward. And certainly when I'm done analyzing every defense, I'll, I'll have a list of players that could be slow starters. And then you don't, you don't draft them, you trade for them. I, I think that the problem is that if, if Calvin Ridley gets off to a slow start, it's not like he's taking on a slew of easy defenses the rest of the season and he's just going to take off after that. And it makes sense that with a rookie quarterback who you know is going to have to learn the NFL game and is going to learn on the fly that Ridley would get off to a slow start, all those guys in Tennessee are going to get off to a slow start. So I, I, it's part of the reason why Calvin Ridley was never really like anything more than like a mid round sleeper, somebody that you might maybe target as A number three wide receiver.

[Dave Richard]

Here's another.

[Adam Azen]

Probably someone that is better off. Now just put them in your round or your wide receiver. 4 range and let somebody else take it. Based on what you said.

[Dave Richard]

Here's another one. Here we go. Good.

[Adam Azen]

Give me more.

[Dave Richard]

DeAndre Swift. I think, you know, it gets a little bit easier after the first two weeks, but the first two weeks for Swift are against Minnesota and at Detroit. I could see those teams being very good against the run. And if we enter, like, like if they bring in somebody, right, because you know there's a lot of buzz about Nick going there. If it's Dobbins, then I'm just gonna be so concerned to begin with. But if they enter in somewhat of type of a competition, we'll have to see how this works out. If he gets off to a bad start, you know, that's just a, that's just a bad sign. I, I want to say it was Jamal Williams, man, I could be wrong about these details. Help me out. But I feel like Aaron Jones had a two game suspension to start a season like six years ago or something. Jamal Williams had had like a, you know, a Runway to, to, to get off to a good start. Had two terrible matchups to start the year and did poorly and it worked against him. So I Look at this two first two games of Minnesota and at Detroit for DeAndre Swift specifically and say that could be trouble. I do however see the Chicago offense after the Minnesota game at Detroit, Dallas at Las Vegas, I could see them getting off to a nice start. And of course playing at Detroit will be interesting for Ben Johnson in week two.

[Adam Azen]

I just think Chicago's gonna add somebody and relegate DeAndre Swift to being a role player anyway.

[Dave Richard]

You know, I love good cornerbacks and I love good cornerbacks that will shadow wide receivers. So the ones that I, you know, the matchups that I think are tough cornerback matchups. You didn't agree with all these. I'm gonna, you know, the Jets, I'm gonna say they're like a half tough matchup. Although look, they have a new, they have a new defensive coordinator. So maybe they finally have Gardner shadow and they don't have DJ Reed anymore.

[Adam Azen]

Right, I forgot who their other starting corner, it's Stevens from Baltimore who's a good man to man corner and they are absolutely going to play a lot more man and they've got a good pass rush up front. Especially with Quinn and Williams destroying interior offensive lines. You will absolutely see Sauce Gardner move away from being a stationary corner playing.

[Dave Richard]

Zone so jets could be tough. Patriots could be tough. With Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. Eagles could be tough. Broncos will be tough. Eagles will be tough. Broncos will be tough.

[Adam Azen]

Yes.

[Dave Richard]

I think the Colts could be like, you know, just if Charvarius were. He's been a good cover corner. I still think Legarius need could be an elite cornerback. You disagreed with that one. So I put Tennessee on there. And Houston. Houston scares me with Stingley and with their pass rush.

[Adam Azen]

So with just remember like it does, take those two factors. Not only do you need an excellent cover corner, but you need a good pass rush to go with it. You might be able to convince me that the Colts pass rush will be good. Well, I don't think you can convince me that the Titans pass rush will be good. Jeffrey Simmons is a beast. I love him.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

But I don't really love what they have around him. Getting after the quarterback well. And I don't know if Lujerius need is ever going to be the same after this past season.

[Dave Richard]

I hope you're wrong about that. I hope so because I love him as a player.

[Adam Azen]

Sure. Yeah. Oh, I did too.

[Dave Richard]

But here are some wide receivers that are facing what I think are tough cornerbacks. I'm start with Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas Jr. Because I mentioned, I mentioned every team in the AFC south except for Jacksonville, so. And not in addition to that. Brian Thomas junior's at San Francisco, which I don't think will be hard, but he gets Kansas City. Seattle could be tough. Rams could be tough. Chargers had the best scoring defense in the NFL last year. I don't, I don't really buy it. I think it was schedule based. Gets the jets, gets the Broncos. Brian Thomas Jr. Has a pretty bad schedule. The good news is he absolutely torched Houston twice last year. He was great against the Patriots. Scored 32.5 fantasy points against the Jets. Yeah.

[Adam Azen]

Speed, baby.

[Dave Richard]

Neighbors, Eagles twice, Broncos, Chiefs. Chargers at the Bears. Packers at the Patriots. Minnesota can be tough. I don't know about Dallas, but they could be tough neighbors. Not have a good schedule either, in my opinion. Cortland Sutton's got some tough matchups. DK Metcalf has some tough matchups, but actually the two that really stood out were Neighbors and Thomas. Does it matter to you at all?

[Adam Azen]

Not as much. I think the bigger concerns with Neighbors go beyond the schedule. It's his quarterbacks, it's the offense in general. But I the. The flip side to this is simply do you expect a cornerback to play amazing football for four quarters because there's Going to be a lot of games where the Giants are trailing, and that's what happened last year. And look at all the targets that Malik Neighbors had, and especially from inferior quarterbacks now, I, I'd argue he's got an upgrade in quarterbacks. It's not like, you know, you're not going from Curtis Painter to Andrew Luck or anything like that, but it's still timely reference, Dave. But, but you're. You're still getting an upgrade. I, I think if you're scared off because of Neighbor's schedule, you're kind of missing the point. It's. It's more about Neighbors and all the other issues that are underlying in New York. The fact that he is going to see a lot of tough corners is definitely a factor. I'd like to go back and see how he did against tough corners last year.

[Dave Richard]

Well, if you remember the Cleveland game, we were a little like, I don't know if we should start. And they torched them in week three. Philadelphia, he was terrible against them. I don't really think he faced that many, you know, lockdown corners last year. I'm not that worried about it. But if you're going to call it a potential tiebreaker, then I think people should just know that Malik Neighbors, on paper, he does have a pretty tough schedule.

[Adam Azen]

Now, if you were to tell me that Malik Neighbors is going to face, say you made a list of the. The 10 toughest cornerbacks in the National Football League, and he's gonna face. He's gonna have 10 games against them. All right. Not necessarily facing all them, because like Philadelphia, he'll see Quinion Mitchell twice, something like that, then that would be. That would be something that sticks in my head on Neighbors, and it might make me think twice about taking him over a Monroe St. Brown or Pukinakua.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, well, he is definitely going to face tough ones. He's going to face certain. He's going to face the Eagles twice. And the Eagles don't shadow their receivers. They don't have Darius Slay anymore either. But they have the two young corners. He's going to face the Chiefs. I say the Chiefs. I mean, I did earlier and by.

[Adam Azen]

The way, I don't think the 49ers defense is going to be as good as it was a couple of years ago. Yeah, but I kind of. I kind of like their corners. And then they still have Nick Bosa rushing the passer.

[Dave Richard]

They've got the, you know, they got a great slot corner in San Francisco.

[Adam Azen]

Lenore. I, I think there's a chance they move him outside. So I've, I've already studied the 49ers, so if you want my quick notes on their, their quarterbacks, I will tell.

[Dave Richard]

You, I mean, they used to be a defense that you kind of feared. I don't know if you do anymore. They've lost so much.

[Adam Azen]

They have lost a lot. They're still pretty good at linebacker. Lenore and Green are their cornerbacks. I'm not sure if Green, if Lenore is going to stay in the slot all the time. Their safeties are a liability. And their pass rush, like after Nick Bosa, they've got a lot of rookie defensive tackles. I'm not sure how good those guys are going to be. I'm, I don't think they're going to be as good as they once was, but once they once were. But I think they can still be competitive with what they have.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah. All right, Dave, I'm ready for this to wrap up. You good with that? Anything else?

[Adam Azen]

I'm good with it, but I, I intend to deliver a lot more on this subject. Without looking back at strength of schedule last year. Let's, let's put some elbow grease into studying these defenses. The one especially the ones that change coordinators. Indianapolis is a great example. They've got Lou Annorumo as their defensive coordinator. He used to be great with Cincinnati until they bottomed out last year. It's a totally different change. I'm curious how. I'll grade them and I'll run it past you guys and you'll tell me if they pass the sniff test or if you disagree. Maybe Jamie and he'll think that the 49ers defense is total garbage now and that they'll want to take Rams players and Seahawks players because they're taking on 49ers defense. It's going to be an interesting conversation, but if you believe that matchups are important to fantasy football, then you should believe that the schedule is important and taking everything as at least a tiebreaker is smart.

[Dave Richard]

And the maybe one of the biggest takeaways of something that was said on the earlier show today on Wednesday morning, if the Giants really do have the hardest schedule in the NFL, you probably want to avoid their running backs. All right.

[Adam Azen]

But I think a lot of people were avoiding their running backs anyway.

[Dave Richard]

You never know. All right, thank you everybody. For Dave Ray Richard, I'm Adam Azen. Have a great night. We'll talk to you on Thursday morning.

[Adam Azen]

With the Mailbag.

[Paramount Podcasts Host]

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