
Loading summary
A
Hate shopping for pants. You're not alone. Jack Archer's Jetsetter Tech pants are basically the answer to every guy's closet struggles. With their customizable fit, wrinkle free fabric sourced from Japan and all day comfort, these pants can take you from work to weekend without missing a beat. Seriously, these might be the only pants you'll ever need. Style them with the Jetsetter tee, legacy button down shirt or the buttery legacy polo sweater and and you've got timeless staples to meet your everyday wardrobe needs. Jack Archer is just better For a limited time get 15% off using the code getjack@jackarcher.com again that's promo code getjack@jackarcher dot com for 15% off your entire order.
B
There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of
A
nature, discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with alltrails.
B
Download the free app today and find your outside.
A
Welcome everyone to a very special edition, a schedule edition of Fantasy Football Today here on CBS Sports Network. The schedule is out. The Browns have a very easy schedule. The Bears have a brutal schedule. Does that mean that the Browns are going to be better than the Bears? Obviously it does. Welcome to that's the kind of hard hitting analysis you're getting today. In addition to schedule talk, we're also going to do some ADP review and a fun game called who has More. Everyone's been clamoring for it. So here we go. I'm Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg, Dave Richard and Heath Cummings and let's talk about the schedule and what it means. So that's my opening question for you guys. We'll go Jamie, Heath, Dave, Jamie, how much does the schedule matter when it comes to fantasy analysis?
C
It matters a little bit. I mean, obviously you want to have a favorable schedule. You want to have easy opponents, you want to have situations where your fantasy players are going to benefit. But for me, it's always about what the beginning of the season looks like more so than the middle or the end. At least that's when you know teams for the most part are going to be healthy. When you get to the middle part of the season, we know how much injuries take apart defenses take apart teams. The end of the season is even worse. So I always try to look at the beginning part of the schedule, how much that matters. The first four weeks. It's really just another deciding factor if you're talking about one player versus the next. But I don't really focus on it too much. It's not one of the, the biggest factors for me in deciding who I'm going to draft. Keith, how about you?
D
No, I think it matters, but it probably matters more than we can specifically say before the season actually starts for a lot of the reasons that Jamie said, like it's going to matter and it even matters, like in terms of short weeks and days of rest. There's certainly going to be a time in the middle of the season where we're talking about this team is playing their third road game in four weeks and they've got three days of rest and we are concerned about them.
B
Or it could be something like they're traveling to Australia and then they've got to get used to that and then they've got to fly back to America or any other country that they're going to play football in this year. Look, it doesn't matter for studs. You're going to start Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gibbs every single week. But we talk every week during the season about matchups and we're starting this player because he's got a good matchup. If you knew a player at a gross looking schedule, wouldn't you want to use that information as at least a tiebreaker on draft day? I know that I would. So the bottom line is that it's information that can be used to help you make decisions on how you draft, how you build your team.
A
Yeah, I'll talk about this a little bit later, but DJ Moore is a guy that I was pretty excited to draft and I still am a little bit. But looking at his early season schedule, he's got a lot of really, really difficult cornerbacks on that schedule. That's one thing we'll discuss a little bit later in the show. Also, you know, you mentioned the international game and I did, I did some research before the show because San Francisco and the Rams, they're in Australia in week one. I did some research. Australia is really far, guys. It's far. So let y' all know. That's quite a trip that it's in week one, but maybe there'll be some after effects and you know, in week two. All right, with that said, let's talk about the easiest schedules and the toughest schedules that you guys saw. Heath, I asked, you know who has the easiest schedule? You're talking about the Browns and the Saints. The Browns only have two matchups against teams that were top 10 in points per game allowed last year. But there you go. Based on 20, 25 win percentage, those two are at the top. How much does that matter for you when it comes to the Browns and Saints?
D
It matters. And it's not just about like the opponent winning record in the past. Although maybe with the Browns it is more especially Quin Sean Judkins. Cause I don't see a lot of teams on their schedule that are just going to blow them out of the building. That should keep them in closer to new neutral game scripts which should give them an opportunity to hand the ball off to Quinshawn Judkins more. I think with their current quarterback situation they would like to do that as often as possible. But it's also that the Browns put play a lot of mediocre teams and play a lot of teams that are better on offense than they are on defense. They drew the AFC south and the NFC south this year. The AFC South's better defensively than the NFC south is, but good matchups for their weapons. And then the Saints like we're going to talk about their fantasy playoff schedule so I won't get into this that too much. But I just love the fact that they're going to have zero cold weather games. They're going to be indoors for most of December. I think Cincinnati at the end of November is the last time they go north of the Mason Dixon line. If Adam, if you can tell everybody where the Mason Dixon line is, that would probably help.
B
He doesn't know where Australia is.
A
Mason Dixon line is a lot closer than Australia. That's basically all I know about that. So yeah, the Browns, and that's been kind of one of the headlines is the Browns. You know, it's funny because we knew the matchups before the schedule release, but it's just to see it on paper. Browns have an easy schedule. Saints. Dave, you highlighted Minnesota and Detroit. Minnesota with a great postseason schedule with Washington and the jets and the last two weeks of the fantasy season. But Minnesota and Detroit, you like the those two NFC north teams and their schedules.
B
The entire NFC north does not play against the Texans, the Broncos, the Eagles, the Steelers, the Seahawks. They don't even play against the many defenses that have improved over the off season. I think this is going to be a division that we can target on draft day. And Minnesota and Detroit, maybe they've got the best two defenses in the division. I just like the layout form and the opponents that they have. I think that they're going to have their way. This further solidifies Jameer Gibbs, by the way, as the clear cut 101. It's this little bit of a tiebreaker that helps him get the knot over Bijan Robinson.
A
Okay. I love that. And yeah, Minnesota not having to face Minnesota's defense is huge because they allowed one touchdown pass in their last eight games last year was insane. Jamie, you took this on from a slightly different angle. You're just focusing on weeks one through four, and you've got three teams with good schedules in weeks one through four. The Lions. Dave just mentioned the Ravens and the Packers.
C
Yeah, and kind of goes with Dave's theme about the NFC North. By the way, the Vikings actually face their defense the most, if you think about it. But you know, when you talk about the. The. The way that I approach it, I look at the first four weeks of the season and who can get you off to a good start. So you got the Lions. They get the Saints, the Bills, the jets, the Panthers, the Ravens. They get the Colts, the Saints, the Cowboys, the Titans. Packers get the Vikings, the Jets, the Falcons, and the Bucks. Those are all favorable matchups, not across the board, but for the majority of those first four weeks, they're getting favorable opponents. So you're looking for players that can get you off to a hot start. I think, as Dave said, the Lions could do it for the entirety of the season. Same thing probably with the packers, the Ravens, new head coach, new, new play caller. I think that's going to be great for Lamar Jackson to get off to an early start, especially taking on the Colts and the Saints in those first two weeks. That could be very favorable for not only Lamar, but Derek Henry. But obviously all eyes are on, I think this passing game and Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, those type of guys get off to really good start in those first four games.
A
All right, so then those are the teams that have easy schedules or easy schedules at the beginning of the season. How about the toughest schedules? Heath? I talked about the Bears at the open of the show. The Bears, thankfully, one of their games against the Vikings is in week 18. But, you know, you can talk about the fantasy playoffs. They. If you don't bring it up, I will, but I won't steal your thunder. But the Bears and the Eagles are two teams that you highlighted with bad schedules.
D
Yeah, well, Dave was talking about how great things are for the NFC North. I don't think it's very great for the Bears. They have to face the packers twice. They have to go to Seattle. The week before they go to Seattle, they play against the Patriots. They play both teams from the Super Bowl. They gotta face the Eagles in week three. And then you look at their fantasy schedule a couple of home games against inter division opponents. Which Chicago in December. Not great. You know, it's worse than Chicago in December. Buffalo. So who they'll face in Buffalo in week 15, I think it's it looks pretty miserable for the Bears. The Eagles may be just a little bit better. It's an easier start if you're like Jamie and that and that matters more to you against Washington and Tennessee at the start of the year. But a lot of very good defenses
A
on their schedule and that's an important distinction that the Bears have this kind of bad luck. It's predicted and the other three teams don't because they're playing that first place schedule. So they are the NFC north team that has to face Philadelphia and has to face Seattle, whereas the other three do not. Dave Arizona and Washington, two teams that you looked at with difficult schedules and
B
think about their division rivals in Arizona, you know, the other teams in the NFC west, including the Seattle Seahawks in Washington, it's Philadelphia. And I think the Cowboys and Giants defenses are are two of the most improved defensive units in the entire National Football League. Commanders have to go up against those teams twice each. And then on top of that they've got the NFC west plus Houston, Arizona's got the NFC east. Talked about those teams and the AFC west that includes Denver. I don't think either of these schedules are particularly good. I have already downgraded Jeremiah Love, who I love, no pun intended. But I don't know if I can take him as high as I thought I could because this schedule is going to be so hard and I'm going to end up doing the exact same thing to Jaden Daniels. He was a top six fantasy quarterback for me. But by the time I finish evaluating this, I'm not sure how close he'll be closer to 10 than he will be to 5, let's just put it
A
that way, you know. So Washington, they did obviously they have these tough games that you mentioned. If you're buying into the Dallas and the Giants now, I think the Giants secondary is still really bad. Dallas added a ton of pieces but they're building basically from the worst, one of the worst defenses of football. But I will say this about Washington. They do have tough matchups. They also have the Giants twice. I think is it really comes down to how you think about those two teams? Giants twice, Dallas once. In the fantasy season they have Tennessee, they have Arizona. So I saw enough good matchups on their schedule to maybe counteract the tough matchups. Dave But I think maybe you're just higher on the Giants and Cowboys defenses.
B
Think about that pass rush that New York has built and as long as they keep it the way that it is with Brian Burns and Abdul, Carter Thibodeau stays and then they add Arvell Reese. They added Tremat Edmonds at linebacker. I think their secondary is on the rise and John Harbaugh gets a lot from no name defensive tackles and they added a pretty good one in DJ Reader. These guys aren't exactly Dexter Lawrence. Losing him, that stinks. But this is a defense that's going to surprise some people this year in Dallas. We already saw their turnaround last year when they acquired Quinn and Williams and now they've built around him. They got Caleb Downs in the draft. This is going to be a tough division. The NFC east, three really good defenses and the commanders.
A
I'm going to throw a question here to Jamie. Jamie, you know Dave mentioned Jeremiah Love there. With Arizona having a tough schedule, could Jeremiah Love we talk. Sorry, we talked about Breeze hall on yesterday's podcast or two days ago and he didn't really have a lot of carries because the jets could never run the ball in the fourth quarter. They were always trailing. And you could see the same thing happening to Love. But do you think his involvement in the passing game will negate that effect a little bit or a lot? Hopefully.
C
I mean you certainly got to be hopeful for it. He can do it. It's a matter of will they allow him to do it if the backfield and the running back room stays as it is. Because you could see a situation where Jeremiah Love is unfortunately potentially a trap back if Tyler Algier is getting goal line work and James Connor's still there and he's the one getting work in the passing game. So I hope that's not the case. I think if you're buying into Jeremiah Love, which clearly a lot of fantasy managers are, you look at his ADP so far in fantasy pros, for example, early round three pick, which I think is where he should go. I don't know if how many people are going to look at and say, okay, the schedule is going to push him in one way or the other from how he will perform. Meaning will he just have to get his production in the passing game. So you got to hope that. And again, you know, we hate to use that word, but you got to hope that this offense continues to be a high volume offense leading the NFL or close to the NFL as we saw last year in past attempts, and that Jeremiah Love sort of is allowed to work in that realm, I would just like to see James Conner off the roster, get him on another team that maybe he can do some damage still. And that Love and Algiers, the duo that we're looking at instead of a three headed monster here in Arizona.
A
Okay, let's talk about teams that have good early season schedules. You already heard Jamie talk about the Lions, Ravens and Packers. Heath, you are highlighting the Chargers and the Ravens who Jamie did mention. Chargers and Ravens are two teams that you like their early season schedules.
D
Yeah. The Chargers start off with the Arizona Cardinals and the Raiders. So if you want to get off to a good start, that is a great way to go about it. I think Jamie already talked a lot about the Ravens there. I think their decent stretch actually goes longer. It's the Colts than the Saints, then the Cowboys. Maybe they'll be great. Maybe they'll just be kind of good. Then the Titans and the Falcons. So four of their first five games should be against plus matchups.
A
Yeah, the Chargers Week three at Buffalo and that could be a good one for the Chargers too. It's high scoring. Dave, you like the Eagles and the packers starting out the season.
B
Already talked about the Packers. Jamie, great call on that with the Vikings, Jets, Falcons, Bucks to begin the year, Chicago after that and then for Philadelphia it's three games to get this new offense off the ground round. The Commanders, the Titans and the Bears. I might be able to name one or two pass rushers on those three teams that might get to seven sacks over the course of the year. I I think it's just a fantastic start in that offensive line. Assuming they're healthy to begin the year. Should be able to help Philadelphia start 30 Big start for Saquon Barkley, big start for Jalen. Hurts and I don't know who's going to be there wide receiver, but I would imagine Devontae Smith will be part of the picture.
A
Okay. Teams with difficult schedules to start the year. Jamie gave us the Broncos Commanders and Rams. Heath agrees with the Commanders as they're at Philadelphia, at Dallas, Seattle and Indianapolis in their first four. But also the Patriots. Heath who had the easiest schedule in football last year. That's why this stuff matters. The Patriots and the and the Niners, very easy schedules and we saw it play out. They start with Seattle, Pittsburgh. Jacksonville was eighth best in scoring defense and at Buffalo. So you don't like the Patriots start?
D
No. I hope we don't see AJ Brown in week four reading a book on the sideline because he's unhappy with how things have started. For the Patriots, but it is we saw what this Patriots defense or this Seahawks defense did to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. It's going to be a very difficult matchup. I think it'll be a slow start for New England. Things get a little easier for them in the middle of the season when they start playing their own division.
A
Dave the Colts and the Cardinals are teams that have difficult matchups to start the year.
B
I don't like that the Colts are starting with the Ravens who I think their defense bounces back and I do like Jesse Minter as a coordinator and now he's their head coach so you know he's going to have in that Kansas City reloaded on defense. Houston arguably the best defense in the National Football League and two weeks after Houston, they play the Steelers. That is a tough start for a team with a quarterback coming back from a torn Achilles and it makes me a little nervous about Jonathan Taylor, but not enough to move him in my rankings. Ashford, Arizona I could run down their first 11 games and you would throw up hearing it because it's going to be bad for an offense that honestly we might need to hope that they get a lot of garbage time points for their peripherals to come through the Trey McBrides, Marvin Harrison's, Michael Wilson's and of course Jeremiah Love. And their defense isn't particularly good either and they're playing a lot of teams that have a lot of offenses. These are two teams with two tough starts. I would be a little bit nervous about anybody who's not obviously on the Colts or the Cardinals.
A
You know Dave, I've always wanted a one of our videos to go like super viral, like millions of views and I think throwing up on air might be the one to do it, but I, I'm not quite ready to make that commitment. So we'll finish with week one DSTs to stream. Jamie, give me a DST that I could draft and start in week one.
C
I don't know if you want to draft them for the season, but the Raiders get the Dolphins in Week 1 and the Dolphins offense could be among the worst in the NFL. And so assuming that Max Crosby stays with the Raiders, he's probably going to be a little bit pissed off about how this offense off season went for him. And so taking it out on the Dolphins and the lack of weapons that they have, you know that team's game plan more so for any other week than week one, more so than any other week in the season. So hopefully the Dolphins offense and Bobby Slowik in that group have a good game plan for the Raiders. Raiders defense is not good but the Dolphins defense might be worse. Dolphins office might be worse.
B
Yeah.
A
Heath street streaming DST in Week one.
D
You know, I'm probably too optimistic about the Browns this year, but I am not optimistic about them in week one against Jacksonville. It's a road game. I don't really like cold weather teams going to Florida in September that doesn't often go well. It'd be the first game in Todd Monken's new system. Their best two wide receivers may be rookies and rookie and rookie wide receivers are generally a lot better in the second half of the season than they are in the first. And their best offensive player, Quin Sean Judkins is recovering from an injury and may not be 100% for week one. The so a lot of things that suggest the Browns will be better in the second half in Week one. I think they could be awful at Jacksonville.
A
And Dave, you also like the Jaguars and the Browns.
B
Yeah, I do. But one thing to keep in mind when you when you think about the Steelers, they're taking on Atlanta in week one. And when you think about the Falcons, yeah, they've got Bijan Robinson and Drake London, but they've also got two A tongue of Iowa at quarterback and that could be somebody that panics quite a bit. And the Steelers DST might be even the best DST that you can start in week number one. You can remember that team as a potential season long dst. You don't have to bother adding and dropping them all year long. They should be pretty good.
C
Adam, this is, this is just this. This is. I mean the idea is streaming defenses, right? Streaming defense. The Jaguars were third last year as a defense and they're being drafted as a top 10 option. The Steelers streaming.
B
No drafting.
A
I don't. It's funny that the jack where so the Jaguars are a top 10 DST in ADP.
C
They are number nine on Fantasy Pros. They were the third best DST last year.
A
Yeah, right. I was even surprised when I saw they were 8th best in points allowed.
C
So was I. I was like, oh, I can't use them. They're too high.
A
Yeah, right. Maybe people it's good that fantasy drafters are seeing it, but I was honestly unaware that the Jaguars were third best as a fantasy dst. That is wild. Without.
B
You know what and you know what, the majority of the world watching us right now is shocked by that exact same stat. I don't think many people were walking into their drafts thinking oh yeah I'm going to get the Jaguars dst, Steelers dst. I admit it's different. They're not a streaming option. I'm just saying that they've got a matchup that you're going to love in week one.
A
All right, well, we didn't throw up
C
on the bunch of cheaters.
A
We did shock people with their Jaguars. We'll be right back to talk more about the schedule, including wide receivers who are going to see some tough cornerbacks this season. And, and just a look at the Week 1 matchups and what's intriguing to us. We'll be right back on fantasy football today. One of the great things about fantasy football is that it takes games that you ordinarily wouldn't care about watching, turns them into must see events. So with that said, looking at the week one schedule, I'm gonna give you five week one games that I think are must see games for fantasy purposes and you can tell me how stupid I am. Jamie, game number one, Atlanta at Pittsburgh. Who wants to watch this game? Well, I want to see the Pittsburgh running back splits and I want to see if Kyle Pitts, I know he loves Kyle Pitts, if he can do something without Drake London on the field, which he basically has never done. So I think Atlanta at Pittsburgh is a very important game. Stupid. Stupid. Am I. I can't even speak. So there, there's a hint there.
C
There is never a game that does not matter. So they all matter. And I think it's going to be fun to see how this game unfolds. First off, who's the quarterback for the Falcons? Will we have an answer by then? Hopefully we do, but yes, I think you want to see how the, the weapons in Atlanta will look with a new head coach and potentially new quarterback into a tongue of a loa. You want to see what the Steelers backdoor is going to look like. You want to see what the new offense in Pittsburgh's going to look like with Mike McCarthy as well. So there's a lot of moving parts. I think anytime you have new play caller, new head coach, new personnel, it's the, you know, things that we should be studying and staring at the most and trying to figure out, okay, we're our off season, preseason, you know, training camp, all the things that we put into it, all the time and effort and research do we, did we get it right at least in the first week? You know, so I think that's a great game that doesn't have usually the, you know, marquee teams that not a lot of People are going to be watching, but we'll certainly be keeping our eye on it for sure.
A
Heath Baltimore at Indianapolis. I think this will be one of the marquee games, but from a fantasy standpoint, obviously a lot of intrigue about Daniel Jones. If he's the week one starter, what he'll look like. But what kind of routes will Alec Pierce be running? This is something we talked about earlier this week on the show, so I think this is a pretty intriguing game to get some answers, mostly about the Colts offense.
D
I think it was really smart of you to not ask me how stupid you are even though you asked Jamie. I would say that, like those things are very interesting and we'll probably have a pretty good idea on Daniel Jones health by the time we get there. I think the other wide receiver in Indianapolis, Josh Downs, like the big key for him. Does he become a full time player? Is he the wide receiver who's on the field? And all their two wide receiver sets as of right now, it looks like yes. That could be huge for his fantasy value. And then we have a new offensive system in Baltimore. What does that look like? We'll be very interested to watch this game.
A
Dave. Chicago at Carolina I think the target share for the Bears receivers is going to be under a microscope early in the season. So this, this game maybe will start answering some of those questions.
B
And it's J.C. horn on the outside at one of the top cornerback spots for Carolina. He'll match up against Romo Dunes. It might make Odunze a fade in Week one and it could open things up for Luther Burden, who we're really excited about, and Colson Loveland, the tight end that we're really excited about. I think those two guys could get a lot of work and I could see Chicago pouring on the points on this game. I do think Carolina's defense has improved, but not to the point where they're going to be one of the better defenses in the league. So the Bears offense should get going. I worry a little bit about Romo Dunze.
A
I'm going to give you this next one to you as well, Dave. Jets at the Titans I don't think people will be talking about this game, but I want to know how good Cam Ward can be and he doesn't get talked about enough for a guy that was the number one pick two drafts ago. So I've got my that offense could be fun for fantasy if Cam Ward can take the step up. So what do you think about that game, jets and Titans?
B
I mean, Jamie did say that every game matters for fantasy and it's true. But do we have to watch this one? Do we have to really get dig into the details on Jets Titans Cam Newton's going to be interesting to watch, but it's not because of Cam Newton, at least not in one QB league. So nobody's going to start him even though it is against the Jets. It's going to be more the super flex leagues and whether or not he can hang as a number two quarterback. I love what the Titans have done this offseason. I love the addition of Brian D. As their play caller. The offensive line looks good. The receiving looks a little bit better. Carnell Tate, their first round pick, he should absolutely help out Cam Ward and they kept their running backs as is. I just, I don't know if there's enough there to push Cam Ward into being a fantasy factor. And the jets defense, for what it's worth, they should be far more aggressive playing out of a 3, 4 scheme with Aaron Glenn calling the plays than they were last year.
A
So now I want to take a look at some wide receivers who have tough matchups this season facing really good cornerbacks. And the first one I want to highlight is, I guess Rashee Rice. But overall the Kansas City wide receivers and I know Rashee Rice will line up in different spots, but I'll point out that he had three games last year against Denver, Houston and the Chargers and he scored 7.4 to 12.1 PPR fantasy points in those three games. So he was terrible. Rashid Rice scored 18.6 or more fantasy points in every other game. I look at the first eight weeks for Kansas City, there's a buy in there. There's Denver twice, there's Indianapolis, which has good cornerbacks. There's Seattle as well. So Jamie, any reason to be concerned? This might be more of a Mahomes thing, but it's, it's kind of scary. I think you do have Miami and Las Vegas, thankfully, but it's a really tough schedule for the Chiefs early on.
C
I think you said something there that matters just about how they move around. You know, this is a, a Chiefs offense that we have to keep an eye on early in the season for sure because of Mahomes, you know. So is he going to be 100? Is he going to be mobile? How much are they going to, you know, implement more of a run heavy offense, you know, early in the season especially. But now that they invested so much in their backfield with three new additions of Kenneth Walker, Amari Di Mercado and Emma Johnson, you know, so this could be a different Chiefs team that we saw certainly last year. And last year my homes ran a lot. So I think you got to see Ken Rice, you know, if he, if he's Rashi Rice, you know, I think he alluded to this on one of our shows recently on a podcast of just like what he's done the last two seasons. 16 plus PPR points, 18 plus PPR points in only the. A minimal sample size because of the suspensions and injuries. Like he's gonna overcome these certain, these certain tough matchups. Now does that weigh him down a little bit? Maybe if you're talking about comparing him to Drake London and CD Lamb and Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, those type of guys is getting drafted around then that's again looking at schedule and a tiebreaker. I just think he's in such a good spot because of the limited weapons in Kansas City's passing game. Hopefully Mahomes is ready for week one and again they'll be versatile with him and how they use him. I think he's going to be fine. I think he's a borderline first round pick.
A
Okay, he's gonna get your thoughts on DJ Moore at Houston in week one, Detroit in week two when they're healthy, they have a pretty good secondary. Chargers in week three, Patriots with their two great starting cornerbacks at the Rams who have the chief starting quarterback corners from last year. That's a really tough start for DJ Moore. Any thoughts on maybe fading him?
D
I was kind of already fading him. But I also think that like every time we think we've figured something out about DJ Moore, he does something completely different than what everybody expected. He's done that throughout his entire career. I think the key there though for them might be the fact that Detroit, Los Angeles, the Patriots, the Rams, those teams we all expect to have good offenses. And we're probably for the pass catchers in Buffalo, going to need teams to score points against the Bills so that they will call pass plays. So it might kind of even itself out. But I'm not going to rank him as a starter in week one against Houston.
A
Okay, last thing here, I just want to bring up a Mecca Abuka. His first three games are against teams that ranked second, fifth and first against wide receivers last year. Cincinnati, Cleveland and Minnesota gets easier after that, but we'll spend time on a different show talking about that. Let's finish up this segment with our best fantasy postseason matchups and the two teams that we wanted to highlight that we're looking pretty good in weeks 15, 16 and 17. David the saints and the Falcons looking at the NFC South, Saints and Falcons maybe set up for good postseason success.
B
Maybe. And they play each other in week 17, so it's easy to figure out how that goes. And with the Falcons, it's the commanders in week 15, the Bucks in week 16, the Saints have the Bucks in week 15 and then the Cardinals in week 16. Look, the bottom line is that as these defenses look right now and it's the middle of May, but as they look on paper, they don't seem formidable. Both offenses have a chance to be good. Maybe for Atlanta, Michael Pennix is playing at that point. That would make me a little bit more encouraged in the Falcons offense. But the studs that are there, yeah, they should, assuming they're healthy. Assuming these defenses aren't better than we think they should be in line to have some good numbers late in the year.
D
And since Dave and I agreed on this, I'll just add one small disagreement in that as bad as the Arizona schedule might be for the full season, Arizona was very close to making my best playoff schedules. They get a buy in week 14 right before the playoffs and then it's jets and Raiders at home, Saints on the road. That's pretty fantastic.
A
Excellent. All right, so stay patient. Jeremiah Love, Fantasy Managers that concludes the scheduling portion of today's show. When we come back, an early look at CBS average draft position and what stands out. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. The results are in. We've got drafts going on on CBSSports.com and so far the early, very early ADP. Just a handful of drafts has Jameer Gibbs 1, Bijan Robinson 2, Jamar Chase 3, Puka 4, JSN 5 I'm on Ross St. Brown 6. I'll just go ahead and read the next 200 or so or you know, I have a better idea. Let's play a game. It's called Agree or disagree with. I'm going to give you a one scenario from each round. We'll go Jamie, Dave, Heath, Tell me if you agree with these results or disagree. Jonathan Taylor and James Cook in full PPR going ahead of Devon HN and Chase Brown. Jonathan Taylor and James Cook ahead of Achan and Brown. Let's go Jamie, Dave, Heath go.
C
I do agree with this. I think Taylor, what we saw at the start of the season with a healthy Daniel Jones is replicable, maybe not to the same heights, but certainly has the opportunity to perform at a high level and maybe his receptions go up Without Michael Pittman there. You know, Heath alluded to Josh Downs being the second receiver. Can you name the third receiver aside from Tyler Warren at tight end? Because it feels as the Indianapolis receiving core is pretty barren right now. So I like the opportunity for Taylor to maybe get a few more opportunities in the passing game. We know he's always going to be a candidate to lead the NFL in rushing yards. He's going to work at the goal line. He's just awesome. So I'll take him over HN and Brown. Cook's a little bit tougher to buy, but I think we're going to see a little bit more work for him as well. Obviously took a step forward with his total touches last year. Passing game work. Still would like to see a little bit more, but you know, once, once again, another guy that could lead the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Both these guys are just special. Devon HN scares the hell out of me with the Dolphins offense. Chase Brown actually would take ahead of Achan as well.
B
I. I'm in the exact same boat. And the thing that you have to worry about with a Chan is that the entire system has changed. It's a new quarterback, new play caller, and he just got paid. So maybe that motivation has gone a little bit. I know the offensive line's good and I know that Achan's good, but Malik Willis, when he was playing both in Green Bay and Tennessee, he would throw design plays to his running backs at times, but never check downs. He would take off and run before he threw a check down pass to his running back. That's concerning. Bobby Slowik's the new offensive coordinator. When he was calling plays in Houston, he leaned into the pass a little bit more, especially on third downs. And C.J. stroud didn't throw to their running backs very often either. And I know it sounds stupid. Why wouldn't you throw it at Devon hn? Well, I don't know if they're gonna do that enough and I think it's gonna really hurt his numbers. So I'm with you. Taylor and Cook all the way ahead of Achan and Chase Brown, you know what? He should probably be ahead of HN too.
D
So I think this is like a 100% agreement for me on Jonathan Taylor being first amongst this group. I've got him closer to Bijan and Gibbs and projections than I do the other guys. I. I have no idea to have any confidence at all in a whole H and situation because I think the things Dave and Jamie said are both right and I'm cautious about those things. But also Greg Dulcich might be their most proven pass catcher like Malik Washington is their most experienced wide receiver on the OR that well, that's actually caught footballs in games recently. They've got their best rookie wide receiver I think is coming off of a torn acl. I, I just don't see how it's anything other than 20 plus touches per game for HN. Now the offense might be awful. Maybe it's all rush attempts and there's no touchdowns. That's possible. But there's also still the potential for HN to have a monster year on a terrible team.
A
All right, let's go to round two. Give me 15 seconds of analysis on each. We'll go Dave Heath, Jamie, Ashton Genti going ahead of Derrick Henry. Do you agree with it?
B
What's the format? If it's full PPR, I'm with you. Genti had 40 more catches than Derrick Henry last year. Ashton Genti now has Derrick Henry center from last year. The offense is going to be better in Las Vegas than it was last year and I just think Genti has a better chance to get more touches. I know that sounds crazy when you think about Derek Henry, but when you include those catches, I think he's going to get a lot of them and I think that'll help put him over the top in full ppr. If it's half PPR or non ppr, Give me the old man, the strong man, the man that's built like Robocop. Give me Derrick Henry.
D
Yeah, I, I, I agree with it in terms of drafting. I have Derek Henry, projected four fantasy points
A
and Jamie.
C
Yeah, I would take Genti over Henry also. I think there's just a chance that we see a slight decline. Dave mentioned it with the offensive line. You know, Linderbaum going from Baltimore to Las Vegas is huge. Colton Miller, left tackle being healthy is huge for the Raiders and I think just a better system. The one concern would be is that Clint Kubiak is a coach offense coordinator now head coach who likes to use multiple running backs. We saw it in Seattle with both Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Does Mike Washington maybe take a little bit too much work from Genti? I'm not worried about that but that's something that could certainly change from what we saw a year ago. So still like Genti over Henry, but it's close.
A
Okay, let's try 10 seconds maximum of analysis here because I have seven more rounds to get to.
D
I'm have to go negative seconds to make up for the.
A
You're very much appreciated Heath and you get to lead off Heath. Jamie Dave do you agree or disagree? Josh Allen ahead of Jeremiah Love.
D
Round three I disagree with it and it doesn't matter at all because it's going to happen in the vast majority of fantasy leagues.
C
I disagree as well. I think you want to wait on quarterback this year, maybe more so than ever before. Just such a very deep position and I do think that Jeremiah Love is going to be a very solid rookie.
B
Cosign Perfect.
A
Good job. All right, round four we go. Jamie Dave Heath Colston Loveland 43rd overall. Do you agree with that ADP he's tight end three 10 picks ahead of Tyler Warren. Jamie Dave Heath just in general colson Loveland going 43rd overall. Do you agree with that?
C
ADP Jamie slightly too high but that's the range.
B
I feel like Loveland has a chance to lead the Bears and targets this year and when you're a tight end that can do that, you could be amazing for fantasy. I am cool with this adp.
D
I agree with the adp. I think there's some other tight ends behind him that are better values, but I think this is a good spot
A
for Loveland into round five. Do you agree or disagree? Dave Heath, Jamie Luther Burden ahead of DJ Moore.
B
No, I'll take the younger receiver, the one that's got upside for maybe not quite as many targets as DJ Moore, but more explosiveness in his game and maybe more touchdowns than DJ Moore.
D
I think he sees more targets, catches more passes, has more yards, scores more touchdowns. 100% agree.
C
Agree as well.
A
All right, round six. Do you agree or disagree? We'll go Heath and Jamie then Dave. David Montgomery going ahead of Chuba Hubbard and Tony Pollard. Heath, Jamie Dave.
D
It is a split decision for me. I would go Pollard, then Montgomery, then Chuba Hubbard. I think it'll be really interesting to see just how much they put on the 29 year old Montgomery's plate. But like his chances to score more touchdowns than the other guys.
C
I think he does score more touchdowns than the other guys. But I'll take Chuba Hubbard first, Pollard second, Montgomery third. I think Hubbard has a bounce back season because of the guys that he's sharing the ball with. Pollard I think will build off what he did at the end of last season. 15/2 ppr points in his last five games. Montgomery was not great at the end of the season and was taken off the field a lot and I don't love the fact that he's just going to be, in my opinion, touchdown dependent.
B
He might be touchdown dependent, but I think he'll come through. This is Houston. This is a team with a great defense and they will want to try and run the ball. They'll have more confidence in Montgomery than they had in their running backs last year. Montgomery might score more touchdowns than Chuba and Pollard combined.
A
Give me David Montgomery I Round 7 Do you agree or disagree with Carnell Tate going ahead of Chris Godwin? Jamie Dave Heath Tate ahead of Godwin?
C
I do, but this close. They're back to back in my rankings. I think Tate, if he hits, he's going to hit big. Godwin is in a very crowded receiving corps. We're all aware with a Mecca Buka and now Ted Hurst potentially being a playmaker, Jalen McMillan. So even though they lose Mike Evans, I think there's a lot of mouths to feed for Tampa Bay Tate, if he is the guy and you know, fourth overall pick in the NFL draft, the Titans are expecting to be the guy. I just think there's a higher ceiling for him this season. So I'll take Tate.
B
Can't argue against the ceiling, but I wonder if the catches favor Godwin. So if it's full ppr, I'll take the veteran. If it's half PPR or non ppr, where yardage counts, touchdowns count more, I think Cardinal take has the edge.
D
I've been saying this for a lot of years, Adams, but when an older wide receiver shows signs of decline, I would just like to believe him. And I think Chris Godwin, I mean first off, he's just had a hard time staying healthy. I don't want to make that bet on him this year.
A
I thought you were going to go over the 10 second limit, Heath, but masterfully you fit that in. All right, that is it for our ADP review. You know I'd love to do more but we have to get to our favorite game show who has More, although slight variation of that when we come back on Fantasy Football Today. It is time for America's 68th favorite fantasy football related game show. It is time for who had More. Note who has More is still in the top 15. Who had more. Very unpopular game but we're gonna try to play it today. So our first who had More is of course extremely grammatically incorrect but here's the first one who had more off target rate last year, JJ McCarthy or Caleb Williams.
D
So I'm going first and I just want to say what a travesty it is that the all time winningest Game show member has to go first. I should have home field advantage. I will say Caleb Williams.
B
I'm going to agree. Caleb Williams.
C
I guess I'll be different. Say J.J. mcCarthy.
A
They were the two worst in the NFL in terms of off target rate. But Caleb Williams is the answer. Who had more is so bad that the contestants are required to keep their own score. So please keep your own score. Who had more rushing yards per start? Not the games he played early in the year, but per start. Jackson Dart or Kyler Murray?
D
I will say Jackson Dart. It's a New York Giants show.
B
I will agree.
C
I know this answer. So, yes, it's Jackson Dart.
A
It is Jackson Dart. 40.6 to 34.6. Who had more quarterback
C
was better than him last year?
A
Okay. Yes. Wait.
C
Who had more Dustin Fields?
A
Okay.
C
Yeah.
A
That wasn't as obvious as I thought it was going to be. Who had more runs of 20 or more yards last year? Baker Mayfield or Saquon Barkley?
D
I will go with Baker Mayfield.
B
I just. I refuse to believe it. I'm gonna say Saquon.
C
I'll say Baker as well.
A
It is Baker Mayfield. He had five and Barkley had four. Insane. Who had more runs? Yeah, bad, right? Who had more runs of 40 or more yards? Derrick Henry or the rest of the AFC north running backs?
D
Derek Henry.
A
Henry for heat.
B
I. I think Quinshon might have had one or two. I'm still going to go with Derek Henry because he finished the season so strong.
C
This is usually the part where Adam starts to switch it up and, you know, the obvious isn't the obvious. So I'll go the rest of the AFC North.
A
Correct. Jamie, man, you've got my number. The other AFC north running backs had six. Derrick Henry had four runs of 40 or more yards. All right, who had more catches last year? Josh Jacobs in 15 games or Tucker Kraft in eight games?
D
Neither one of them had a lot. I'll say Tucker Craft.
B
I'll say Jacobs.
C
I will say Jacobs as well.
A
It is Jacobs. Heath is slumping two in a row for the champ that he's missed. All right, who had more touchdown catches last year? T. Higgins or Jamar Chase?
D
I'll say T. Higgins.
B
I believe it's Higgins.
C
I just. Higgins.
A
You sure, Jamie? Because this is the part of the show where I mix things up.
C
Tegans has 21 touchdowns in his last two seasons. 10 two years ago at 11 last year. So happened to do this research last night. Damn it.
A
You gotta let me know these things. It is T. Higgins. Good job, guys. Who had more receiving yards in weeks seven through 17. Week seven was when CD Lamb returned from injury. Who had more receiving yards in week 7 through 17? CD Lamb or George Pickens?
D
I will go with CD Lamb.
B
I know that Pickens average more PPR points per game. I'm gonna say it's Pickens who had more yardage.
C
I believe it was Lamb. Pickens just had more touchdowns.
A
Oh, Jamie, I told you this on express the other day. It was Pickens. 895 to 851. All right. It's a very close game. I have no idea who's winning. Last one.
B
I'm keeping score. I'm keeping score.
A
Okay, good. Who has more. Who has more moons, Saturn or Jupiter?
D
Think Saturn has rings, so I'm going to go Jupiter.
B
Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's Jupiter.
C
I think it's Jupiter as well.
A
You guys are terrible. This Saturn has 274 known moons. Jupiter has a measly 95. So it is Saturn.
B
Yeah, but that's their known moons. Adam, I didn't know we were not counting the unknown moons. They literally have thousands of unknown moons.
A
Do we have a winner? Anybody win?
B
Yeah.
D
For Dave and J.
B
The winner is nobody. Because this game show was so bad. I almost said a word that I shouldn't have said.
A
All right, we gotta go. We'll be right back with your questions on Twitter or X whatever it's called after this on fantasy football today. Back here to answer your questions. This one is from Eric. Jamie, which players should we forgive and give another shot to in 2026 and who are we holding grudges against Pacheco?
C
I don't think Pacheco is that guy. Saquon Barkley comes to mind. You know, obviously didn't have the best of seasons based on what the expectations were. He's the one that I. I kind of gravitate toward that I'm going to go back to. Mike Evans is another one. Just because I'm hoping he's healthy.
A
No, I was holding the grudge against Pacheco. All right, good answer there. Next. Next. Okay, next one here. Heath, what do you think the Giants offense, you think they're going to be more run heavy with this neighbor's news?
D
I think they're probably already going to be a little more run heavy with Harbaugh. If Neighbors is not 100% Oregon, and we certainly don't know that yet, then yes, I would expect even more running. May not be Cam Scatter. Boo, though it might be Jackson Dart.
A
Yeah. Do you think Scatter Boo's value is tied to neighbor's health?
C
No.
A
No. All right, well, good show, guys. Good stuff. I want to thank all of you for watching and listening. Dave, any final thoughts before we go? We have about 10 seconds.
B
Scatterboo's value is tied to his health, not neighbor's health. It's kind of that way for everybody.
A
Great point. All right, well, that was it for fantasy football today. We gave you the schedule analysis. If you want to listen to the podcast, search for Fantasy Football Today anywhere you listen to podcasts. We'll talk more about the schedule next week and more mock drafts and things of that nature. For Dave, Jamie, and Heath, I'm Adam. Thanks for watching and enjoy your weekend, everyone. The first time I remember my dad killing somebody was probably four years old.
B
A new Paramount plus original documentary.
D
He was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
B
There's no question in my mind that Don was a killer. One family. He was the personification of evil divided by the truth.
C
I came to defend my family.
B
I'm not lying.
A
There's bodies up there. You can scour every inch of those grounds. There is nothing there.
C
Let's dig it.
B
My killer father, the Green Hollow Murderers. Streaming now on Paramount plus.
Episode: NFL Schedule Release Reaction! Best & Worst Matchups for 2026!
Date: May 15, 2026
Hosts/Analysts: Adam Aizer (A), Dave Richard (B), Jamey Eisenberg (C), Heath Cummings (D)
This special schedule-focused episode dives into the newly released 2026 NFL schedule and its implications for fantasy football. Hosts Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, and Heath Cummings break down which teams and players benefit or suffer the most from their weekly matchups, analyze early-season schedules, highlight key streaming defenses, and even play the FFT game show “Who Had More.” The tone is lively, humorous, and fast-paced, packed with practical draft insights, ADP reactions, and actionable fantasy tips.
[01:14–03:40]
[04:40–08:12]
[08:12–13:14]
[11:47–13:29]
[16:29–19:27]
[20:29–24:13]
[24:13–27:46]
[27:46–28:44]
[28:44–37:45]
A quick-fire reaction game to early CBS ADP results:
[38:53–43:14]
A humorous knowledge game comparing surprising NFL and fantasy stats.
[43:52–44:56]
Players to Forgive in 2026:
“Saquon Barkley comes to mind… Mike Evans is another one. Just hoping he's healthy.” (Jamey, [43:52])
Giants Offense Outlook:
“I think they're probably already going to be a little more run heavy with Harbaugh. If Neighbors is not 100%… then yes, I would expect even more running.” (Heath, [44:21])
Parting Words:
On schedule-based tiebreaking:
On the Saints’ favorable dome schedule:
On the surprising Jaguars defense:
On the Bears’ tough fantasy playoff road:
A must-listen for any fantasy football manager heading into 2026, this episode delivers a comprehensive look at schedule implications, player value fluctuations, and early ADP reactions, all filtered through the FFT crew’s signature mix of humor, wisdom, and strategy. Expect actionable takeaways, sharp debates, bold fantasy predictions, and enough laughs to keep you entertained through even the longest draft queues.