Fantasy Football: 6 Players With Favorable Early-Season Schedules

Analyzing schedules can provide big advantages in season-long fantasy football. For example, if a running back is gearing up to face nothing but weak run defenses during the fantasy playoffs, he will probably provide a bit more value than his counterparts.

Starting your fantasy season with a boom is a huge boost for securing an early playoff spot. Players with favorable early-season schedules can help turn this dream into a reality.

Let's look at a group of fantasy football players who are gearing up to be assets early in the season, which for this piece will be the first five games.

Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions pounded the rock last season with the eighth-most rushing attempts per game and sixth-most rushing yards per contest. The efficiency was also excellent at 4.6 yards per carry (fifth-most) thanks to an excellent backfield and elite offensive line.

Ahead of the 2024 season, numberFire's schedule-adjusted power rankings have Detroit with the league's sixth-best rushing attack. Pro Football Focus also awarded the Lions with the top offensive line prior to 2024. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery also form one of the NFL's best backfields as both tailbacks are among the top-25 running backs, per PFF.

Both backs are generating fantasy football attention as each finished among the top 13 of their position in half-PPR leagues in 2023. According to FantasyPros' average draft position (ADP), Gibbs is RB5 while Montgomery is RB20 ahead of the upcoming season.

The Lions' run game should be licking its chops thanks to a favorable early-season schedule. It features the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, and Dallas Cowboys.

Los Angeles has the seventh-worst run defense while the Seahawks and Cardinals are among the bottom four, per numberFire's schedule-adjusted ratings.

The Bucs will likely be the biggest challenge as they've been among the top 11 for the fewest rushing yards allowed per attempt in four of the past five seasons. While the Cowboys have numberFire's seventh-best defense, their weakness has been stopping the run. They gave up over 120 rushing yards in last season's head-to-head matchup with the Lions and ranked 16th in yards allowed per attempt in 2023.

Whether it be Gibbs or Montgomery, you can't go wrong with Detroit's early-season schedule. It should yield huge fantasy numbers, especially with three bottom-seven run defenses on the schedule.

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Jordan Love showed off his massive potential late in the 2023 season, carrying 0.20 expected points added per drop back (EPA/db) over the final nine weeks of the regular season -- which was only behind Brock Purdy and Dak Prescott. He produced seven top-12 weekly fantasy finishes during the stretch.

The Green Bay Packers' signal-caller is looking to establish himself as one of football's best QBs in the upcoming season. Love has the fifth-shortest odds to win the MVP award (+1400) paired with the eighth-shortest odds to lead the NFL in regular-season passing yards (+1600).

He could get off to a blistering start in the upcoming season thanks to a favorable early schedule. The Pack will square off with the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, and Rams over the first five weeks.

The Eagles and Colts were among the bottom-five units in points allowed per game last season and rank outside the top 15 of numberFire's schedule-adjusted pass defense ratings.

While the Titans, Vikings, and Rams were better in the scoring department, their pass defenses are still lacking. L.A. is outside the top-15 pass defenses while Tennessee and Minnesota are in the bottom 7 of the category.

Love's favorable matchups even go past the first five weeks as he will battle the Cardinals in Week 6; Arizona had the second-worst pass defense last season.

Considering how he ended the 2023 season, Love is primed to tear up some underwhelming secondaries to begin his upcoming campaign.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Trusting a rookie quarterback to start your fantasy football season? It sounds crazy but bear with me (no pun intended).

First off, the Chicago Bears have surrounded Caleb Williams with a great surrounding cast. PFF has the offensive line ranked as the league's 11th-best unit. The trio of D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze form an excellent wideout group.

The offensive line could especially come in clutch early in the season. It had the fifth-best pass block win rate last season, per ESPN. Williams will face solid pass rushes to start the season, including the Titans, Houston Texans, and Colts. All three teams had top-10 pass rush win rate last season.

However, if given time in the pocket, these pass defenses aren't that daunting. Houston and Indy are outside numberFire's top-15 passing defenses. Meanwhile, Tennessee has the third-worst pass defense. The Rams and Carolina Panthers are also outside the top 15 for passing defense, which are Williams' Week 4 and Week 5 opponents.

The Panthers and Colts were among the bottom-five scoring defenses a season ago, as well.

Williams totaled double-digit rushing touchdowns in his final two seasons of collegiate play. This is one area of his game that could elevate his fantasy value, which currently holds a QB15 ADP. Indianapolis, Carolina, and Houston made up three of the four worst marks in opponent rushing touchdown percentage in 2023.

We could see Williams scamper into the end zone a couple of times alongside success against mediocre-to-poor passing defenses.

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers

Amid the Brandon Aiyuk trade drama, Deebo Samuel's fantasy value could spike if his running mate is moved. It's yet to happen with Samuel carrying a WR14 ADP compared to Aiyuk's WR16.

Aiyuk is sitting out of training camp; we can't write off the possibility of this extending into the regular season. If that's the case, Deebo's early-season fantasy value should benefit. Pair this with a nice schedule ahead, Samuel could thrive early for the San Francisco 49ers.

The schedule's first five opponents include the New York Jets, Vikings, Rams, New England Patriots, and Cardinals.

First and foremost, think about the league's alpha dog corners. The Jets are the only team touting a consistently elite secondary with Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed. New England has a promising piece in Christian Gonzalez, but he's coming off of a season-ending injury and could still show rust in a Week 4 matchup against the Niners.

Additionally, the Vikings and Cardinals are among numberFire's bottom-seven passing defenses. The Rams also gave up the eighth-most fantasy points per game to receivers last season.

Simply from a sheer workload standpoint, I love where Deebo's fantasy value is sitting for the first five weeks of the season -- assuming Aiyuk remains out of the fold. Add a trio of great matchups against the Vikings, Cardinals, and Rams, and Samuel could be cookin' with gas.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

Kyle Pitts has let down fantasy football managers like clockwork. With Kirk Cousins stepping in as the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback, the hype is about as high as ever.

He's currently holding a TE6 ADP. This time around, Pitts could finally deliver -- especially early in the season.

The Falcons begin the 2024 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, and Buccaneers. The only problem here could the Chiefs, for they gave up the third-fewest fantasy points per game against tight ends last season. Plus, Kansas City had numberFire's third-best pass defense for the 2023 season.

New Orleans and Tampa Bay were among the six highest marks in fantasy points allowed per contest against tight ends. The Bucs gave up the fifth-most passing yards allowed per game last season, as well.

Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were also in the bottom half of the most fantasy points given up against tight ends. The Steelers could improve in the category after signing Patrick Queen, but Minkah Fitzpatrick had a PFF coverage grade below 70.0 for the second time over his past five seasons. The Eagles also still have clear issues at linebackers as the unit was ranked as PFF's third-worst group.

Kansas City seems like the only matchup where Pitts could fall short. Overall, I like his chances of thriving with four of his first five opponents finishing in the bottom half of fantasy points allowed against tight ends last season.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.