Fantasy Football Today - NFL Schedule Reaction! Who's Got the Easy Matchups? (05/12 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

There is actually a major Fantasy takeaway from the NFL schedule release! What are we buzzing about? We'll tell you which players could get off to great starts and which players could struggle out of the gates. And we'll highlight noteworthy playoff opponents as well. The Bengals face the Bucs, Patriots and Bills in the Fantasy playoffs! Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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He's just going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Schedule's out, and we are here to talk about it on a Thursday night. As right now, the Heat and Sixers are wrapping up the most boring, non-competitive playoff series ever. Glad this one's going to be in the books. And now we can focus on football, baby. It does feel a little bit more real when the schedule comes out. We get games to look forward to. Bills and Rams on Thursday night to start things off.

Shouldn't you be excited that your Panthers and your Heat are advancing? I don't care about the Heat. Yeah, let's go Panthers. They didn't advance yet. We got a big one on Friday night. But how about this schedule, Dave? We got a big one on Friday night. There is a big one on Friday night. We do.

We do have a big one on Friday night. There is a big one on Friday night. We, we, we do. We do have a big one. Uh, wow. Uh, Dave, the, the, the big storyline that you saw FFT after dark,

the big storyline you saw when the schedule was released. Uh, week 14 is going to be a real nightmare for people. It's going to be the biggest byado in the history of fantasy football. And it's not because of the teams that are necessarily on by, because, like, Falcons are there, the Bears, Washington. It's not necessarily the teams. It's that this is the last week of the regular fantasy season,

and you might have rode Jonathan Taylor or Alvin Kamara or Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he ends up having a good year after all, all this way to week 14 and you need a win to get in. They're not playing the Packers on by the Colts on by saints on by commanders, Falcons bears on by we've never had anything like this before in fantasy football. It's going to raise some serious problems for later on in the year. You know, I have a slightly different take on that. I'll see what you think. I like my players having late bye weeks because I guarantee you by week 14, there are several teams in most leagues that are not trying anymore. Yep. And it is easier to get by in week 14, no pun intended, when you're missing a star player

than it would be in week five or six when everybody's in on the waiver wire competing for the same players. But are you the type of fantasy manager that when you're out of it, you don't care anymore? No, of course not. But I'm not talking about me. I mean, I'm talking about what happens. If you've got these guys on your team, you've got to replace them. I know, but it's easier to replace them when four teams have quit and aren't competing

on the waiver wire with you. That there's a further issue that I didn't think about till right now. What if you're a league commissioner and the team that's got Jonathan Taylor and Michael Thomas is terrible and they're quitting on the league. And now you've got to go and find replacements for them in week 14 so that another team that they're playing against could be competitive. Who would do that though? Losers who don't want to bother setting their lineup anymore. You're overthinking it. You're overthinking it,

my man. Me? Yeah. No, I'm telling you, I think it's going to be, it's going to be a wrench. It's going to be a big wrench for people.

It's interesting for sure. I thought it was a typo at first. I couldn't believe it. So it's Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Washington with week 14 buys. The number one overall pick in most leagues will be on a buy in the last week of the regular season. We do have three shows next week on Monday. Key stats from 2021. On Tuesday, workhorse running backs who aren't that good, although

we're working on that title. Might have to change it a bit. Thursday, Dynasty tight ends. It's so bad. What'd you say? It's such a bad topic. No, it's a good topic. I think it's a really good topic. It's weighing... I think it's a great topic. It's the good debate of opportunity

versus I don't really think this guy is so good. There are no guys this year, though. Yeah, so I have to tweak it a little bit. Why don't you just get rid of the word workhorse? I mean, that's possible. Really, I think you have to ask this question about some big running back like Saquon Barkley. What does he have left in the tank?

Is he still good? The only thing we like about him is the work. Is he still good? You know, those are questions we'll have to answer. David Montgomery, 3.8 yards per carry last year? Come on. But we like the work. All right, anyway, there's another episode you need to know about.

It's going to come out on Sunday morning. It's part of the Early Edge podcast. Dave is going on the Early Edge podcast. It's an NFL Futures episode to talk gambling. It's a of the Early Edge podcast. Dave is going on the Early Edge podcast. It's an NFL Futures episode to talk gambling. It's a great podcast. You're going to hear that episode in this feed on Sunday morning. So I just want to give you a heads up. I didn't give you a heads up last time when Pick 6 was in our podcast feed,

whenever that was. We had Pick 6 in our feed? Yeah, after the NFL draft. It was an NFL draft recap. Kind of a downgrade to our feed, no? No, Dave. This is what's called cross-promotion. The last thing we need is Wilbernsen polluting our air.

Well, we're going to have more Dave Richard in our Sunday feed on the early edge. Okay. Jamie, what are some other schedule headlines as you digested it? I just did a spot for HQ where I was just looking at the rookies. And so, uh,

Brees Hall first game against Baltimore and Ken Walker's first game against Broncos. Uh, you know, we want to see right away what's going to be for those two guys in particular, because they're going to be the first two running backs drafted, uh,

for the receivers. Um, you get at least one head to head matchup, uh, that I saw of two of the headlining rookie receivers, which is Chris Olave versus Drake London in week one. And we'll see, you know, if Michael Thomas is ready to go, you know, you brought him up in terms of week 14, what's going to be his status for week one? Is he going to be the number one receiver for New Orleans? Like

we're hoping, but if he's not, then you get Olave in a big spot, a great matchup potentially against Drake London in what should be his, you know, hopefully start to a great season as the rookie there. I think two guys that I want to keep an eye on from the rookie class where I think they could make their debuts. You have Jamison Williams, the Lions have a week six by, so week seven, they get the Cowboys. And so is he going to be out until that portion of the season, the first five games sit in week six get on the field week seven something to consider uh especially with the pop list and how that goes and then kenny pickett with the start of the steelers season you have uh bangles in week one bangles in week one patriots week two browns

week three you know if they're one and two or worse in those three games they get the jets in week four and if trubisky struggling, you could see Kenny picket starting that game against the jets. If he doesn't win the job outright in week one. So a couple of different, you know, rookie angles to take a look at there from the schedule, but clearly for,

for the two headliners, you know, for how we'll see them drafted. You want to see if Brees hall, is he the guy tough matchup against Baltimore is Ken Walker, the guy potentially tough matchup against the Broncos as well. Anything else for you, Dave? Anything major?

DeAndre Hopkins' first game will be week seven against New Orleans. So that's not so good. I think the Saints' defense, on paper, they look pretty good. Their secondary has always been pretty good. I think the Chargers could get off to a red hot start. They've got the Raiders, the Chiefs, the Jaguars, the Texans, first four games of the year. I think everybody's ready to draft Chargers as it is,

and maybe the AFC West in general as it is. But my eyes got big when I thought about those secondaries, especially for the Chargers. Ravens literally start the year. Jamie talked about Jets, Ravens in week one. Each of their first four games are against AFC East teams, so they're going to get the Dolphins, Patriots, and Bills following up against the Jets. Could be a

good start for Lamar Jackson to begin the year. Isn't that bad for Lamar Jackson? I think it's terrible. Yeah, that's good. The rest is bad. The Dolphins, you had the blueprint for Lamar Jackson last year. I don't know if this Dolphins defense is going to be exactly the same as they were against the Ravens

earlier in the year. We know they've got a new defensive coordinator. Some of their talent is outstanding. Their secondary is great. I'm thinking about Lamar as a runner more so than anything else. And when he contributes as a passer, I think he can get off to an okay start. I'm not that worried about him. I'm kind of worried that the Patriots

defense won't be itself. And that we're going to see teams put up some numbers on the Patriots defense this year, more so than in prior years. Colts have, based on just the talent that they've lost questions in the secondary, um, pass rush is, is Jude on and,

you know, a couple of decent players on the D line. I don't know. I think that they could struggle. They have lost a lot in the second. I mean, you know, sure. It's cumulative over the struggle. They have lost a lot in the second. I mean, you know, it's cumulative over the years. They're bringing back Malcolm

Butler. Is Butler going to be as good as he was five years ago? I don't know. Colts, I think they're off to a great start. They've got the Jaguars and the Texans the first two weeks of the season. Maybe one tough matchup in the first eight games is a note that I wrote about for Indianapolis. Any tough

run defenses in weeks one through seven for the Las Vegas Raiders. Maybe there's a hot start for Josh Jacobs. Those are the big notes that I got through. Oh, one more. Week 14, worst binato ever. We'll deal with that then. That's not the only binato we've got this year. Week nine, and this one's worse in terms of teams that are missing players. Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and the Giants all on by in week nine. A lot of good quarterbacks there. And then the week before that. You might not get to sign lots until week 10 then.

It might be, right. And then week eight, Kansas City and Chargers are on by. So only two teams in week eight, but they're two really good teams that players that we really want to have in fantasy and then in week nine six more teams including at least three with uh quarterbacks that we like hopefully it's three with quarterbacks that we like if deshaun watson's playing by them but we don't know jamie you could be right they might say all right he's sitting until week 10 um he just sits on the first half of the year right right we were we were kind of talking about this in the office like could could the nfl get everybody saw what happened to trevor bauer in major league baseball so i don't know if the

nfl can get away with like you know just a small suspension for deshaun there's no way they would have allowed the browns to have him sign that contract that they knew that that was coming could they say something like and this might be way off but like a year and a half suspension, but he's already served the first year. No, not without a guilty verdict. Well, Dave was saying he's already served the first year. Well, but Bauer didn't have a guilty verdict, and he's forced that for two years. Yeah, but I mean, the NFL is precedent with this stuff. The MLB was setting a precedent.

I doubt they'd do that in Deshaun Watson's case. So what do you think? Half a season is what they do because there wasn't a guilty verdict? I think he'll probably get eight games. He'll probably get appealed down to six, and that's what we're looking at oh so he would be back before the bi-week then that'd be cool all right cbssports.com wrote an article about strength of schedule this isn't fantasy related but it but it is it is still relevant it's based on win percentage of the teams from the previous years the nfc is terrible by the way what's that like i know that

this is what you're going with but there's so much turnover from team to team that you can't rely on what their win-loss percentage is last year. But the article points out that... I don't remember exactly what it was. I didn't think you were going to challenge me about this. Basically, every year... It's because I got something better coming. Every year for the last however many years,

at least one of the two teams who have had the easiest schedule has made the playoffs. And this year, it's Dallas and Washington. They have the easiest schedules in the NFL. In fact, the four easiest schedules are the four NFC East teams. The NFC East got a very easy draw. The Eagles had the easiest schedule last year. Because that division was terrible last year.

Well, it's not just that. Who else are they matched up against? I think they're. I can tell you. Yeah. So, you know, it's part of it. But the NFC East, I mean, for the four NFC East teams to have the four easiest schedules, that's something.

The Rams and the Cardinals and the Bengals have the toughest schedules based on win percentage. And, Jamie, look at the Bengals. The Bengals' playoff schedule, fantasy playoffs. At Tampa Bay, at New England, Buffalo. What do you think about that? At Tampa Bay, at New England, Buffalo. I do you think about that? At Tampa Bay, at New England, Buffalo. I mean, obviously not ideal, but we saw,

and this is kind of, I'm always a little pessimistic about using the schedule as a crutch. We thought the Ravens were going to be great last year, right? Yeah, and then injuries just took them down. Anything can happen. I'm not going to draft my team, especially when we talk about star players. If you get into marginal guys, so if you're deciding between, let's say, I don't know, Tyler Boyd and Rondell Moore,

if that's something that you want to, I don't know, Moore doesn't have an easy schedule, but something along those lines. Maybe that's something that sways you, but I'm not avoiding Joe Mixon because of the end-of-season schedule for the Bengals. We just don't know what that end of season schedule really means. Do you do the same thing for the early season? No, I think that's something you take a little more into account. You know, you look at the first, I always look at the first four games,

you know, and okay, that's something that's a little rough. And again, But not for the superstars, like you're not going to look at the, No, but I mean, you know, if you're, if you're looking, if you're looking, you know, I'm trying to think. Like, Jalen Hurts has a good start to this season. Yeah, he does. You're looking at Jalen Hurts, you know.

Like, Heath, for example, would probably do this. Jalen Hurts versus Kyler Murray. You know, he's much more in the, seemingly at least, in the Jalen Hurts camp. You know, that might be something that sways him. You know, Hurts or Dak versus, I don't know, I think somebody has a tough schedule. You get the point. It still could come down to superstars,

but for the most part, I think you just draft the guys accordingly. All right, you want to know the NFC East schedule. Obviously, they're taking on each other. They also have matchups against the NFC North. That's Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings, and the AFC South, which is Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans. That's the draw you want. That's a good draw in terms of strength of schedule. Some things I wanted to ask you guys about. I don't know if you care about this, but you look at Arizona and James Conner.

And James Conner really struggled per carry last year. He had a very tough schedule. He faced three really good run defenses in the NFC West. Now, the Seahawks gave up a ton of fantasy points, but they were very good to running backs. They were very good against the run. They were terrible against pass-catching running backs. But not only does Arizona get the Rams, the Seahawks,

and the 49ers twice. Those were three top-notch run defenses. They also get New Orleans and Tampa Bay. Obviously, one of those three divisional games will be Week 18, and it won't count, but when you throw New Orleans and Tampa Bay, those are the first two teams that I look at in good run defense.

It's year after year after year with them. So New Orleans, Tampa Bay plus five games against Rams Seahawks 49ers. I'm not sure which team is in week 18 that that stood out to me. I don't know if that matters to you with Connor. How about

Philadelphia and Minnesota too? It's two other teams that could be good against the run. Yeah, it's a potentially deciding factor now for Seattle, you know, losing Bobby Wagner, we'll see what that means for that run defense and how good they'll still be. You know, we saw at times last year with Vita Veya in and out for the Bucs. And as of now, there's no Ndamukong Su. So, you know, in the middle of that defense, not exactly the same.

So we'll see. You know, it's just, it shouldn't, again, sway you in such a dramatic fashion that you're going to avoid that particular player if you feel comfortable in that spot in your draft. But if you're deciding, let's say, between James Conner and Leonard Fournette, which I think people are going to have a choice to make, maybe that's a different route you go.

You go the Fournette route. If you're deciding between those two guys and Aaron Jones, you might go to Aaron Jones because it's his schedule. Packers have a favorable schedule also. You know, so just, I think something to take into account. But if you have a feeling on a certain guy, James Conner's in such a great situation right now, I'm not going to let the schedule get me away from what his role could be

and what his opportunity and upside could be. They start against the Chiefs, Raiders, and Rams. One more team. Let's talk about Atlanta. Because Atlanta... And all their stars. Well, but they're running backs, right? If you want Algier...

Maybe Algier gets the job eventually because Patterson really struggles. Look at their schedule. The four best teams on a per carry basis last year were the 49ers saints rams and seahawks they were the four best against running backs per carry and the ravens were tied for fourth so 49ers saints rams and seahawks um all four of those teams 49ers yes all four of those teams, 49ers, yes, all four of those teams are within the first six weeks for Atlanta, plus Tampa Bay. Plus Cleveland.

Yeah, and Cleveland could be good, right? I think Cleveland's defense could be pretty good. Maybe not so much against the run as the pass, but still good all the way around. Yeah, it's a bad schedule. So it's the Saints, the Rams, the Seahawks, the Browns, Bucs, and 49ers. That's the first six games for Atlanta. I don't know if Seattle's defense is going to be particularly good.

They lost Bobby Wagner. That's true. Which of those running backs, though, whether it's Patterson or Algiers, or Algier, excuse me, are you drafting as a starter? No, I'm not, but I like the opportunity for Algier to come in and take more of a role after Patterson gets off to such a bad start against tough defenses.

Well, then that's not a bad scenario if the start is bad and that Patterson gets beat up in those games, and then Algier can come in in the middle of the season and maybe take over. So, you know, it's all about how you're, you know, moderating expectations for these guys, you know? So this is kind of what I was talking about with, you know, getting past the guys that you're drafting because you're expecting them to do well i don't think anybody's expecting you know cordero patterson to do what he did a year

ago i don't think anybody's expecting tyler algier to come in and be you know a star right away you're hoping that he has a chance to be good based on his opportunity so you know this gives you the chance to have some of that discovery mode. Now your team can get sideways quickly because of injuries, and you're forced to play a Falcons player, a running back, and that would stink. But I would almost say I'd like to see how Algier does in these tough matchups because then maybe when he gets to the easier matchups, you feel comfortable starting him.

I guess it's also possible, though, and Dave, you're right about Seattle, right? Let's maybe take them out of the equation without Wagner, that it's just going to be very hard for the you're right about Seattle, right? Let's maybe take them out of the equation without Wagner. That it's just going to be very hard for the Falcons to run the ball early on in the season. And maybe that's something we should consider. I mean, they really jumped out as having a brutal run schedule early. But, all right. Any final thoughts, guys? No. There's going to be more to come out about the schedule i always like to do a breakdown of each element of every defense and try and come up with a good projected strength of schedule which is

different than the strength of schedule that you referenced adam uh last year worked out we we double checked the work and last year uh i did a good job projecting run defenses and how good they were i didn't do as good of a job with pass defenses, but we figured out what I did wrong and improving on that this year, and hopefully it'll help you out. That'll come next week. I would just say don't overvalue the schedule. It's fun to talk about.

It's fun to look at these matchups. So much will change, though, once the season starts. So it's something you can consider when you're looking at the beginning part of your fantasy season. That's it. But if you're making your draft decisions based on the schedule, you're playing fantasy wrong. I also think that Devante Adams might have the toughest cornerback schedule. Yeah, the toughest cornerback schedule.

I haven't really gone through everything, but it's based on an if. If Asante Samuel and Pat Sertan become the players that they were drafted to be, he's going to face them four times. Jalen Ramsey, Marshawn Lattimore. They've got to face him, too. Emmanuel Mosley. I know, but he doesn't have Aaron Rodgers anymore. So I'm just saying it's kind of a tough break

for him. Devante Adams gets some very tough, potentially very tough number ones. I saw Pro Football Focus tweeted out Jamar Chase is scheduled too in the corners he has to face. I mean, again. Okay. Yeah, alright. Right. I'll always take the good receiver against the good corner.

But you really think the Chargers are going to put Samuel on? Hey, I'll tell you what, man. When they were... Right, they have J.C. Jackson too. They have a loaded schedule and a loaded secondary. And when they were healthy last year,

before they added J.C. Jackson, they were one of the toughest teams against wide receivers. And then their two starting cornerbacks both kept getting hurt and they fell apart. But they were a very, very tough secondary. Right. And then their two starting cornerbacks both kept getting hurt, and they fell apart. But they were a very, very tough secondary.

Right. And not only did they add Jackson to that secondary this year, but they added Khalil Mack to their pass rush. So it's going to be, if they can stay healthy, they might have the best defense in the AFC. If they can stay healthy. That's the big guess. All right, we're out of here, folks. Thanks for watching and listening.

We've got FFT in five. If you want to hop over on YouTube and check that out. Dave and Jamie, I'm Adam. Have a great weekend. See you.