Players With Great Opening Schedules for 2024 (Fantasy Football)
Every fantasy manager wants to start the season rattling off wins and building a base to move forward with toward a playoff push that leads them to a championship! Andy, Mike, and Jason are looking through each position to find players who can have a HOT start to the fantasy season with a great schedule!
To hear the entire segment from the guys, listen to the August 19 episode of the podcast!
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray (ARI)
Andy: QB6 | Jason: QB8 | Mike: QB5
ADP: 6.12 | QB8
Fresh off being named a My Guy by Mike, Kyler Murray could come out of the gate with big performances for fantasy managers who buy in! Through his first four weeks, Murray will face three of the bottom six defenses from 2023 against opposing QBs. It’s worth remembering that after Murray returned from injury last season he finished as a top 12 QB in half of his games without a real WR1 on the team and averaged 30.5 rushing yards per game. A bonus for fantasy managers using Murray early in the season is that three of his first four games are at home in a dome!
Week 1 @ Buffalo, Week 2 vs LA Rams, Week 3 vs Detroit, Week 4 vs Washington
Tua Tagovailoa (MIA)
Andy: QB15 | Jason: QB9 | Mike: QB9
ADP: 9.09 | QB13
A hot start is exactly what Tua Tagovailoa provided for fantasy managers last season! Through his first four games, Tua had two top-two QB finishes and threw 31% of his TDs on the season in those games. Looking for big weeks again to start 2024 is a good bet with one of the best offenses in the league, especially with his first three games posting over/under totals of 49, 51, and 49 respectively.
Week 1 vs Jacksonville, Week 2 vs Buffalo, Week 3 @ Seattle, Week 4 vs Tennessee
Jared Goff (DET)
Andy: QB17 | Jason: QB15 | Mike: QB13
ADP: 10.04 | QB14
One of the real values in drafts to start the season could be Jared Goff. The fantasy community has clearly forgotten that Goff finished as the QB7 last season as he is being drafted as the 14th QB off the board. Goff is a great bet to get off to a hot start thanks to an all indoor schedule over the first month of the season. Last year, Goff was a top-12 QB seven times with six of those games being indoors. If you’re going late-round QB this season, Goff is a great option to get the season started right.
Week 1 vs LA Rams, Week 2 vs Tampa Bay, Week 3 @ Arizona, Week 4 vs Seattle
Jayden Daniels (WASH)
Andy: QB12 | Jason: QB14 | Mike: QB15
ADP: 10.05 | QB15
Another “My Guy” makes an appearance, but this time it’s one of Andy’s with Jayden Daniels. Daniels presents a potential cheat code at the QB spot in fantasy this season with a great rushing profile in an offensive system of Kliff Kingsbury’s that we’ve seen produce a great rookie QB in the past when Kyle Murray finished as the QB7. Games against Tampa and Arizona in his first month are especially intriguing for fantasy managers who invest in Daniels in drafts early in the year.
Week 1 @ Tampa Bay, Week 2 vs NY Giants, Week 3 @ Cincinnati, Week 4 @ Arizona
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs (GB)
Andy: RB16 | Jason: RB21 | Mike: RB18
ADP: 3.02 | RB11
Despite there being a lot of uncertainty about Josh Jacobs’ new role in Green Bay this season, he’s got a great setup to possibly start the season strong. In his first two games of the year, Jacobs will face two of the worst defenses against opposing fantasy RBs from last season. With AJ Dillon being himself and rookie MarShawn Lloyd seeing some fumbling issues through the preseason, Jacobs could see heavy usage early in the year with the Packers favored in three of their first four games this season.
Week 1 @ Philadelphia, Week 2 vs Indianapolis, Week 3 @ Tennessee, Week 4 vs Minnesota
James Cook (BUF)
Andy: RB8 | Jason: RB12 | Mike: RB13
ADP: 4.07 | RB14
My Guy number three in this article is James Cook. The Bills’ offense leaned into Cook being more involved in the offense after making a change at offensive coordinator mid-season in 2023. Cook gets a great matchup opening week against the worst defense from last season against RBs in Arizona and follows it up with a game in Miami that has a 51-point projected total. Fantasy managers should have a really good feel for exactly how much Cook will be used in Buffalo’s offense and just how big of a focal point he will be for their rosters.
Week 1 vs Arizona, Week 2 @ Miami, Week 3 vs Jacksonville, Week 4 @ Baltimore
Tyjae Spears (TEN)
Andy: RB34 | Jason: RB35 | Mike: RB28
ADP: 10.01 | RB37
A sneaky option for fantasy managers as a later-round RB steal is Tyjae Spears. Despite the Titans signing Tony Pollard this offseason, the coaching staff has remained steady with their preaching that Spears is considered a 1B on this offense. Spears caught 51 passes as a rookie and scored the most third down fantasy points among all RBs in the league. Fantasy managers will get a chance to see just how involved Spears will be for the Titans off the jump of the season with a matchup against the Bears who gave up the second-most RB receptions in 2023.
Week 1 @ Chicago, Week 2 vs NY Jets, Week 3 vs Green Bay, Week 4 @ Miami
Wide Receivers
Malik Nabers (NYG)
Andy: WR19 | Jason: WR25 | Mike: WR27
ADP: 4.04 | WR20
Make it four for the My Guys with Malik Nabers. The Giants rookie should have every opportunity to show exactly how much of an alpha WR he is in his first two games against the Vikings and Commanders defenses that ranked 27th and 32nd against fantasy WRs in 2023. What will be more interesting is how Nabers fares the following weeks against much tougher Browns and Cowboys secondaries that both ranked top-five against the pass last season. Regardless of the matchup, Nabers should have a ton of opportunity which would convert to fantasy greatness early on.
Week 1 vs Minnesota, Week 2 at Washington, Week 3 @ Cleveland, Week 4 vs Dallas
Chris Godwin (TB)
Andy: WR44 | Jason: WR46 | Mike: WR37
ADP: 7.05 | WR36
It’s been easy to forget about Chris Godwin after a disappointing WR31 finish last year, but there is hope he can bounce back to start 2024. Godwin still eclipsed 1,000 yards last season, but the biggest separator between him and teammate Mike Evans was TDs where Evans scored 13 to Godwin’s two. Reports are that Godwin will be used more out of the slot for Tampa Bay where he played just 37% of snaps last season compared to 72.9% in 2022 when he finished as the WR20. Great matchups against poor Washington and Detroit secondaries could be big opportunities for Godwin to get back in fantasy managers’ good graces to start the year.
Week 1 vs Washington, Week 2 @ Detroit, Week 3 vs Denver, Week 4 vs Philadelphia
Jameson Williams (DET)
Andy: WR53 | Jason: WR41 | Mike: WR72
ADP: 10.02 | WR48
It’s a make-or-break kind of season for Jameson Williams, and there would be no better way to prove skeptics wrong than by coming out of the gate with big performances. Williams has been a disappointment from what the fantasy community expected he could be coming out of Alabama, struggling to get on the field consistently in his first two seasons. The drum beat has been more positive over the summer for Williams though, so if he’s going to make an impact for fantasy this is his shot. Williams has matchups against the 25th and 29th-ranked teams against WRs from 2023 to start the year, followed by games with 50 and 49-point projected totals. Fantasy managers should have a good idea of what they’ve got – if anything – in Williams early on.
Week 1 vs LA Rams, Week 2 vs Tampa Bay, Week 3 @ Arizona, Week 4 vs Seattle
Tight Ends
Evan Engram (JAX)
Andy: TE6 | Jason: TE8 | Mike: TE6
ADP: 6.11 | TE8
The TE2 from 2023 could pick up right where he left off in 2024 for fantasy managers. Engram finished as a top-12 TE in 10 of his 17 games last season and ended the year doing so in six of his last seven games. With the departures of Calvin Ridley, Jamal Agnew, and Zay Jones this offseason, 36% of the Jaguars’ targets walked out the door, and Engram was already Trevor Lawrence’s favorite target with 143 passing coming his direction last season. Engram opens up the year with Miami and Houston as two of his first four games, teams who gave up the seventh and most TE receptions last season.
Week 1 @ Miami, Week 2 vs Cleveland, Week 3 @ Buffalo, Week 4 @ Houston
Pat Freiermuth (PIT)
Andy: TE14 | Jason: TE11 | Mike: TE12
ADP: 11.06 | TE15
Going for a deep dive at TE here with Pat Freiermuth, but the schedule makes sense for this gamble. The Muth wasn’t very loose last season, only finishing as a top-12 TE three times following his TE8 finish in 2022. Fantasy managers can hope that Arthur Smith coming to Pittsburgh as the offensive coordinator can increase Freiermuth’s role in the passing game after Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith combined for 160 targets and 103 receptions in Atlanta last season with Smith at the helm. Freiermuth will face two teams that ended 2023 as the fourth-best and the best TE matchups last season for fantasy in his first two games this year, so fantasy managers can feel good if they punt the TE position this late in their drafts, at least to start the year.
Week 1 @ Atlanta, Week 2 @ Denver, Week 3 vs LA Chargers, Week 4 @ Indianapolis
Hunter Henry (NE)
Andy: TE21 | Jason: TE20 | Mike: TE23
ADP: 16.03 | TE21
Speaking of starting H-O-T, Hunter Henry set the fantasy world on fire to start 2023, finishing as the TE1 and TE2 in his first two games last year. Henry only managed to finish in the top 12 TEs three more times on the year, but the mass changes that have been made in New England could be the catalyst to get Henry more involved this season. In his first three games, Henry will face the Bengals’ and Seahawks’ defenses that both finished the season as two of the worst units against TEs and then a Jets team that allowed the second-most TDs to TEs on the year. It might be riding a little too dirty for most, but Henry could be worth a late shot to start 2024.
Week 1 @ Cincinnati, Week 2 vs Seattle, Week 3 at NY Jets, Week 4 at San Francisco
Comments
“In his first two games of the year, Jacobs will face two of the worst defenses against opposing fantasy RBs from last season”
Is this a mistake? Philly, Tennessee, and Minnesota were all stout against the run…?