18 Fantasy Football Players with Easy Early-Season Schedules in 2024

Aug 20, 2024

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

At 4for4, we take using strength of schedule to a different level with our signature metric, schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed, or aFPA. By removing schedule bias, we can level the playing field and compare matchups in an apples-to-apples manner.

Making decisions on who to draft at ADP can come down to several factors, but for this article, I’ll point out some players who have an easier start to the season than others so that you can maximize points right out of the gate.

By ensuring a solid start to the year, beginning 3-1 or 4-0, we can vastly increase our odds of making it to the fantasy promise land in the cold months of winter: the playoffs. In a fantasy league where six teams out of twelve make the playoffs, there's a 92% chance of making the playoffs if you start 4-0; conversely, if you start 0-4, your odds are 9%.

I omitted elite players who you’d be drafting anyway and focused on more of the middle-to-late-round guys that we sometimes have difficulty distinguishing from one another.

Quarterbacks

Jayden Daniels, Commanders (Yahoo ADP: 7.08)

We’re looking at a guy with a ton of rushing equity and an accurate arm in rookie QB Jayden Daniels. He also has a coach who’s familiar with a mobile quarterback, which doesn't hurt. What may though, is the Washington O-line who has looked awful so far this preseason.

Some better news is the juicy start to the season for Daniels. The Commanders get Tampa Bay’s 29th-ranked defensive unit in QB aFPA to kick things off; then they play three teams in a row who averaged 17.4 fantasy points per game to enemy QBs in 2023. Daniels is a solid choice if you want to wait on QB, as his aggregate ADP is QB12.

Jared Goff, Lions (Yahoo ADP: 8.12)

He’s not the spiciest of QBs and doesn’t get you the rushing upside of some other signal callers, but Jared Goff has a ton of talented weapons and is fairly inexpensive. Goff was the QB7 in overall fantasy points last season and has a pretty sweet schedule to start off 2024.

The Lions have an early bye in Week 5 but start out with the Rams, Buccaneers, and Cardinals, who were 28th, 29th, and 23rd, respectively, in QB aFPA last year. Goff pairs well with someone like Brock Purdy, who has the opposite strength of schedule. He’s being drafted seven positional spots later than where he finished off last season with no downgrades in the O-line or supporting cast, so Goff also presents some value.