Fantasy Football Winners and Losers from the 2024 NFL Schedule Release

The full NFL schedule is finally here!

Let's dive into some of the fantasy football winners and losers from the 2024 NFL schedule release and see if we can give you the edge you need to dominate your league this season.

Oh, and don't forget about bye weeks! It can't hurt to start preparing yourself to trot out some truly brutal lineups in Weeks 12 and 14.

Winners from the 2024 NFL Schedule Release

Atlanta Falcons

One of the biggest offseason storylines focused on the Atlanta Falcons acquiring both their QB for the present (Kirk Cousins) and their QB for the future (Michael Penix Jr.). Regardless of who is under center this season (barring injury, it should be Cousins all year), the Falcons have the easiest schedule in the league.

Already in a division that didn't feature a single team with 10-plus wins last season, the Falcons should find themselves in plenty of positive game scripts. This means big things for players like Drake London, Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts.

Looking at their current ADPs, Robinson (first round) and London (second round) are already top-16 picks, and Pitts (sixth round) isn't too far back. Could this finally be the season Pitts breaks out? It might just happen.

New York Jets

Still think the NFL doesn't want to give Aaron Rodgers the best possible environment to succeed after his 2023 season was cut short?

The Jets have the fourth-easiest schedule over the entire season and the easiest schedule over the first five weeks.

After a date with the 49ers to kick things off, the Jets face the following QBs over the next four weeks:

Week 2 - Will Levis
Week 3 - Drake Maye
Week 4 - Bo Nix
Week 5 - Sam Darnold / J.J. McCarthy

You've got to be kidding me.

Is Rodgers suddenly a value? He's certainly someone I wouldn't mind targeting as an early-season streaming option if I don't snag a more elite QB in my draft. The same can be said of the Jets' skill position players. Potential Week 1 duds could crack open some windows of opportunity for managers taking advantage of overreactions.

In all, the Jets only play three games against teams with projected win totals over 10. Two are against the Bills, and the other is Week 1 against San Francisco.

Caleb Williams

No team has done more for their QB than what the Bears have assembled around No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. Here are Chicago's offensive additions compared to a year ago:

QB - Williams
RB - D'Andre Swift
WR - Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze
TE - Gerald Everett

They also already have DJ Moore. Talk about setting up the young guy to succeed in Year 1. To top it off, the Bears have the easiest schedule over the first 10 weeks. It's hard to get a better start than that.

Overall, Chicago boasts the No. 3 overall schedule for the season. It's interesting to note that they play all six of their NFC North divisional games from Weeks 11-18. Their only two non-NFC North games during that stretch are against the 49ers and Seahawks.

With this schedule and their loaded roster, we will know very soon just how good Williams is. It's going to be fun watching the Bears with a revamped offense. If only Justin Fields could have experienced that.

Losers from the 2024 NFL Schedule Release

Baltimore Ravens

The NFL might just hate the Ravens as much as it loves the Jets this season. Remember just how cushy Weeks 1-5 were for the Jets? Talk about a polar opposite for Baltimore. They have the worst opening five weeks of any team and the No. 28 schedule overall.

Check out these first five matchups for Lamar Jackson & Co.

Week 1 - @ Chiefs
Week 2 - vs Raiders
Week 3 - @ Cowboys
Week 4 - vs Bills
Week 5 - @ Bengals

Four games against teams with projected win totals in the double-digits. Simply brutal.

It doesn't get any easier over the back half of the season as more AFC North matchups await, along with a trip to Philly and a home game vs C.J. Stroud and the Texans on Christmas Day.

The Ravens do have ample offensive firepower in Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews, but their schedule does them no favors. A glass half-full viewpoint would say they'll be battle-tested come December, which I guess is true.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The beginning of the season offers some level of intrigue for the Steelers with matchups against either QBs on new teams (Cousins) or first-year signal-callers (Nix, Anthony Richardson), but Weeks 11-18 are an entirely different story.

You can see in the graphic above just how massive the dropoff is from No. 31 (Giants) to No. 32 (Steelers) from Weeks 11-18. Pittsburgh plays all six of its AFC North divisional games from Week 11 on, in addition to playing six games against teams with projected win totals of 10 or more.

Let's hope Russell Wilson gets off to a good start, otherwise, it looks like it could be time for Fields to take over and carry this team through the gauntlet and ultimately to a .500 record, as is the Pittsburgh way.

It's not like their overall schedule is any better. They come in at No. 32 (worst schedule) for the entire season. I'm likely out on either QB this season and would certainly temper expectations for anyone not named George Pickens. I just don't know how much offense they'll be able to generate over the back half of the season.

Drake Maye

We knew this season was going to be tough for the New England Patriots regardless of who was under center. Still, I feel like I need to specifically call out Drake Maye as someone I feel sorry for. The Patriots have the No. 31 schedule for the year, ahead of only the aforementioned Steelers.

Maye's WR room currently consists of:

Ja'Lynn Polk
Javon Baker
Kendrick Bourne
Demario Douglas
K.J. Osborn
Kayshon Boutte
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Jalen Reagor
Tyquan Thornton

What a joke. Don't get me wrong, I love Polk in dynasty formats, but he's likely not carrying this team very far by himself as a rookie.

Combine his lack of a supporting cast with a brutal schedule and it's hard to imagine getting excited about Maye this season. He's worth nothing more than a potential streaming option in redraft leagues, although he certainly has significant value in dynasty formats.