FlurrySports analysts gave their initial fantasy football takeaways immediately following the 2026 NFL schedule release.
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The NFL schedule release took place last night, which means we can start projecting and mapping out the entire fantasy football season. I can also start my first draft on the NFL script for this season!
Regardless, the fantasy site you play on now has projections for your players every single week. We can now make plans and develop our strategies to win this season. Our four analysts at FlurrySports gave their initial fantasy football takeaways immediately following the NFL schedule release. We will get into more detailed analysis and takeaways later (we have a fantasy football article published every day in May!).
But for now, here are four takes you should be thinking about as fantasy football owners.
Our Fantasy Football Takeaways From the NFL Schedule Release
Zach Brunner — Early Buy-Low, Sell-High Fantasy Football Targets?
Along with the NFL schedule release, we have seen sportsbooks immediately put out betting lines for these games. We have seen oddsmakers put out frighteningly close lines to what actually plays out. While odds will move with the multiple months before kickoff, we can use the betting lines as a tool to project which teams will light up the scoreboards.
If you see a game with a projected point total close to 60 points, you are excited to start players for that game on your fantasy football team. Obviously, if a team is projected to score a bunch of points, they are likely to be moving the ball quite well. This leads to a greater opportunity for fantasy points. Of course, the opposite is true as well.
So, what I did was take the projected points each team is expected to score across the first three games. Below, I have the five teams projected with the most points as well as the five projected for the fewest. If a player is on a team struggling to score early in the season, this could create a buy-low opportunity for you. On the other side, if a player is on a team projected to score a bunch, you may have the opportunity to sell them at an inflated value in early October.
Most Projected Points Scored (first three weeks)
- San Francisco 49ers (82 pts)
- Detroit Lions (79.5 pts)
- Los Angeles Chargers (78.5 pts)
- Kansas City Chiefs (77 pts)
- Baltimore Ravens (76.5 pts)
Fewest Projected Points Scored (first three weeks)
- Cleveland Browns (52-55 pts)
- New York Jets (55-57 pts)
- Arizona Cardinals (56-58 pts)
- Las Vegas Raiders (57-59 pts)
- Carolina Panthers/New England Patriots (58-60 pts)
Henry John — Week 11 Byemageddon
It seems that every year, there is one week on the NFL schedule that has six teams on bye. For fantasy football purposes, this obviously can lead to some dire situations that managers must navigate. For 2026, “Byemageddon” will be taking place in Week 11.
For the record, the Falcons, Browns, Packers, Rams, Patriots and Seahawks are the six teams on bye in Week 11. Beyond the sheer volume of byes, it’s impossible to ignore the fantasy studs who will be rendered useless that week:
- RB — Bijan Robinson, Quinshon Judkins, Josh Jacobs, Kyren Williams, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
- WR — Drake London, Puka Nacua and Jaxson Smith-Njigba most notably.
- TE — Kyle Pitts, Harold Fannin, Tucker Kraft and Hunter Henry.
The fact that the 2026 version of “Byemageddon” will take place only four weeks before the start of the Fantasy Football Playoffs looms large as well.
Trevor Land — RB Byes Could Screw You
Here’s my answer to the team brainstorm: My biggest takeaway from the NFL schedule release from a fantasy football standpoint is just how crazy the playoff race will be for a lot of people. Most fantasy leagues start their playoffs in Week 15, which makes the two weeks before it crucial. Most teams are in the hunt at that time, so those become sort of “must-win” weeks.
Looking at the schedules, fantasy owners will have to get very creative during Weeks 13 and 14, especially at the running back position. In Week 13, the Las Vegas Raiders, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets are all on bye. From a running back standpoint, that will result in Ashton Jeanty, Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry and Breece Hall all being on bye in a crucial week for playoff contention. While Breece Hall is certainly not in the same realm as the other three backs, it will be an incredibly tough week at the position, nevertheless, and it would be smart to get your running back streamers a week early in Week 12 to make sure you get coverage if someone’s missing for you on bye.
Week 14 isn’t nearly as bad with the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals on bye, but it will play a larger role than I think most people realize. From a quarterback standpoint, nothing is really lost, but from a running back, wide receiver and tight end standpoint, there could be some big issues on the horizon. Both teams will likely have their lead running backs be solid contributors, and both teams have some good receivers as well. Trey McBride being on bye the week before the fantasy playoffs will also be a huge issue, seeing that he will likely be someone’s second or third round pick.
Overall, the quality of teams on bye isn’t that much greater than in years’ past, but I can’t think of a year in which one position group will be as affected down the stretch as running backs will be.
Luke Reimer — Have Week 14 Backup Plans
My biggest fantasy football takeaway from the NFL schedule release comes all the way in Week 14, when we will be gearing up for the playoffs. The two teams on bye that week are the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals. In what is going to be a must-win game for many fantasy football players, not having some of the biggest names like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Brandon Aubrey, Jake Ferguson, Javonte Williams, Jeremiyah Love, Marvin Harrison Jr and Trey McBride will hurt many’s playoff chances.
Does that mean that I am staying away from those players in drafts? The short answer is no. All of those players will still be top-24ish at their position, so having them on your team will be valuable. However, you need to come into your draft with backup plans. Looking at the schedule right now for Week 14, I will target Denver (against the Jets) and Los Angeles Chargers (against Las Vegas) as players whom I am willing to take ahead of their draft ADPs, to partner with those players that I mentioned. That way, I won’t be caught off guard by not having my studs playing in the biggest game of the season for my fantasy team.
