5 Fantasy Takeaways From the 2023 NFL Schedule Release

Here’s why Derrick Henry should send flowers to the schedule-makers.

The 2023 NFL schedule was released on Thursday night, and it’s chock full of big-time matchups and games loaded with fantasy superstars. We’ll of course have wall-to-wall analysis on the new slate of games, but here’s a quick look at some of the most interesting little fantasy nuggets that I found in my first look at the schedule.

The Bye Weeks

The byes begin in Week 5 with the Browns, Buccaneers, Chargers and Seahawks and end in Week 14 with the Cardinals and Commanders. There are two weeks in this stretch with no byes (Week 8, Week 12) and four with four teams off. That includes Week 5, Week 9 (49ers, Broncos, Jaguars, Lions), Week 10 (Chargers, Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles) and Week 11 (Colts, Falcons, Patriots, Saints). Two weeks will have two teams off, including Week 6 (Packers, Steelers) and Week 14.

The most notable among these bye weeks is Week 10, when fantasy fans will be without Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa. All four of their teams are loaded with fantasy stars too, so reserves will be in a lot of lineups.

The NFL also hit us with two byemageddons (six teams on a bye): Week 7 (Bengals, Cowboys, Jets, Panthers, Texans, Titans) and Week 13 (Bears, Bills, Giants, Raiders, Ravens, Vikings). The good news is that one of these big byes doesn’t come a week before the start of the fantasy postseason like it did in 2022.

Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

King Henry Will Rule

Derrick Henry has been an elite fantasy running back for several seasons, and he could lead fantasy managers to a title in 2023. His overall schedule is one of the best among running backs, and his fantasy postseason slate is a virtual breeze.

Henry plays the Texans, who he absolutely owns, twice (!) during that three-week span. In 2022, Houston surrendered the most fantasy points to runners at a clip of 31.5 per contest. If that’s not enough to lick your chops, well, take this into account: Henry has scored 18-plus PPR points in five straight games against the Texans, including four games with at least 35 points. He has also rushed for over 200 yards four times in those contests and has scored a combined 10 touchdowns.

Couple those stats with a game against the Seahawks, who allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs last season, and Henry’s postseason slate could not be better. Heck, this alone might push his average draft position up a few spots.

Big QB Battles in Championship Week

If you’re looking for oodles of fantasy points when you need them the most, take a look at some of these outstanding quarterback matchups projected for Week 17:

Joe Burrow vs. Patrick Mahomes

Kyler Murray vs. Jalen Hurts

Tua Tagovailoa vs. Lamar Jackson

Justin Herbert vs. Russell Wilson

Aaron Rodgers vs. Deshaun Watson

That Bengals-Chiefs matchup is fantasy gold, featuring a plethora of superstars in what will likely be a super important game in the AFC. Murray-Hurts is a battle of mobile signal-callers who have been top-10 fantasy players. The last time Tagovailoa and Jackson met, they combined for 787 passing yards, 120 rushing yards (119 coming from Jackson), nine touchdown passes and 10 total end-zone visits.

Herbert and Wilson should be a better matchup than we saw from them last season, and Rodgers and Watson can light up the fantasy scoreboard with the best of them. I could also throw in the Jared Goff vs. Dak Prescott  matchup, but you’d accuse me of being a homer (guilty as charged) and Goff stunk on the road last season.

Championship week will also feature a battle of two of the last three No. 1 overall picks in the draft, as Bryce Young travels to Duval County to face Trevor Lawrence.

Big Road Blues

Get your suitcases ready, Big Blue. The NFL was not kind to the Giants, as seven of their first 11 games are on the road. According to Warren Sharp, that’s the first time since at least 1990 that the league has hit a team with seven roadies in the first 10 weeks. After opening the season at home against the Cowboys, New York will have one more home game in the next five weeks. After two games at MetLife Stadium, the G-Men will then go back on the road for three straight weeks.

Among the road contests in those 11 weeks are games in Arizona, San Francisco, Miami, Buffalo, Las Vegas, Dallas and Washington. That’s not the best slate for the Giants and it could have fantasy implications, especially for Saquon Barkley when facing high-octane defenses like the Niners, Dolphins, Bills and Cowboys.

A Little Love for Jordan

Rodgers going to the Big Apple was of course good news for Jordan Love, who will finally get a chance to start at the NFL level. If you’re on his bandwagon, you’ll “love” his schedule based on the 2022 totals of his upcoming opponents.

Love will play division rivals the Bears, Lions and Vikings twice, all of whom were among the seven easiest teams for quarterbacks to score on last season. In all, Love gets 12 games against defenses that were in the top 12 in allowing the most fantasy points to the position in 2022. Furthermore, eight of those games will come against teams that allowed 18-plus points to opposing field generals.

If you’re wondering about Rodgers, well, his strength of schedule is in the lower third of the league. That will happen when you move to the tougher AFC East.