NFL

Fantasy Football: 7 Quarterbacks With Favorable Early-Season Schedules

Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow

Sam Bradford, Philadelphia Eagles

Sam Bradford was a mediocre-at-best fantasy asset last year while running a high-paced offense. Now, he loses that pace, and the Eagles haven't added any difference-making assets to help the cause. Why should we even bother looking his direction?

Truthfully, you probably shouldn't unless you're in a two-quarterback or superflex league -- or just superbly desperate -- but if you need somewhere to turn, Bradford's schedule is at least a favorable one.

He opens things up with the Browns before facing the Chicago Bears in Week 2. The Bears were 30th in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play last year, allowing even meager quarterbacks to excel against them. There were seven quarterbacks who had top-10 weeks while facing the Bears, a list that included Teddy Bridgewater, Blaine Gabbert, and Brock Osweiler. That's not exactly a murderer's row, and while Bradford's unsatisfactory, he can hang with those guys.

If Bradford gets a passing grade those two games, you can keep him for matchups against the high-scoring Steelers and the Detroit Lions, who finished 25th against the pass last year. If not, then you dump him and start over. Those first two weeks are enough, though, to at least make Bradford an option.