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Let's be honest: Would you feel good about your quarterback if he was starting the season against the Browns, Saints and Ravens defenses?

How good would you feel if your quarterback opened the year against the Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars defenses?

Does it even matter to you?!

In the case of stud quarterbacks, matchups almost never matter. You're starting Josh Allen no matter who he plays (especially the Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars), and the same goes for someone like Dak Prescott (even against the Browns, Saints and Ravens). And admittedly, there are a good amount of stud quarterbacks in Fantasy.

But there are more good-but-not-stud quarterbacks, and their matchups should matter. You might want to know that Jayden Daniels has one of the easiest projected schedules to begin his career or that Kyler Murray should carry your team to a Fantasy championship thanks to an awesome projected late-season slate. Or that Russell Wilson, Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson aren't the golden-boy QB2s you were hoping for because of who they'll face this season.

I've long believed that matchups matter. In an effort to predict which matchups will be favorable versus unfavorable, I created a concept called the Projected Strength of Schedule. Using film analysis, study of scheme and coaching and of course an understanding of who's playing, I came up with a grade for every NFL team as it relates to their pass defense.

At a minimum, it will give you a potential tiebreaker when debating between two players in your drafts. At most, it's a warning sign to avoid certain players across the league.

If you're reading this, you're on the page that breaks down the PSoS for quarterbacks. You'll find out about the players who have easy projected schedules, difficult projected schedules, and everyone in between. If you're interested in the methodology behind these numbers, you should read this.

For now, here's a look at how each offense's quarterback ranks in terms of PSoS, with 1 being the easiest and 32 being the toughest. There's a table for the whole season, the first four weeks of the season (who might get off to a hot start?!) and Weeks 15 through 17 (Fantasy playoffs).

Full PSoS rankings by position: QB | RB | WR | TE 

You should also benefit from the in-season version of the Projected Strength of Schedule rankings, exclusively on SportsLine. Each week I update the database and reveal which players have favorable or unfavorable matchups down the line. It's a cheat code for trades. Sign up now (or whenever) and use the promo code DAVE for a special deal on your first month, plus you can cancel anytime. 

I'll highlight some players after these ranks so please remember to scroll all the way through.

Season-long PSoS for QBs

NO1 TEN17
ATL2 IND18
CAR3 LV19
CHI4 MIN20
SF5 LAR21
TB6 BUF22
PHI7 KC23
SEA8 HOU24
LAC9 NE25
GB10 CIN26
ARI11 CLE27
DAL12 DEN28
WAS13 MIA29
DET14 JAC30
NYJ15 PIT31
NYG16 BAL32

Weeks 1-4 PSoS for QBs

DET1 LAC17
WAS2 GB18
CIN3 NYG19
ARI4 NYJ20
BUF5 CAR21
TB6 KC22
NO7 DEN23
CHI8 LV24
SEA9 DAL25
PHI10 TEN26
HOU11 BAL27
PIT12 IND28
SF13 MIN29
LAR14 ATL30
CLE15 JAC31
MIA16 NE32

Weeks 15-17 PSoS for QBs

ARI1 TEN17
ATL2 WAS18
CAR3 JAC19
DAL4 BUF20
LAC5 SEA21
IND6 LAR22
NO7 BAL23
SF8 CIN24
LV9 DEN25
CHI10 MIN26
NE11 CLE27
NYJ12 HOU28
GB13 PIT29
TB14 DET30
PHI15 KC31
NYG16 MIA32

Biggest winners

  • Kyler Murray: He got the top rookie receiver in the class and now he has a top-12 projected schedule complete with seemingly favorable early- and late-season matchups. And his home game against the 49ers won't matter to most of you because it's in Week 18.
  • Brock Purdy: As if things couldn't get better for Purdy, he has a top-5 projected schedule for all of 2024 and top-10 for the Fantasy playoffs. Fingers crossed that his O-line stays healthy and his receiving corps stays intact (and healthy too).
  • Caleb Williams: He got one of the deepest receiving corps in football and landed a top-5 projected schedule with top-10 ratings to begin and end the year.
  • Derek Carr: If you're in a Superflex league, Carr's worth targeting. He landed the easiest season-long projected schedule among all QBs complete with top-seven slates to begin and end the year. His O-line is a concern, the depth of his receiving corps is a concern but the matchups are not a major concern.

Biggest losers

  • Tua Tagovailoa: Overlook Miami's schedule to end the year if you want to (it's rough) but the whole outlook for 2024 is projected to be steep. Two reminders: Tagovailoa has failed to average 22 or more Fantasy points in any of his past three seasons and Miami's offensive line could be a significant liability.
  • Trevor Lawrence: Has a bottom-three projected schedule -- second-worst to start the season.
  • Russell Wilson: Has the second-toughest projected schedule and fourth-toughest for Weeks 15 through 17 ... if he's still starting by then.

Draft them, stream them, then dump them

  • Jared Goff: Opens with the easiest projected schedule amongst QBs, then has a bye, then has a rough second half.
  • Baker Mayfield: Tampa Bay has an easy projected schedule overall including the first four weeks. Mayfield's never posted strong seasons consecutively, so I'd bail out on him if he starts hot.

Don't draft them, trade for them

  • Dak Prescott: Prescott overcame a tough projected schedule last year and could do it again. That said, he has one of the tougher early-season slates. If you acquire him at a discount before his Week 4 game at the Giants you should be OK.
  • Kirk Cousins: A tough start should give way to a tremendous run through a lot of favorable matchups well into December. The only thing that stinks is his matchup versus Carolina is in Week 18.