10 Players You Should Be Targeting in Fantasy Football Drafts

Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions

Knowing that Matthew Stafford has finished as a top-10 quarterback in each of the last three seasons doesn't do it for me. You can stream a lower-end QB1 in fantasy football fairly easily. Stafford was never a top-five guy over this time, and that's really what you need in order to have a real edge at the position in single-quarterback leagues.

No, it's not the consistency that does it for me with Stafford this year. It's the schedule.

How a player opens up the season is important for a lot of reasons. A good start means more fantasy points, which translates to wins. That's always good. But at the quarterback position -- one that's replaceable -- not having to worry about matchups early in the season from a late-round selection is a beautiful thing. It allows you to focus your waiver wire attention on the more important positions in fantasy.

That's what you've got with Stafford this year. The Lions open up the season against the Jets, a team with an underrated secondary, but one that's a seven-point road underdog. After New York, Detroit gets San Francisco, New England, Dallas, and Green Bay. None of those teams are projected to have elite secondaries this season, and each of them present an opportunity -- perhaps Dallas aside -- for high-scoring matchups.

Stafford will be a late-round quarterback in most leagues, and he's one to target if you're looking for a set-and-forget passer for the start of the 2018 season.