Fantasy Football: 8 Players With Easy Early-Season Schedules

Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

The fantasy football analytics community really doesn't like Kelvin Benjamin. The hate intensified earlier this offseason when head coach Ron Rivera criticized Benjamin's weight in early May.

Benjamin does have real flaws -- he's prone to drops and he doesn't get good separation from cornerbacks. He's prone to big games, but also prone to disappearing, having put up 20 or fewer receiving yards on four separate occasions last season. His 53.9% catch rate ranked 37th out of 41 wide receivers with at least 100 targets in 2016, as well.

The hate has gone too far, though.

Benjamin's 93.65% Reception Success Rate ranked fourth out of those same 41 receivers with at least 100 targets in 2016. His 0.76 Reception NEP per target ranked 13th and was much improved from his league average 0.67 Reception NEP per target in his rookie season.

With Devin Funchess failing to take a real step in the passing game last season and Ted Ginn Jr. leaving for the New Orleans Saints, Benjamin's target volume should remain fairly consistent in 2017, even with the additions of Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel as passing game weapons. Moreover, Benjamin's schedule is looking ripe in the first quarter of the season, as he squares off against a Bills pass defense that's below league average, and two bottom-of-the-barrel units in the 49ers and New Orleans.

Only the New England Patriots pass defense is in the top half in terms of projected pass defenses Benjamin will face in his first four games. But even then, the potential for the Panthers to be playing catch-up and chucking the ball willy-nilly in the second half is certainly there.

If you really don't like Benjamin, I get it. But he has a good chance to sine right out of the gate. Then you can sell him to a league member who's all of a sudden discovered that Kelvin love.