For Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, scheduling doesn’t matter. The top tier of fantasy quarterbacks are easy starts every single week of the regular season, no matter the opponent.

But for the second and third tier of quarterbacks, the players who are ranked somewhere in the eight to 14 range, a schedule can matter. If they’re facing a tough opponent, a replacement may need to be found for a week. Or, it may drop them down in the preseason rankings if their schedules are just that tough.

Here’s three quarterbacks who fall into that category, guys who will be facing a tough 2014 season that could hurt their fantasy value because of how tough their schedules are.

Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams

Bradford could have a knock on his schedule for years to come because he and the Rams play in the NFC West. In four of his 16 games this season, Bradford will face the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, two of the three teams that allowed the least amount of fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks last season (Seattle allowed less than 10 fantasy points per game).

Besides the two favorites to play in the NFC Championship game this year, Bradford will also face the Arizona Cardinals twice, who have one of the most promising secondaries in the league. Arizona drafted safety Deone Bucannon, who will now line up with Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie on either side of him at the corners. They’ll be the toughest cornerback tandem Bradford will face outside of Seattle.

He’ll also face Alterraun Verner and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in Week 3 on the road, and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs have a great pass rush, as do Seattle and San Francisco. Bradford has a history of injury, and if he takes too much of a beating against these strong defenders, the chances of him missing some time are pretty high. Plus, there’s always the issue of strong defenses taking away his biggest playmakers.

Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Rivers will be high on a lot of quarterback draft boards in the next few months coming off of one of the best seasons of his career. He completed almost 70 percent of his passes, going for 4,478 yards and 32 touchdowns with only 11 interceptions. But, Rivers will have a tough time getting back to those numbers with the schedule he faces this season.

He’ll open up against the aforementioned Cardinals on the road, and he also faces the Seahawks, Chiefs (twice) and the 49ers. And, although many will point to his two games against the division rival Raiders, Rivers actually struggled against them last season, throwing four interceptions and just three touchdowns in two matchups.

Then, in Weeks 8 and 15, Rivers and the Chargers will face the Denver Broncos, who gave up a lot of fantasy points to quarterbacks last season, but they upgraded in the secondary, adding Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward. Week 13 against the strong St. Louis pass rush is also a red flag, as is Darrelle Revis and the Patriots in Week 14. This season will likely be an uphill battle for Rivers, given his opponents and the lack of receiving weapons besides Keenan Allen.

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

Although Ryan and the Falcons are primed for a rebound year, getting Julio Jones and Roddy White healthy again, Ryan’s schedule should come up as a concern for potential fantasy owners. Ryan and the Falcons play five of their games against three teams that allowed fewer than 14 fantasy points per game last season (New Orleans, Cincinnati and Carolina).

Atlanta’s struggles start out in Week 1 against the Saints, who added Jairus Byrd to their secondary and Cincy in Week 2. He follows that up with Verner and the Bucs in Week 3, and an always-tough Baltimore defense in Week 7. He gets a break in between those games, but then he faces the Panthers twice in the last seven weeks of the season. He’ll also play the Cardinals in Week 13, a team that he threw four interceptions against last season, and the Browns the week before that, who added Justin Gilbert and Pierre Desir to an already strong secondary.

After their bye week in Week 9, Ryan will really face a tough schedule, and it will only get tougher if the offensive line can’t improve. There’s some really easy games thrown in against the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears defense thrown in, but he will have some issues in a number of games this year.