It’s a little too early to pack your bags or fire up NFL RedZone, but with last month’s schedule release for the 2026 NFL season, it’s a solid time to map out your football fall plans before heading on that next summer vacation.
For fans of former Utah greats in the pros — whether they called a Beehive State high school or college home, or both — there are plenty of contests that should be fun.
Since expectations can change as a year wanes on — and either injuries or losses, perhaps even both — start to pile up, let’s look at five early-season games to tune in for, in terms of Utah ties to watch.
We’ll also identify three holiday season games that should be enjoyable for the local fans when family is around.
Week 1: Sept. 10, Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers
The first NFL regular-season game to ever take place in Australia will have a certain BYU flavor when the Rams and 49ers meet on a Friday in Week 1 in a bitter NFC West division matchup.
This will be Fred Warner’s first game back after he suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle with the 49ers in October 2025, ending his season. It’s the first time in the former BYU star linebacker’s pro career that he had missed significant time due to injury.
What will the 29-year-old, four-time first-team All-Pro have in store once he’s back on the field?
On the opposite sideline will be another former Cougar, Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is coming off a career year, wherein he had a league-high 129 receptions for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns — a season that rates among the best in NFL history in several different categories.
The 25-year-old Nacua has also faced some offseason controversy — he spent time in a rehab facility after a Los Angeles woman filed a civil lawsuit alleging that Nacua “forcibly” bit her shoulder and made an “unprovoked antisemitic statement” during a New Year’s Eve outing, according to the court document obtained by ESPN.
Plus, there’s a looming contract extension hovering over Nacua and his camp. Will that impact his contract year?
This is far from the first time that Warner and Nacua have faced each other, but given their personal storylines, there’s heightened interest going into this matchup.
Week 1: Sept. 13, Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings
Another Week 1 game on this list? Yeah, the start of the season looks pretty entertaining.
Former Utah State quarterback Jordan Love is headed into his fourth season as Green Bay’s starter, and in each of the previous three years, the Packers have won nine regular-season games.
Yes, Green Bay has reached the postseason each of his three seasons as starter, but the Packers are 1-3 in the playoffs during that time, making it past the wild-card round just once.
This will be the start of another critical season for the former Aggie, who occasionally lines up in the backfield alongside former BYU running back Chris Brooks.
This game in particular could be interesting if Kyler Murray ends up as the Vikings’ starting quarterback. Murray spent the past seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, but he signed a one-year deal with Minnesota this offseason.
That fresh start for the former No. 1 overall pick in 2019 comes with a QB competition against J.J. McCarthy, who’s headed into his third NFL season. If Murray wins the job, this would be only the second time that Love and Murray have faced each other. In 2024, Love and the Packers beat Murray and the Cardinals 34-13.
Other local ties to watch in this one are former BYU and Payson High edge rusher Tyler Batty and former BYU offensive tackle Caleb Etienne, who are both in their second year with Minnesota after going undrafted.
Former Utah cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn is also in his second year with the Vikings.
Week 2: Sept. 21, New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams
The Monday night matchup in Week 2 will include a handful of Utah connections worth tuning in for.
Yes, it’s another big game for Nacua and the Rams in their latest chase for a Super Bowl title. It’s also Los Angeles’ home opener following the international contest the week before against the 49ers. Will jet lag play any sort of factor?
On New York’s side, there’s second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart. The former Corner Canyon and Roy High star made headlines recently after he introduced United States president Donald Trump during a rally, a moment that’s brought controversy for the young football star.
Whatever side of the political spectrum one sits on, that’s made Dart’s name a lightning rod for debate this summer.
Putting that aside, this will be a chance for Dart to take on a Rams team with high expectations on a national stage with NFL world watching. Los Angeles just made a blockbuster trade for All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett, and no doubt, he’ll be a handful for Dart and the Giants offensive line to handle.
Plus, this will be the Monday Night Football debut for Jack Kelly, the former BYU, Weber State and Kearns High linebacker who was taken in the sixth round of April’s NFL draft.
A trio of reasons to tune in for some MNF fun? Yes, please.
Week 3: Sept. 27, Carolina Panthers at Cleveland Browns
The big name in terms of Utah-connected rookies is Spencer Fano, the former Utah offensive tackle who prepped at Timpview High and was the first offensive lineman taken in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The No. 9 overall pick will be in his third NFL game by this point, and he’ll face another former Ute who was also a first-round selection, linebacker Devin Lloyd.
This is Lloyd’s first season with the Panthers after spending four seasons with the team that drafted him, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Lloyd became a free agent after the Jaguars let him walk, and now he has the chance to show Jacksonville — and the rest of the league — why that was a mistake.
Fano, meanwhile, will get his chance to prove his worth as the top offensive tackle in this rookie class.
He’ll do so with a couple other rookies and Utah ties in Browns jerseys — his brother Logan Fano, a free-agent defensive end and fellow Timpview product, and tight end Carsen Ryan, whose career after his days at American Fork High took him to UCLA, then Utah, then BYU.
Week 11: Nov. 22, Arizona Cardinals at Kansas City Chiefs
Normally, this wouldn’t make the list — a Cardinals-Chiefs matchup isn’t as thrilling as some of the other games featuring Utah connections.
But these are abnormal circumstances. The day before, BYU plays at Kansas 40 miles down the road in Lawrence. Doubleheader with plenty of Cougar ties, anyone?
BYU fans could watch the 2026 squad in their final road contest of the year that Saturday, then turn around the next day and see several former Cougars in running back Tyler Allgeier (Arizona), defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga (Kansas City) and offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia (Kansas City) in the NFL game the next day.
Not a bad two-fer the weekend before Thanksgiving — OK, it’s holiday adjacent.
Week 12: Nov. 26, Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
We could have gone with the flashy new NFL toy, a Thanksgiving Eve (is that a thing?) contest between the Packers and Rams.
Love and Nacua are always entertaining, and that game very well could have implications on the postseason chase.
Instead, though, we’re going with Chiefs vs. Bills.
This could serve as a de facto BYU vs. Utah matchup on Thanksgiving Day, something we need since we’ve been devoid of a late November rivalry matchup between the two schools in recent years.
A pair of former Utes — tight end Dalton Kincaid and safety Cole Bishop — are integral pieces for the Bills, and the team added punter Mitch Wishnowsky last season. Plus, there’s former Highland High tight end Jackson Hawes.
On top of all that, the Chiefs have eliminated the Bills four of the past six seasons in the playoffs. This one should have plenty of postseason implications.
Sure, this is back-to-back weeks with the Chiefs and their BYU connections — along with three other Utah ties in linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (Kearns High), wide receiver Jalen Royals (Utah State) and safety Alohi Gilman (Orem High) — but it should be a good one that will factor into the playoff race.
Week 16: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks
Not only is this one on Christmas Day, but it promises to be one of the most entertaining games of the season.
While Seattle is the defending Super Bowl champion, Los Angeles is viewed by many to be the championship favorite this year after a busy offseason wherein Matthew Stafford signed another lucrative extension and the Rams made several defensive additions, none bigger than their trade for Garrett.
Los Angeles blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead against Seattle in Week 16 last season, and that overtime loss cost it in NFC playoff seeding, which set up the Seahawks with homefield advantage over the Rams in the NFC championship, which Seattle won 31-27.
That gives Nacua and company plenty of motivation to not miss out this time around, especially with Los Angeles and SoFi Stadium hosting Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14 — hey, look at that, another holiday game.
On the opposite side, former Weber State receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed won his first Super Bowl last year — and made several big plays as a returner after being traded to Seattle midseason — and second-year pro Connor O’Toole became the latest Ute to win a Super Bowl ring.
Unless something goes chaotically wrong, this Week 16 contest will be pivotal to the playoff chase for both the Seahawks and the Rams — and could very well factor into who represents the NFC in this year’s Super Bowl.
