TE Strength of Schedule
Fri May 26 9:32am ET
By JEFF PAUR
Sr Fantasy Writer
Waller could be a risky pick
Using our rules for our money leagues, we came up with a schedule strength ranking for the tight end position. We are using our fantasy defenses report to calculate the rankings. This report can be found in all of our leagues under the "reports" heading. We took the schedule of each team and entered the average number of fantasy points allowed to tight ends last season from all of their opponents to get our fantasy points allowed number. This is a good indication of the tight ends with the most favorable schedules for fantasy scoring for the coming season. Defenses obviously change from year to year, but knowing the tight ends that might have the easiest schedule for fantasy is always a good idea when formulating your rankings and draft strategy.
| TE SOS | ||
| 1. | Giants | 190.32 |
| 2. | Cardinals | 191.38 |
| 3. | Lions | 192.14 |
| 4. | Broncos | 194.92 |
| 5. | Dolphins | 195.00 |
| 6. | Buccaneers | 195.71 |
| 7. | Vikings | 197.33 |
| 8. | Jets | 197.61 |
| 9. | Patriots | 198.03 |
| 10. | Eagles | 198.49 |
| 11. | Jaguars | 200.14 |
| 12. | Rams | 200.39 |
| 13. | Seahawks | 201.05 |
| 14. | Bengals | 201.71 |
| 15. | Cowboys | 202.16 |
| 16. | Falcons | 203.18 |
| 17. | Packers | 203.40 |
| 18. | Steelers | 203.62 |
| 19. | Commanders | 203.74 |
| 20. | Raiders | 204.69 |
| 21. | Chargers | 204.79 |
| 22. | Chiefs | 205.16 |
| 23. | Bears | 205.30 |
| 24. | Titans | 207.34 |
| 25. | Colts | 209.04 |
| 26. | Panthers | 209.68 |
| 27. | 49ers | 209.84 |
| 28. | Browns | 210.07 |
| 29. | Bills | 210.35 |
| 30. | Saints | 210.40 |
| 31. | Ravens | 211.88 |
| 32. | Texans | 218.84 |
The Texans have a new starting tight end this year, Dalton Schultz, and he gets the easiest fantasy schedule for tight ends. Schultz lands in a good spot to keep up his production from the past few years. He also doesn’t have a lot to compete with for targets, so Schultz has some real potential this season for fantasy teams.
The Ravens, Saints, Bills and Browns round out the top five for easiest fantasy tight end schedules. Mark Andrews always has great value, but this favorable schedule could let him make a run at first overall in tight end scoring this year. Rookie Dalton Kincaid is really intriguing this year. The Bills apparently have big plans for him, so a favorable schedule also bodes well for the rookie to post good numbers in year one. Lastly, David Njoku had his best season to date last year. He now gets a favorable schedule and Deshaun Watson throwing to him from day one. He can be a top-10 fantasy tight end.
On the flipside, the Giants get the toughest fantasy schedule for tight ends. This is bad news for new starter Darren Waller. He always has injury concerns, so a tough schedule on top of that is a bit of a concern. He carries some risk this season.
The Cardinals, Lions, Broncos and Dolphins also get challenging fantasy schedules for tight ends. Rookie Sam LaPorta is an exciting talent for the Lions, but has a lot to compete with for targets and a tough tight end schedule. He could be up and down this season for his fantasy owners. Denver’s new coaching staff doesn’t seem sold on Greg Dulcich as their starting tight end, which is a concern to begin with. So a tough fantasy schedule doesn’t help matters for Dulcich. He could be a boom or bust pick come draft day.
We also wanted to look at playoff schedules for fantasy tight ends. So we crunched the numbers of all the schedules from Week 14-17, which is the fantasy playoffs for most leagues. We know you have to get to the playoffs first, but knowing the tight ends with the easiest playoff schedules doesn’t hurt by any means, especially in the big money contests.
| TE PLAYOFF SOS | ||
| 1. | Cardinals | 168.67 |
| 2. | Rams | 177.01 |
| 3. | Giants | 178.13 |
| 4. | Lions | 181.28 |
| 5. | Bills | 186.03 |
| 6. | Jaguars | 186.48 |
| 7. | Jets | 188.75 |
| 8. | Falcons | 191.21 |
| 9. | Chiefs | 192.68 |
| 10. | Commanders | 193.70 |
| 11. | Raiders | 198.43 |
| 12. | Dolphins | 198.64 |
| 13. | Patriots | 201.20 |
| 14. | Browns | 202.30 |
| 15. | Broncos | 203.60 |
| 16. | Cowboys | 203.93 |
| 17. | Saints | 204.14 |
| 18. | Seahawks | 204.23 |
| 19. | Bengals | 204.73 |
| 20. | Packers | 204.79 |
| 21. | Panthers | 205.48 |
| 22. | Buccaneers | 205.48 |
| 23. | Vikings | 207.70 |
| 24. | Ravens | 208.40 |
| 25. | Chargers | 211.40 |
| 26. | Steelers | 214.88 |
| 27. | 49ers | 216.14 |
| 28. | Colts | 220.58 |
| 29. | Titans | 220.68 |
| 30. | Texans | 223.25 |
| 31. | Eagles | 225.93 |
| 32. | Bears | 237.38 |
The fantasy playoff schedule for tight ends is a little different. The Bears, Eagles, Texans, Titans and Colts have the top-five easiest schedules. Houston is the only team to make both top-five lists at tight end, making Schultz even that more intriguing come draft day. Cole Kmet could be setup for a strong fantasy playoffs with his favorable schedule. The other team on this list that stands out is Tennessee. Chig Okonkwo is a projected breakout by many, so he could be a player to target come draft day with a very favorable playoff schedule.
There is a little more crossover with the toughest fantasy schedules when it comes to tight ends. The Cardinals have the toughest fantasy playoff schedule for tight ends and the second toughest during the regular season. This is a concern for Zach Ertz. And the Giants also make the playoff list, having the third most challenging fantasy tight end schedule. Waller keeps getting scarier and scarier for fantasy owners. The other teams that round out the top five toughest fantasy playoff schedules are the Rams, Lions and Bills. Buffalo actually has one of the easiest regular season schedules but one of the toughest for the playoffs.
Jeff Paur is a two-time finalist for FSWA Fantasy Football Writer of the Year and won the FSWA award for Best Fantasy Football Article on the Web in 2011. He also was the most accurate expert in 2012, winning the FSTA Fantasy Football Accuracy Award. If you have any questions for Jeff, email him at jeff@rtsports.com. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffpaur.
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