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FFL: Preseason | NFL: Week 1

WR Strength of Schedule

Mon May 22 10:15am ET
By JEFF PAUR
Sr Fantasy Writer

Related photo caption below

Olave is setup for big year two


Using our rules for our money leagues, we came up with a schedule strength ranking for the wide receiver 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 for each team and entered the average number of fantasy points allowed to wide receivers last season from all of their opponents to get our fantasy points allowed number. This is a good indication of the wide receivers with the most favorable schedules for fantasy scoring for the coming season. Defenses obviously change from year to year, but knowing the wide receivers that might have the easiest schedule for fantasy is always a good idea when formulating your rankings and draft strategy. 

  WR SOS  
1. Titans 531.69
2. Browns 533.83
3. Rams 534.57
4. Patriots 537.21
5. Ravens 538.59
6. Steelers 540.75
7. Chiefs 541.80
8. Bills 542.51
9. 49ers 542.86
10. Cardinals 545.26
11. Commanders 546.16
12. Texans 549.24
13. Giants 549.94
14. Raiders 551.02
15. Cowboys 551.28
16. Jets 551.53
17. Bengals 554.94
18. Dolphins 557.63
19. Broncos 557.92
20. Colts 562.66
21. Jaguars 563.56
22. Vikings 563.61
23. Falcons 566.96
24. Panthers 569.11
25. Eagles 569.41
26. Lions 570.06
27. Seahawks 573.04
28. Chargers 574.34
29. Bears 574.66
30. Buccaneers 578.37
31. Packers 584.00
32. Saints 587.08

 

The Saints new passing attack, led by Derek Carr gets the easiest fantasy schedule for receivers. Chris Olave and Michael Thomas see a little bump in their fantasy value. Olave could really have a monster season in year two. He gets a favorable schedule and much better quarterback situation. Thomas is tough to trust with his injury issues of the last few seasons, but might be worth a flyer for fantasy owners in the middle round of drafts.

The Packers, Buccaneers, Bears and Chargers round out the top five most favorable schedules for receivers. Christian Watson is looking good these days. He gets to be the top option in the passing game from day one and has a chance to rack up the targets from new starter Jordan Love.

Tampa’s receivers are hard to trust because of an uncertain quarterback situation, but the talented receivers should not be forgotten come draft day. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin certainly have the potential to produce big. D.J. Moore also is looking good as the top target in the Bears passing game. And lastly, the Chargers trio of wide receivers could be really good in this high-powered passing attack with a favorable fantasy schedule for receivers. 

Teams with challenging fantasy receiver schedules include the Titans, Browns and Rams. Tennessee is really scary because of an uncertain passing attack to begin with. It might be hard to trust Treylon Burks come draft day.

Amari Cooper seems setup for a big season with Deshaun Watson as his starter from day one, but a tough fantasy schedule is a little concerning. It would not surprise to see the Browns be a run heavy team once again.

The Patriots and Ravens round out the top five most difficult fantasy receiver schedules. New England has a lot of receivers vying for playing time, making many question marks to begin with. JuJu Smith-Schuster is their top receiver, but could struggle some with his new team, especially if you consider this schedule. And the Ravens remain a run-first offense, which should continue if you look at this schedule. 

We also wanted to look at playoff schedules for fantasy wide receivers. 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 wide receivers with the easiest playoff schedules doesn’t hurt by any means, especially in the big money contests. 

  WR PLAYOFF SOS  
1. Titans 493.36
2. Browns 499.69
3. Chargers 512.25
4. Steelers 516.89
5. Jets 521.74
6. 49ers 526.83
7. Eagles 534.44
8. Giants 537.15
9. Patriots 542.03
10. Panthers 546.50
11. Buccaneers 546.50
12. Commanders 548.37
13. Colts 548.58
14. Chiefs 552.76
15. Bears 553.85
16. Rams 554.23
17. Cardinals 558.95
18. Vikings 563.03
19. Broncos 566.09
20. Jaguars 568.28
21. Cowboys 570.94
22. Texans 573.45
23. Falcons 574.21
24. Lions 580.08
25. Ravens 581.16
26. Dolphins 583.19
27. Raiders 584.08
28. Bills 585.20
29. Saints 588.60
30. Seahawks 588.93
31. Bengals 590.43
32. Packers 612.90

 

There are a lot of really good receivers that have favorable fantasy playoff schedules. The Bengals, Seahawks and Bills are in the top five most favorable fantasy playoff schedules. Ja’Marr Chase was already looking great this year, but could be a league winner based on this schedule. The Seahawks pair of top receivers are looking pretty good as well. Both Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf could post big numbers during the fantasy playoffs. Lastly, you have to like seeing Stefon Diggs having a favorable fantasy playoffs. Diggs could really finish the fantasy season strong. 

The regular season and fantasy playoff schedules for receivers is pretty similar when it comes to the toughness. The Titans and Browns top the list once again and are followed by the Chargers, Steelers and Jets. The Chargers are the only team on any of these strength of schedule lists to have a favorable regular season schedule and unfavorable fantasy playoff schedule. That will be a tough one for fantasy teams to figure out come draft day. 

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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