Fantasy Football: Breaking down strength of schedule by position

Strength of schedule has traditionally been viewed as a power ranking of teams’ schedules based on their opponents' prior-year record. This method has been shown to not be very predictive of a team’s true strength of schedule (SoS). Instead, PFF harnessed the power of our grading system and its year-over-year predictability to produce an easily digestible SoS tool. The PFF Strength of Schedule Tool uses current rosters to provide a more insightful look at fantasy football matchups for the coming season.

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This is the third in a series of articles breaking down strength of schedule by position. The quarterback article can be found here, running backs here and wide receivers here. Note: The values found in the live tool are subject to change, since they’re based on current rosters and can be affected by injuries, opt-outs and trades. The values in this article will not be updated after publication.

Top 3 Overall Schedule

1. Arizona Cardinals

Last year the leading tight end for the Cardinals was Charles Clay, and he amassed a whopping 18 receptions for 237 yards on 24 targets. This is largely due to Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s air raid-esque concepts that he brought from his Texas Tech coaching stint. The Cardinals used 10 personnel on 31.8% of their offensive plays in 2019.

For 2020, I wouldn’t plan on a week-in, week-out starting tight end for fantasy in Arizona, but there are some names to keep an eye on. Maxx Williams is currently listed as the starter on the depth chart but has been unimpressive as a pass-catcher to this point in his career. Dan Arnold is an intriguing best ball option, as he had an aDOT of 14.8 last year, although on just 10 targets.