Postseason Shootout | RealTime Fantasy Sports

Tight End Strength of Schedule

Thu May 22 12:04pm ET
By JEFF PAUR
Sr Fantasy Writer

Smith could repeat big season

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.	Washington	191.93
2.	Dallas	192.18
3.	New York Giants	193.17
4.	Los Angeles Rams	195.95
5.	Kansas City	197.65
6.	Minnesota	199.17
7.	Green Bay	199.34
8.	Chicago	199.68
9.	Philadelphia	200.73
10..	Las Vegas	201.50
11.	Tampa Bay	201.75
12.	Indianapolis	207.07
13.	Carolina	207.34
14.	New Orleans	208.35
15.	Cincinnati	209.72
16.	Denver	209.82
17.	Seattle	210.29
18.	San Francisco	210.61
19.	Los Angeles Chargers	210.77
20.	Jacksonville	212.78
21.	Atlanta	213.71
22.	Houston	213.96
23.	Cleveland	214.28
24.	Detroit	214.74
25.	New England	214.94
26.	Arizona	215.91
27.	Tennessee	216.13
28.	Miami	216.23
29.	Pittsburgh	216.54
30.	Buffalo	216.75
31.	New York Jets	219.49
32.	Baltimore	223.69

The Ravens have two of the top tight ends in football and they have the easiest fantasy schedule for tight ends. This is great news for both Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. Andrews started last year slowly but finished well and was an elite option once again. Likely was more hit or miss but had some big games along the way. Both could be really good options with a schedule that bodes really well for fantasy teams.

The Jets have the second easiest schedule for tight ends but don’t have the most attractive tight end room. New York did draft Mason Taylor, who has some potential if he wins the starting job. He might be worth a look as a backup tight end for fantasy teams. Stone Smartt also has some potential but will have to beat out Taylor for the job, which might be a bit of a stretch.

The Bills, Steelers and Dolphins round out the top five most favorable fantasy schedules for tight ends. Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith are real attractive options for the coming year. Smith had a breakout season last year and seems likely to get a big workload again. We wouldn’t call last year a fluke. Expect more of the same.

And with the Steelers lacking some weapons at receiver, Freiermuth could be a big part of the Steelers passing attack. He could be a sneaky pick for fantasy teams, taking advantage of more looks in the Steelers offense.

Dalton Kincaid was a really popular pick for fantasy teams last season but didn’t pan out. Maybe this is the year he puts it together. The schedule is a big plus, so consider taking a flier on him as a top backup for your teams.

Washington has the most challenging schedule for tight ends. Zach Ertz is another year older and has a little more to compete with for targets this season. Plus, second-year tight end Ben Sinnott could be a little more involved in the offense. This makes Ertz a bit of a risk for fantasy teams.

Jake Ferguson was alright last year but another guy that probably didn’t live up to expectations. He was expected to get a ton of work because the Cowboys lacked some options at receiver. That didn’t really happen. He was pretty ho-hum most weeks. It could be a similar season for him this year.

The Giants, Rams and Chiefs make up the rest of the top five most difficult schedules. New York already has a scary tight end room, so you might just want to avoid that situation. And the Rams have Tyler Higbee and rookie Terrance Ferguson battling it out to start this year. These two could end up splitting work. So getting a tough schedule and a timeshare doesn’t bode well for either player.

Lastly, Travis Kelce is back for another season and gets a tough schedule to boot. We wouldn’t get too down about that, though. He remains an elite option - even at his age. He will continue to be a big part of the Chiefs offense.

We also wanted to look at playoff schedules for fantasy tight ends. So we crunched the numbers of all the schedules from Week 15-17, 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-game contests.

	TE PLAYOFF SOS
1.	Minnesota	159.73
2.	Washington	161.93
3.	Las Vegas	167.1
4.	Kansas City	179.65
5.	Los Angeles Rams	185.2
6.	Dallas	190.48
7.	Buffalo	197.4
8.	New Orleans	198
9.	Indianapolis	199.4
10.	Houston	201.65
11.	New England	202.4
12.	Cincinnati	202.47
13.	Pittsburgh	203
14.	Tennessee	206.27
15.	New York Jets	207.33
16.	Los Angeles Chargers	207.5
17.	San Francisco	207.63
18.	Chicago	207.7
19.	Carolina	209.13
20.	Green Bay	209.4
21.	Jacksonville	213.57
22.	New York Giants	214.33
23.	Philadelphia	216.83
24.	Cleveland	218.5
25.	Atlanta	224.8
26.	Arizona	227.73
27.	Tampa Bay	228.93
28.	Baltimore	231.03
29.	Denver	231.87
30.	Detroit	233.93
31.	Miami	253.2
32.	Seattle	258.03

The Dolphins and Ravens make both lists for favorable tight end schedules. Smith just keeps looking better and better for fantasy owners. He could be a big difference maker for fantasy owners once again. And Andrews and Likely continue to look like strong options. Both those guys could be factors down the stretch of the season.

The Seahawks have the easiest playoff schedule for tight ends. Seattle has rookie Elijah Arroyo and Noah Fant battling it out to start, though. And Seahawks tight ends have been pretty mediocre through the years. Arroyo might be worth a look as a top backup because of his upside, though. He has some potential if starting and could finish strong.

The Lions and Broncos are the other teams with a top-five playoff schedule. Sam LaPorta is an elite option and looks good for a strong finish to his third season in the league. He is going to be a solid pick come draft day. Evan Engram heads to Denver this year to take over as their starter. Engram could end up with the second-most targets in this offense. He could have a huge first season with his new team and help teams win some championships.

There are three teams with both a tough overall and playoff schedule for tight ends. The Commanders, Chiefs and Rams all make both lists. This is especially concerning for Ertz. We might just steer clear of him come draft day.

Kelce isn’t too big of a concern because of his track record. We think he can continue to get it done and help fantasy teams win some big games down the stretch.

The Rams options have some question marks and could spilt work, so like Ertz, you might just want to let someone else deal with it. And this is especially true because of a tough playoff schedule for these tight ends.

The team with the toughest playoff schedule for tight ends is Minnesota. T.J. Hockenson was returning from injury last year and wasn’t a huge factor for fantasy teams. He is healthy now, though, and ready for a big third year. The big concern for him is first-year starter J.J. McCarthy. He is a bit of an unknown at this point. Hockenson is going to carry some risk because of that and a tough playoff schedule.

The top tight end in fantasy, Brock Bowers, has the third hardest playoff schedule. This isn’t great to hear, but you can’t count out Bowers to continue to produce big. He plays more like a receiver than tight end and is going to get a huge amount of targets on a weekly basis. This isn’t a huge red flag for us.

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 [email protected]. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffpaur.

Tight End Strength of Schedule

The Paur Report