2021 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule Analysis: Tight Ends

The success of a fantasy player has a lot that goes into it: overall skill, injury history, surrounding cast, coaching, etc. I am of firm belief more and more over the last few years that strength of schedule plays a significant role in how well a team and an individual fantasy football player performs.

This year I am digging into each position’s strength of schedule to see where there might be opportunity hidden underneath a rock. Below you will see the TE Strength of Schedule rankings. The methodology for this was – taking opposing team’s receiving yards, receptions up to 20 yards, & receiving TDs allowed from 2020—I then ran that data against each team’s 2021 schedule to come up with the easiest and toughest schedule for tight ends.

The Good

It will be a favorable season for the...

• Saints (Bills, Buccaneers x2, Falcons x2, Giants, Jets, Panthers x2, and Seahawks—all allowed a lot of receptions within 20 yards in 2020)
• Bills (Browns, Buccaneers, Giants, Jets x2, Raiders, Ravens, and Jaguars—all high on allowing receptions within 20 yards)
• As an additional note: the Raiders, Eagles, and Browns targeted their tight ends the most in 2020

The Bad

A difficult season is ahead in receiving yards for the...

• Bears (Facing the 49ers, Bengals, Steelers, and Vikings x2—all are strong in limiting passes within 20 yards)
• Browns (Bengals x2, Chargers, Chiefs, Steelers x2, Patriots and Vikings)
• Also note: the Panthers, Patriots, and Bills targeted their tight ends the least last year

In a Nutshell

The Schedule this year favors: Adam Trautman, Dawson Knox, Darren Waller
The schedule this year hurts: Cole Kmet, Austin Hooper, David Njoku, Dan Arnold