Fantasy Football Strength Of Schedule: Trey McBride Has Favorable Matchups Among Tight Ends

Michael Fabiano | May 13, 2025

Cardinals TE Trey McBride finished second in fantasy points among tight ends last season. / Joe Rondone / The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The National Football League has a strength of schedule formula that's easy to understand ... take the opponents' records from the previous season, add up the wins and losses and calculate a percentage for all its upcoming opponents.

In the world of fantasy football, we use a similar method. Instead of using team records, we use the number of fantasy points allowed (FPA) by a defense the previous season against a single offensive skill position.

For example, the Cincinnati Bengals allowed an average of 16.6 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends last season. So, any tight end to face the Bengals in the new campaign is “rewarded” 16.6 points. The more points a tight end has compiled based on their upcoming opponents, divisional and otherwise, the easier the projected schedule.

As you can see from the list below, the difference between the easiest schedule and the most difficult isn’t significant. In fact, I’ve said myself that strength of schedule analysis can be heavily flawed because one season can be vastly different than the next. A great example of this is the Denver Broncos. After allowing an average of 15.7 fantasy points per game to tight ends in 2023, their defense allowed just 11.9 points per game in 2024.

So, a Broncos defense that was seen as a plus matchup for tight ends in terms of their 2024 strength of schedule projections was ultimately incorrect when used as a draft tool.

While flawed, this data is at the very least fun to look at from an informational standpoint. It can also be a useful tool in making decisions between non-elite players with similar value. Jonnu Smith and Tucker Kraft, for example, will be listed in close proximity in most TE rank lists, but Smith gets a slight edge in value since his schedule is easier between the two.

Note: Players listed are the projected best fantasy players on each NFL team.

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Fantasy Football Tight End Strength of Schedule

RK	Player	Team
1	Mark Andrews	BAL
2	Mason Taylor	NYJ
3	Hunter Henry	NE
4	David Njoku	CLE
5	Dalton Schultz	HOU
6	Jonnu Smith	MIA
7	Chigoziem Okonkwo	TEN
8	Dalton Kincaid	BUF
9	Pat Freiermuth	PIT
10	Trey McBride	ARI
11	Brenton Strange	JAC
12	Sam LaPorta	DET
13	Will Dissly	LAC
14	Kyle Pitts	ATL
15	Evan Engram	DEN
16	Mike Gesicki	CIN
17	George Kittle	SF
18	Noah Fant	SEA
19	Tyler Warren	IND
20	Juwan Johnson	NO
21	Ja'Tavion Sanders	CAR
22	Dallas Goedert	PHI
23	Brock Bowers	LV
24	Travis Kelce	KC
25	Colston Loveland	CHI
26	Cade Otton	TB
27	T.J. Hockenson	MIN
28	Tucker Kraft	GB
29	Tyler Higbee	LAR
30	Zach Ertz	WAS
31	Jake Ferguson	DAL
32	Thoe Johnson	NYG