The NFL has officially released the full 2025 schedule, which means we’re one step closer to the start of the regular season. Now that we’re in the middle of May, camps are just around the corner. In other words, football is back!
As a result, fantasy football discussions are ramping up, and everyone seems to be shifting into a fantasy mindset. But how does the NFL schedule truly affect your fantasy season? More specifically, does a tough schedule hurt some of the top-tier assets you’d usually draft without hesitation? Conversely, does a softer schedule make those same players even more valuable?
To explore this, I broke down the entire NFL schedule — all 512 games from Weeks 1 through 17 — and analyzed strength of schedule based on defensive rankings. Of course, some teams have players so talented that matchups barely matter. However, for others, their schedule could be the deciding factor in whether you draft them or not. Therefore, it’s worth digging into which situations could help or hurt your fantasy strategy.
Toughest Schedule – Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have the toughest schedule this season with the No. 1, regular season schedule, but a No. 10 playoff schedule. Combined, that brings them to the tip-top.
With 8 matchups against top 10 defenses in the league (@MIN, @DEN, DET, PIT, @PIT, @BAL, @BUF, and BAL), the Bengals will not have an easy walk in the park. The bright side is that in week 2, 12, and 17, they play bottom 10 teams!
Safe Players: QB Joe Burrow, WR Ja’Marr Chase, WR Tee Higgins
Cautionable Players: RB Chase Brown, TE Mike Gesicki
Avoidable Players: RB Zack Moss, RB Tahj Brooks, TE Tanner Hudson
Easiest Schedule – San Francisco 49ers
On the flip side of things, one of the league’s (usually) electric offenses has the easiest schedule! The San Francisco 49ers finish with the easiest overall schedule against team defenses. They have the No. 4 easiest regular season schedule and No. 1 easiest playoff schedule.
The 49ers ended up with just one game against a top-10 defense, and that’s in week 8 against the Houston Texans on the road. After that, they landed eight bottom-10 defenses on their schedule, five of which are at home (four of which are East Coast teams).
We know the team has struggled with injuries to key players over the last season or two. However, if this team is healthy, I am looking at this being a huge success for fantasy for the 49ers.
100% Draftable Players: QB Brock Purdy, RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Jauan Jennings, TE George Kittle
Safe Players: RB Isaac Guerendo, WR Brandon Aiyuk, WR Ricky Pearsall
Deep League Stashes: RB Jordan James, WR Jacob Cowing
Not So Easy Schedules
You must think, “What about the rest of the teams?” I got you covered still. I looked at the top 10 and bottom 10 of the rankings. Some of these teams have star-studded talent, so regardless of where they fall, they’ll still have elite talent you want to draft.
In order of toughest schedule (average rank of defense):
- Cincinnati Bengals (11.8)
- Detroit Lions (12.8)
- Baltimore Ravens (13.8)
- Cleveland Browns (13.8)
- New York Giants (14.1)
- Minnesota Vikings (14.1)
- Washington Commanders (14.1)
- Chicago Bears (14.2)
- Green Bay Packers (14.2)
- Dallas Cowboys (14.3)
The interesting thing about ranking schedules like this is that sometimes a team can have a great fantasy regular season, but a very bad playoff schedule and vice versa. For instance, the New York Giants have a very tough regular season schedule with six top-10 defenses (No. 1 Broncos and No. 2 Eagles twice). But, they have two bottom-ten defenses in the playoffs, making that a juicy playoff run.
The Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in similar boats with tough regular season schedules, but great playoff schedules. The most polarizing schedule belongs to the New England Patriots with the No. 2 easiest regular season schedule, but with matchups against Buffalo and Baltimore in the playoffs, it makes their playoff schedule the hardest in the NFL.
Let’s dive into each position and who you should look at when it comes to redraft season.
Fantasy Player Breakdown
Quarterbacks
- Safe QBs: Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Dak Prescott
- Cautionable QBs: Jared Goff, Russell Wilson, Caleb Williams
- Avoidable QBs: Cleveland QBs, Jameis Winston, Jaxson Dart
Running Backs
- Safe RBs: Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Derrick Henry
- Cautionable RBs: Chase Brown, Cleveland RBs, Tyrone Tracy, Cam Skattebo, Jordan Mason
- Avoidable RBs: Zack Moss, Tahj Brooks, Aaron Jones, Dallas RBs
Wide Receivers
- Safe WRs: Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Malik Nabers, Justin Jefferson, Terry McLaurin, DJ Moore, CeeDee Lamb
- Cautionable WRs: Jameson Williams, Zay Flowers, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jordan Addison, Deebo Samuel, Rome Odunze, Jayden Reed, George Pickens
- Avoidable WRs: Jerry Jeudy
Tight Ends
- Safe TEs: Sam LaPorta, Mark Andrews, TJ Hockenson
- Cautionable TEs: Mike Gesicki, David Njoku, Zach Ertz, Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, Tucker Kraft
- Avoidable TEs: Tanner Hudson, Isaiah Likely, Harold Fannin, Theo Johnson, Ben Sinnot, Jake Ferguson
Cakewalk Schedules
Nothing is ever a cakewalk in the NFL, but these schedules landed some of the easiest matchups in the NFL. Of the top 10, only one team has a tough schedule in the playoffs. Four of them landed top 10 schedules in the regular and fantasy playoffs. Here are the schedules:
- San Francisco 49ers (21.1) – Top 10 Regular/Playoffs
- Arizona Cardinals (20.2)
- New Orleans Saints (20.0) – Top 10 Regular/Playoffs
- Seattle Seahawks (19.8) – Top 10 Regular/Playoffs
- Atlanta Falcons (19.4)
- Carolina Panthers (19.1) – Top 10 Regular/Playoffs
- New York Jets (18.3)
- Denver Broncos (18.3)
- New England Patriots (18.1) – Toughest Playoff Schedule
- Houston Texans (18.1)
You might be looking at these teams and thinking about all of the fantasy talent that is there. I cannot stop you from drafting any of the starting weapons on those rosters! Maybe a caution toward the Texans rookie WRs and maybe even the Saints offense altogether, but these teams are looking good for the fantasy season.
