Fantasy Football Players to Target/Avoid Based on Remaining Strength of Schedule: Najee Harris, CeeDee Lamb, Will Levis, Travis Kelce and More

Some fantasy football owners are all about playing their best players every week. Others love to play matchups.

This story is for all you matchup lovers out there. We’re going to use the FantasySP Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule page to point out a couple players with tough/easy remaining schedules. Of course, we are just five weeks into the season, and opposing defenses can improve/decline over the course of the year, but this is how things stand right now.

These can be used to buy a player low, or sell someone high, among many other things. Let’s get right to it!

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Running Backs

Only one team’s running backs have an A+ on the strength of schedule page. It’s the New York Jets.

New York is led by Breece Hall, who has had a down season to this point. This could be the ultimate buy low situation with Hall given his play so far and schedule ahead. 

The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday, which could also put more emphasis on Hall, and the team’s other offensive playmakers. That might bring the asking price on Hall a bit up, but after his slow start, a lot of fantasy owners are ready to give up on Hall.

It’s also worth mentioning backup Braelon Allen, who has done some nice things in his rookie season. If Hall ever goes down with an injury, Allen would likely become the team’s workhorse back and be a must-start fantasy player given all the favorable matchups.

There’s two teams with F grades - the Bears and Steelers.

D'Andre Swift is the lead back for the Bears, and is coming off a couple good showings in a row. This could be a perfect sell high time with him.

Roschon Johnson has also done enough to warrant some starts in deeper leagues. If Swift retains the lead role, the tougher matchups might mean Johnson isn’t the best starting option going forward, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Najee Harris has functioned as the Steelers’ workhorse this season as his running mate Jaylen Warren has been banged up. Harris hasn’t delivered exceptional results, but his workload is probably appealing to a bunch of fantasy owners. If you want to get the most out of Harris’ trade value, now is probably the time to make the move.

Wide Receivers

There are five teams with A+ ratings among wide receivers for easiest remaining schedules - Tennessee, Chicago, Dallas, New York Giants, Pittsburgh.

It’s a bit funny to see Pittsburgh and Chicago on here after just talking about selling high on their top running backs, but the numbers say what the numbers say.

Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb has had a bit of a slow start to the season, but greener pastures seem to await. I’m not sure many fantasy owners would trade Lamb away, but it doesn’t hurt to try acquiring him. 

New York’s Malik Nabers has been a fantasy star since week 1, with a concussion being the only thing that’s slowed him. With more favorable games ahead, fantasy owners should hold Nabers and enjoy his fantasy success.

George Pickens has experienced some mixed results as Pittsburgh’s top wideout this season. Things aren’t exactly great there with Justin Fields starting and Russell Wilson lurking, but the favorable schedule should give Pickens’ owners optimism as the season rolls along.

Tennessee has no clear top wideout between Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins. With a rough QB situation, it’s hard to believe too strongly in either receiver, but the favorable schedule might make them flex starting options on weeks when several teams are on byes.

D.J. Moore leads the Bears’ wideout room. He too has had some inconsistent results, but that favorable outlook ahead should ease fantasy owners minds a bit.

Dallas’ Jalen Tolbert and Brandin Cooks, Chicago’s Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze and New York’s Wan'Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton could all be streaming options going forward with a favorable schedule propping them up.

There’s three F grades among the receivers - Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Ja'Marr Chase is the biggest name amongst those three teams. He’s a top-end fantasy wideout though, so I can’t imagine too many fantasy owners are going to want to part with him. If you really play the matchups though, Chase might be a name to move.

Tee Higgins is another good fantasy option in Cincy. A tough schedule mixed with a couple down weeks might take him off the starting line in standard leagues. Higgins would be the Bengal wideout I’d try to trade instead of Chase.

Brian Thomas Jr. and Christian Kirk are the top wideouts for Jacksonville. Thomas has been good pretty much all season, while Kirk has come on of late. Both could be sold high right now if you don’t like their matchups moving forward.

Michael Pittman is the top Indy receiver, with Josh Downs and Alec Pierce also having some fantasy success this season. The trio has looked better when Joe Flacco has been throwing to them, so this is not exactly what fantasy owners of Pittman, Downs and Pierce wanted to see as Anthony Richardson nears a return.

Of the three teams with F grades for the wideouts, I’d most want to move the Indy receivers.

Quarterbacks

There’s one team that has an A+ rating for quarterbacks, and it’s Tennessee, who starts Will Levis when he’s healthy.

That definitely works in the favor of Levis, but if he cannot produce against some weaker pass defenses, there’s a chance he loses the starting role forever. 

The Lions, Vikings, Bengals, Seahawks, Jaguars and Bills all have F grades for their quarterbacks.

The biggest fantasy player in that bunch is Josh Allen, and I don’t think many fantasy owners are going to part with him. He’s already had some up-and-down performances, so his trade value isn’t as high as it normally would be.

Joe Burrow has been a good fantasy option this season. I’m also not as worried about him, but more so because the team’s running game isn’t great, so high volume passing numbers should still make Burrow an above-average fantasy option most weeks.

Jared Goff, Sam Darnold, Geno Smith and Trevor Lawrence are all streaming options, but apparently not set up to be very good ones over the rest of the season. These guys don’t have much trade value, but if you are looking for an every-week starting QB, you might want to look elsewhere. 

Tight Ends

The only NFL team with an A+ grade for its tight ends is Denver, which doesn’t have a clear No. 1 TE.

Adam Trautman has played the most snaps among the team’s tight ends, but Greg Dulcich has been the best pass catcher. Dulcich only has 28 yards on five catches and 12 targets, but maybe he or Trautman could become starting options with some favorable games ahead.

Several teams have F grades right now. A lot of that has to do with subpar TE play across the league. Instead of going over TEs in that F grade, I wanted to mention a few guys.

Sam LaPorta, Travis Kelce, Evan Engram, Mark Andrews/Isaiah Likely, Dalton Kincaid, Kyle Pitts and Dallas Goedert are among the TEs with F grades moving forward. Some of these guys could be sell high candidates, but given the position’s overall fantasy play this season, it probably makes more sense to hold them instead of trying to stream a starter every week.