Wide receivers with the easiest, most difficult strength of schedule for fantasy football playoffs

Hello fantasy footballers! Today we will look at wide receiver strength of schedule for the fantasy playoffs. Hopefully these numbers will help us make some trades or pickups that might help us navigate our playoffs.

For this endeavor, we’ll look at Weeks 14, 15, 16. Those are the most prominent weeks for most leagues, but your mileage may vary. We’ll be using Football Outsider’s defensive DVOA and Adjusted Fantasy Points allowed by position to gauge which wide receivers should have the easiest and toughest matchups in your quest for a championship.

Below we have a chart with matchups for Week 14-16 based on fantasy points allowed per game to quarterbacks on the left and pass defense DVOA from Football Outsiders on the right. Both stats have merit in evaluating matchups, but I will highlight a few where the two stats mesh and meet the eye test.

Easy WR playoff schedules

Los Angeles Rams WRs

Playoff schedule: NE, NYJ, @SEA

The Rams are stacked at wide receiver with three fantasy options in Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Josh Reynolds. Their strength will take on three weaker pass defenses in the fantasy playoffs. The Jets and Seahawks are obvious smash spots for this group, but even the Patriots rank 19th in adjusted .5 PPR fantasy points allowed to receivers while ranking 31st in DVOA against the pass in general.

Chicago Bears WRs

Playoff schedule: HOU, @MIN, @JAX

Allen Robinson is the only receiver you can count on in Chicago, but with his fantasy playoff schedule, you can count on him even more so this season. Plus, we can expect good weather in Jacksonville and of course in the dome in Minnesota.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers WRs

Playoff schedule: MIN, @ATL, @DET

The Buccaneers have three fantasy relevant receivers who all will get good matchups in the fantasy playoffs. We’ve seen the Buccaneers passing game show inconsistencies, but it has been mostly good in better matchups. It is tougher to pick the best receivers from the group each week with Antonio Brown in the mix, but in these matchups I expect they’ll all come out with better numbers than their average.

Tough WR playoff schedules

Carolina Panthers WRs

Playoff schedule: DEN, @GB, @WSH

None of the three teams the Panthers face in the fantasy playoffs rank worse than 11th against wide receivers in .5 PPR fantasy points leagues. When looking at DVOA against the pass, the Packers are the only team that isn’t in the Top 8. And they have one of, if not the best cornerbacks in the league in Jaire Alexander.

Las Vegas Raiders WRs

Playoff schedule: IND, LAC, MIA

The Raiders have Nelson Agholor, Henry Ruggs and Hunter Renfrow at wide receiver. None have been especially consistent, but Agholor has been their top touchdown receiver. These matchups should keep you from chasing after any of the Raiders passing game pieces for a fantasy playoffs boost.

Jacksonville Jaguars WRs

Playoff schedule: TEN, @BAL, CHI

The Jaguars have some interesting wide receivers and sometimes they are worth starting in fantasy. So far, D.J. Chark and Keelan Cole have been the top receivers of the group and have been worth starting at times, but I’m not too keen on them against the Bears or Ravens in the playoffs.