The NFL Trade Deadline is in the books and your fantasy football trade deadline is quickly approaching. For many, every matchup is a must-win in order to make the playoffs. However, others are blessed with a solid record and can start looking towards the fantasy football strength of schedule for playoff matchups.
If you are in this position, you may start thinking about trading away players who have impossible matchups during your fantasy playoffs. On the flip side, you may be able to buy low on players who end the season with easier matchups. Below, we will take a look at the wide receivers who either have a great or terrible fantasy football strength of schedule during the playoffs.
For this article, we are considering the fantasy football playoffs to be Weeks 15-17. Hopefully, you are not in a league that plays during Week 18 (sounds like a nightmare).
If you like this article, check out my breakdown for other positions:
Fantasy Football WR Playoff Strength of Schedules
Before we jump into players you can target or trade away, whether as buy-low or sell-high trade opportunities, let’s take a look at the fantasy football strength of schedules for fantasy WRs in the playoffs (Weeks 15-17).
Hardest Fantasy Schedules
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New England Patriots
- Denver Broncos
Easiest Fantasy Schedules
- Chicago Bears
- New York Giants
- Carolina Panthers
We have the fantasy football strength of schedules broken down by position for all 32 teams. You can gain access to these stats at Buy Me A Coffee here! Additionally, you can gain access to other stats and perks there as well, so check it out!
I have also written up the strength of schedules for all 32 teams between Weeks 14-18 on FlurrySports! Get access to that fantasy football SoS data here!
These WRs Will WIN or LOSE Your Fantasy Football League
Gaining access to the full group of stats at the link above will help to position you to win a league championship. A big part of that is identifying the buy-low or sell-high players, if we’re treating fantasy like economics. The stats above help with this, and I will be listing some players that fit this below as well.
To assist in creating trades, I also publish my fantasy football trade value chart here every Friday (but I will try to get it up on Thursday this week). My rest-of-season rankings are published on Thursdays as well.
Buy-Low Targets | Fantasy Football Trades
DJ Moore, Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears just fired their offensive coordinator after veteran players voiced their opinions about him. I have a funny feeling that DJ Moore, the fantasy WR43 on a per-game basis, was one of these players. As the new play-caller comes in, the easy thing to do is get the best players the ball. The ball typically follows the money, and DJ Moore has the money. On top of that, he has one of the better fantasy playoff schedules.
Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans
While Calvin Ridley is coming off his best fantasy day of the season, I still think it’s worth trading for him, as long as you don’t have to overpay too much. Ridley is getting the ball more now that DeAndre Hopkins is gone, and the Tennessee Titans’ schedule shapes up great in Weeks 14-17: Jaguars, Bengals, Colts, then Jaguars again. TWO revenge games against a bad team? Sign me up.
Sell-High Targets | Fantasy Football Trades
Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
The time to trade Brian Thomas Jr. for fair value has likely faded away, but you should be looking to get what you can for the rookie WR. He began the year out-performing his actual value, scoring a bunch of touchdowns. So, his value was going to regress at some point. Now, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ fantasy football strength of schedule is tough and Trevor Lawrence may miss the rest of the season. There’s not much to love about BTJ right now.
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Let’s start this by saying that while the Cincinnati Bengals have one of the toughest WR strength of schedules in the fantasy football playoffs, you shouldn’t trade Ja’Marr Chase unless you get a haul back. And you might, after his record-breaking performance last week.
Instead, I think you should trade Tee Higgins, especially if your trade deadline is over a week away and he plays this week. His value will rise if he actually gets fantasy points. Not only is the playoff schedule not the best for fantasy, but Tee Higgins is looking out for himself right now, and rightfully so. After not getting a contract, Higgins is going to be sitting out if he feels like he potentially could injure himself further. If the Bengals are eliminated from playoff contention, then the risk of him sitting out rises even higher.
