Looking at the three toughest fantasy football strength of schedules for the wide receiver position in 2025.
Nothing is worse in fantasy than drafting dud receivers. It always sucks to draft guys who get hurt early, but drafting receivers who put up low numbers all season is one of the worst feelings in fantasy football. With matchups always playing a huge part in receiver production, especially when the WRs with tough matchups aren’t “elite,” it’s important to avoid receiving corps that have some of the toughest fantasy football strength of schedules in the league.
This year, tough fantasy schedules bring in some interesting names and teams to avoid when drafting at the WR position. Keep reading for those, then read our best 150 fantasy football team names for the 2025 season!
Toughest WR Fantasy Football Strength of Schedules 2025
Baltimore Ravens (Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, DeAndre Hopkins)
This one admittedly hurt me to write, but there is just seemingly no upside in the wide receivers of the Baltimore Ravens this year. For starters, Baltimore faces the toughest fantasy football strength of schedule for receivers, which already puts their receiving corps behind the eight ball. On top of that, none of these players is dependable or reliable on a week-to-week basis. Zay Flowers finished as WR25 last year, but had just five weeks where he finished as WR20 or better. Rashod Bateman had his best finish last year as WR40, but that’s his only year of four that he finished better than WR65. As for Hopkins, he has now been four years removed from his “elite” status. Outside of a WR22 finish in 2023, he has finished as WR48, WR47, and WR45 since 2020.
Not only are the targets going to fluctuate with likely no consistency each week, but the trio will also have to fight with targets with tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. All in all, there are way too many factors at play, and fans have no clue how it will all shake out. While Bateman and Hopkins have relatively low ADPs, they are still nothing more than lottery picks at this stage in fantasy. As for Flowers, he is currently being drafted as WR25. Even if he perfectly matches last year, even with everything going against him, he’ll still only meet his ADP, making him a dangerous player to draft.
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Cleveland Browns (Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Diontae Johnson, Isaiah Bond)
With all the fanfare surrounding the Cleveland Browns with their decisions on the quarterback position, the good news is that we finally have some clarity with Joe Flacco being named the Week 1 starter. The bad news is that the Browns still don’t have a proven difference-maker at receiver and also have the second-toughest fantasy football strength of schedule for receivers. Jerry Jeudy appears to be the top receiver for the Browns this season and looked really good down the stretch last season with Joe Flacco at quarterback. After the Browns’ Week 10 bye week, Jeudy had six weeks with a WR20 finish or better, highlighted by a 235-yard performance in Week 13 against the Denver Broncos.
While Flacco is the starting quarterback for now, it would be foolish to believe this situation won’t be fluid as the season progresses depending on how the team performs. With tough matchups and likely problematic quarterback play on the horizon this season in Cleveland, putting much faith, if any, in the Browns’ receivers for fantasy is a bold move. While Jeudy could provide some value at his current ADP of WR33, he is also just as likely to provide little value as well. As for Tillman and Johnson, getting anything from them at all this year would be somewhat a miracle in itself without a massive shakeup of the Cleveland Browns organization.
Cincinnati Bengals (Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins)
Everybody knows that Ja’Marr Chase is an incredible talent who is almost impossible to stop. At the same time, everybody also knows that the margins in fantasy football are incredibly slim. While I’m not saying that Chase isn’t worthy of being an early pick this year, I am saying his fantasy schedule, along with the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive line, is enough reason that Chase should not be the first overall pick in your fantasy football leagues.
While it is important to note it’s only the preseason, the Bengals’ offensive line has already looked nightmarishly bad. Joe Burrow is already running for his life, and with some injury issues in the past, it isn’t out of the question to assume he gets banged up and misses time again this year. As previously stated, the margins in fantasy football are incredibly small. A problematic offensive line paired with one of the worst fantasy football strength of schedules for receivers should be enough to give owners some pause in whether or not to take Chase first overall.
There is no question that Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are going to have good seasons this year as long as they stay healthy. However, there are many factors that are going against them as well. As a result, while Chase and Higgins are elite talents, make sure you proceed with caution if you’re planning to buy Chase and Higgins at their WR1 and WR14 value, respectively.
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