Knowing the intricacies of the NFL schedule can give you a significant edge in your fantasy football league. At Awesemo, we’ve developed a strength of schedule tool that provides projections throughout the season, including for the fantasy playoffs in Weeks 15 and 16. Let’s take a look at some tight ends who have particularly tough schedules during that span and discuss how that could impact their production. All projections are based on half point per reception scoring. Lets get into some fantasy football rankings downgrades at TE for the playoffs.
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Fantasy Football Rankings: TE Strength of Schedule Playoff Downgrades
Tyler Eifert, Jacksonville Jaguars
Eifert looked like one of the up-and-coming tight ends in the league after a 2015 season in which he caught 52 passes for 615 yards and a staggering 13 touchdowns with the Bengals. However, injuries would limit him to a total of 14 games across the next three seasons. He did manage to play all 16 games last year, but he only received 63 targets and finished with 436 receiving yards.
This will be the first time in his career that Eifert has played for a team other than the Bengals. He should slot in as the Jaguars’ top tight end, but at this stage of his career, his production is likely to remain limited. With that in mind, he’s projected to average 4.23 fantasy points per game for the season overall. That number takes a hit during the fantasy playoffs, dropping by 6% to a projected average of 3.98 points per contest. It doesn’t help his cause that the Jaguars have to play the Ravens in Week 15, who should once again have one of the top defenses in the league.
Blake Jarwin, Dallas Cowboys
Jarwin is one of the trendy breakout names at tight end heading into this season, and rightfully so. He now takes over as the team’s top tight end with Jason Witten departing for the Raiders. Despite being at the tail end of his career, Witten still received 83 targets for the Cowboys last season. Jarwin also had 41 targets of his own, converting them into 31 receptions, 365 yards and three touchdowns.
The Cowboys have an excellent quarterback in Dak Prescott, a stud running back in Ezekiel Elliott and a wide receiver trio that should be among the best in the league, so defenses likely won’t be focusing much of their attention on stopping Jarwin. He’s projected to average 6.82 fantasy points per game over the course of the season, which makes him Awesemo’s 13th-ranked tight end. However, that projection is expected to decrease by 5.38% to 6.45 points per contest in Weeks 15 and 16. His toughest matchup will come against the 49ers in Week 15, a team that allowed the second-fewest yards per game last season.
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Evan Engram, New York Giants
Engram came to the Giants with lofty expectations after being drafted in the first round in 2017. He immediately made an impact, posting 64 receptions, 722 yards and six touchdowns during his rookie campaign. However, injuries have limited him in the two subsequent seasons. He played in a career-low eight games last year because of a foot injury, which was a major disappointment considering he started the season with at least 110 receiving yards and a touchdown in two of the team’s first three games.
For the time being, Engram is healthy and he stands to benefit from Daniel Jones starting at quarterback. The Giants’ offense should be much more explosive in general, which could lead to more red zone targets for him. He’s projected to average 8.36 fantasy points per contest for the season, ranking him eighth among tight ends. On the downside, his average is projected to drop by 3.62% during the fantasy playoffs. The Giants don’t have a bad matchup against the Browns in Week 15, but trying to put up points on the road against the Ravens in Week 16 is likely going to be a tall order.
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