Fantasy News & Analysis

Premium Content Sign Up

2021 Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: How to take advantage of early season strength of schedule

Kansas City, MO, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) gestures at the line against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a right way and a wrong way to approach strength of schedule in fantasy football.

The backward approach is copying and pasting last year’s fantasy football points scored against for every defense, as teams are different from last season. The forward-looking approach is leveraging PFF’s strength of schedule tool, which considers each team’s current 2021 roster to provide exploitable matchup information that is extremely vital for fantasy drafters. Starting the season fast with players in favorable matchups will serve you well in a run at your league’s championship.


Click here for more PFF tools:

Fantasy Draft Kit | PFF Betting Dashboard | PFF Fantasy Rankings
PFF Fantasy Projections | NFL Premium Stats | Win Totals Tracker


The following early strength of schedule (SOS) guide goes through each position to identify the players with the easiest matchups to open the 2021 season while also calling out players who might start the season sluggish due to tougher matchups. SOS is also a great tool to use as a tie-breaker between two closely ranked players. 

Combine this with my perfect draft strategy guide and tiered rankings, and you’ll come away from your draft with a super team ready to come out of the gates guns blazing. 

QUARTERBACKS

Those looking to fade Josh Allen (my No.2-ranked quarterback) will be sorry because no quarterback has a more favorable schedule through the first five weeks than the Buffalo Bills signal-caller. Fantasy gamers should be looking to draft any and all parts of this elite passing attack because all indications are that they are dead set on passing as frequently as possible. 

In Allen’s lone preseason action, the team passed on 85% of its total plays. Starting running back Devin Singletary played 15 snaps and had zero carries. Woof. 

DOMINATE FANTASY FOOTBALL & BETTING WITH AI-POWERED DATA & TOOLS TRUSTED BY ALL 32

Unlimited Fantasy League Sync
Fantasy Start/Sit Line-Up Optimizer & Waiver Wire
WR-CB & OL-DL Matchups, PFF Player Grades, & Premium Stats 2.0 Tools
Nathan Jahnkes Rankings - #1 Most Accurate Last 70 Weeks
PFF Best Bets, Player Props, & Power Ranking Tools
NFL Mock Draft Sim with Trades & Draft Grades

Already have a subscription? Log In

Subscriptions

Unlock the 2023 Fantasy Draft Kit, with League Sync, Live Draft Assistant, PFF Grades & Data Platform that powers all 32 Pro Teams

$31 Draft Kit Fee + $8.99/mo
OR
$89.88/yr + FREE Draft Kit