These Teams Have the HARDEST Strength of Schedule in 2026!
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
24 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 3, 2026
Published
Wed, June 3, 2026
7
Player insights
2
Players mentioned
Topics
De'Von AchaneJames Cook
Player analysis
Player insights
De'Von Achane
NegativeProjection0:20
Achane faces significant risk due to Miami's expected bottom-three finish and back-loaded difficult schedule in the final five weeks, which could lead to rest and reduced touches if the team secures the number one pick.
Insight pageNegativeInjury0:21
Late-season injury risk (ankle, knee, hamstring) could lead to rest if Miami secures the number one pick, as the team may prioritize draft positioning over playing time.
Insight pageNegativeValue0:22
Achane should not be drafted at the tail end of round one in redraft leagues due to the combination of team dysfunction, rest risk, and reduced offensive scheme fit.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:22
Despite concerns, Achane remains capable of explosive performances when on the field, as he is the only offensive talent Miami will feature in their offense.
Insight pageNegativeValue0:23
In redraft leagues, Achane should be faded entirely, though on Underdog (spike-week dependent formats) he warrants below-weight consideration due to potential for weekly explosiveness.
Insight pageJames Cook
NegativeValue0:22
Cook should not be drafted at the tail end of round one in redraft leagues, similar to Achane, due to schedule and team context concerns.
Insight pageNegativeValue0:23
Cook should be faded in redraft leagues but can be considered below-weight on Underdog due to spike-week dependent scoring potential.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00What's going on, guys? It's Nick here, back with another video. Last week we did the easiest schedules, this week the hardest schedules. And the team with the
0:07most difficult schedule this season is the Carolina Panthers. They only get three dome games all season, which is a little bit brutal because the minimum
0:15they can possibly have is of course two because they play in the same division as the Falcons and the Saints, so
0:20they're always going to have two. So, only get one uh and that non-divisional dome game is at Minnesota, unfortunately for them. And Minnesota has an
0:31incredible defense, a very confusing defense, not a game you're expecting the Panthers to do amazing in on offense.
0:38They also, very unfortunately for them, play the Seahawks championship weekend, so we're not going to have good projections championship weekend for the
0:46Panthers players if you're lucky enough to make it that far. Uh but yeah, really their entire schedule is just really difficult top-to-bottom. Um in terms of
0:55like positive matchups, they do get those four divisional games. So, that is the one positive thing in this division is there's a lot of like not that great
1:03teams or at least not amazing defenses and some teams that again play in a dome. So, they've got four matchups against, you know, two for the Falcons,
1:11two for the Saints.
1:13Two of those of of four are going to be in the dome. Um those are going to be positive matchups, decent spots there.
1:19Uh maybe at Cleveland, you never know weather for Cleveland, but maybe at Cleveland because that's obviously a very winnable game, a game they should
1:25win. Uh and then maybe versus the Bengals. I think that one is the first week of the fantasy playoffs, but it's
1:31either week 14 or 15. I'm pretty sure it's week 15. So, those are good spots, but that's not very many games. So, we're saying that's
1:38a good spot. Uh and other than that, aside from those games, they play the Bucks twice, they play the Bears, the
1:45Lions, Eagles, Packers, Broncos, Ravens, Vikings, Steelers, and Seahawks. That is brutal. There are very few matchups in
1:56there where you're going to be looking at this from the Panthers perspective, me and like, yep, I'm expecting a positive game script, I'm expecting the
2:03offense to do great. No, that's a really brutal stretch. Um I know Bryce Young took a step forward last season, but my goodness, like I don't know how
2:12you feel good about the Panthers in this spot in these spots. And also about Bryce Young, I mean, he took a step
2:18forward last season, but it's not like he went out there and was some like top 10 quarterback. He's still at best a
2:24league average quarterback, at worst we've seen him completely fall apart when playing good teams, and that's why I'm a little bit extra concerned with
2:34the Panthers is that like we've seen Bryce Young play really well against neutral opponents, against bad teams, and he's put together some stretches
2:43where he's looked pretty good.
2:44But we all know he has it in him when he plays some really difficult opponents, when they fall behind, and they become
2:50really predictable to not play very well. And if that's happening a lot this season, that's not great. And especially worries me about Chuba, I don't think
2:58I'm as concerned about Teague. Of course, Teague has the higher ADP to overcome, right? You got to take Teague in round three, kind of at that like
3:06round three, four turn, and I think that's completely fine. I've been drafting that on Underdog. I just think maybe we don't reach for Teague this
3:15season. Um maybe it's a reason why Raheem Blackshear isn't some like screaming breakout, but the biggest thing is it gives me pause on Chuba.
3:24I'll mention this a few times in this video, but typically bad schedules are bad when you have unknowns at quarterback or known
3:32mediocre quarterback play, and it's bad for running backs because running backs need that positive game script, especially when they're not like
3:40prolific pass catchers, and Chuba is not a prolific pass catcher. We also know he's not the featured running back.
3:47They're going to have other running backs mixing in, especially if Jonathan Brooks can stay healthy. And so, if they're losing a lot more than expected,
3:55they're not scoring as much because, you know, when you fall behind, the other team can play slower, can reduce the plays, and the Panthers are not an
4:03offense that's built to come from behind every single week. They're kind of built to hopefully gain a lead and play conservatively. Uh, they don't want
4:11Bryce Young pushing the ball deep down field. So, I'm just concerned with the offense. Top to bottom, it's going to be
4:17a very difficult match-up. So, again, fine with Tepper, fine with Kocur late because he he doesn't cost you very much. And I'm fine with Jonathan Brooks
4:26as well if you want to bet on that talent uh in like the double-digit rounds, but I don't think I'd be going
4:31after Chuba Hubbard this season. I would not really be drafting Bryce Young uh and I wouldn't be reaching on anyone.
4:36I'd take the Panthers offense if they become a value, a good pick, best in the board, not an offense I want to be
4:42over-investing in this season.
4:44And also, again, championship weekend.
4:46That's probably the the really screaming one there is if you're lucky enough to make it that far, do you want to be
4:52going up against the Seahawks? No, you don't. Uh, team with the second hardest schedule this season is the Arizona Cardinals. We did talk about them in the
5:00last video, so I won't repeat too many of those points, but TLDR on that one is they do actually have the second best
5:07playoff schedule. And so, if you've got these players and you do make it to the fantasy playoffs, you've got home versus
5:13the Jets, you've got at the Saints. That should be a shootout. Uh, and then you've got home versus the Raiders.
5:17Those are three winnable games. I say that, you know, with a tone because I don't know how much they're going to want to be winning
5:27late in the season. So, you'd almost wish I mean, I don't want to say you you don't wish that those happen in the
5:31fantasy playoffs because you do. You want the good match-ups in the fantasy playoffs. But that's the time of year where if they're alive for the number
5:38one pick, do we think they're benching guys? Like, you know, what if Tremaine McBride has a little bit of an ankle
5:44injury, right? Uh, Love has a little bit of an ankle injury. Like, something happens where they're like, "Mm, we're going to hold them out a little longer
5:51than maybe we should cuz they can easily say, well, we're planning for the future. We're obviously out of the playoffs." You know, they can't say
5:57they're tanking, but if you're tanking and your best players are young and have minor injuries, you're much more likely to hold them out than if you're on like
6:05the Lions and they're fighting for playoff seating, those guys will be out there and heavily involved. So, it's just a little bit of a risk in that
6:14regard. Um but again, three home games in the fantasy playoffs, three opponents they can be They're probably not going to beat the Saints, but three opponents
6:21they can put up a fight against.
6:24Unfortunately, the rest of their schedule is by far the worst. So, if you remove the fantasy playoffs, you look at just the regular
6:32season for fantasy, by far the worst schedule among all teams. They truly only get three good matchups. It's week four at the Giants, week eight at the
6:43Cowboys, week 12 at the Commanders. So, their three best games are actually road games.
6:48Um other than those three, they play the Seahawks and the Rams twice. That's horrible, right? Those are going to be awful matchups for this offense. They
6:56play the Chargers, the 49ers, the Lions, the Broncos, the Chiefs, the Eagles, like and you have that with you know, a
7:04quarterback rotation that's going to be like Brissett, Carson Beck, maybe Minshew mixed in. My guess is it's only Brissett and Carson Beck, but that's not
7:12great. So, personally, I'm full fading Trey McBride this season at a mid-second round ADP. If on Underdog he falls to like the late third round, I'll take
7:24some shots.
7:25If you're in a league where people go very running back heavy and we get also kind of a mid-to-late third round on
7:32Trey McBride in redraft league, I'll be fine there. The vast majority of times, he will not be doing that and so I will
7:38not be taking him.
7:39I love Bowers and I love Loveland this season. So, if you want to go with an early tight end build, draft those two,
7:47especially Loveland. You can wait two extra rounds and take him. But, we will get to the Bears. They do have a tough
7:53schedule. They'll be at the end of this video. Uh but, I would still, even factoring that in, wait two rounds and
7:57draft Loveland. Don't draft Trey McBride this season. I also really haven't drafting a ton of Jeremiah Love. I've drafted a little bit of him, but running
8:06backs again are most impacted by the strength of schedule issues. And I have that concern. Like, they're not going to ride Jeremiah Love into the ground in
8:14the final three weeks if they're live for the number one pick in the draft, right? They need the quarterback of the
8:18future, and that's probably going to be the number one pick of the draft. So, I I really just I'm a little bit concerned
8:25there, and I'm concerned that if they're losing all these games, they have other running backs that are talented that they can use. He's clearly the best, but
8:32they have other backs that they can give targets to, other backs that they can use on the ground to where they don't
8:38need to just run him into the ground in his season. And when you think about it, like, this is inarguably a bottom three
8:44team, right? So, the team with the lowest win total, no one is going to argue that the Cardinals are going to be like a 10-win
8:50team this season. They're bad. They're going to be bad this year. Um when you say that with a brutal schedule and all these unknowns of who the
8:57quarterback is going to be, look at how many mouths they actually have to feed.
9:01Love, McBride, Moore, Michael Wilson. I mean, this team has two players going in round two. And they're the lowest win total team
9:13among all teams. Like, it does like it's kind of weird to think about. It's like it's almost like you look at the first
9:17two rounds, and the team with the most draft capital is the team that's projected to be the worst in the NFL
9:23this season. So, it's kind of crazy to think about that way. Uh but, yeah, just don't be over investing in this team.
9:29The schedule's concerning, and it opens up in the fantasy playoffs, but will they be trying to win at that point?
9:35Probably not.
9:36Team with the third hardest schedule is the Buffalo Bills. Uh they actually have the hardest opening schedule. So, this is a team we're looking at it saying,
9:45"Okay, the Bills are going to be good."
9:47And I would not be full fading the Buffalo Bills, right? That's crazy talk.
9:50But, do you maybe not draft them and know that they open the schedule with really, really difficult matchups and that we
9:59might be talking about these players in weeks three, four, five in the trade video? You never want your players showing up in the trade video early in
10:07the season, especially for players we're targeting because that means we like them long-term. They have or I probably had decent draft capital, but they're
10:14underperforming to start the season. You don't want that to happen, especially when you have to be starting these guys early on. Um and I do think the schedule
10:22is mostly going to impact James Cook. I don't know that like they open up um at Houston. So, that's going to impact everyone, right? Josh
10:30Allen's going to have a probably his worst projection of the season. We're not going to be pumped about DJ Moore.
10:35You're going to have to be like starting these guys, starting James Cook, but you're going to have to understand that they're probably not going to have that
10:41good of games. Um but it doesn't like get easy for a while. I mean, they start off at Houston. Um they have three
10:49straight home games, that's nice, but it's against the Lions, the Chargers, and the Patriots. And then they play at the Rams. So, they go through week five
10:58hoping to be three and two, maybe being two and three if they get unlucky, one and four, and that's just very much not
11:05ideal.
11:06You think about that from James Cook's perspective and you're like, "Oh, won't he have a lot of receptions, a lot of
11:12receiving yards?"
11:14It's kind of weird, but like no. So, he just is not that involved in the receiving game when they're losing. Um
11:20he does really well when they're winning overall. He gets, you know, 100 yards, he gets a touchdown or two.
11:25Uh in the five games that the Bills lost last season, James Cook had receiving yardage totals of 0, 0, 24, 13, and 3.
11:36And it was the exact same thing the the year before, right? They lost four games in 2024. He had receiving yardage totals
11:42of 9, 17, 9, and 0. So, if there's a chance that they're picking up three or even four losses in these first five
11:52weeks, James Cook is not going to start very good. And these are difficult teams to where it's like even if they end up
11:58winning, they might win some of these games by like, you know, one to five points.
12:03That's also probably not going to produce very amazing numbers for James Cook. James Cook needs them to dominate.
12:08And he's great in fantasy, great in Underdog because when they go in as like a touchdown home favorite, my goodness, you're expecting a buck 20 and a
12:17touchdown or two.
12:19Problem is it seems like there's going to be a lot fewer of those games this season just because the schedule is
12:23difficult, and it's just because it's front-loaded. All those matchups are really tough to start the year. And so, with James Cook going 10 overall, like
12:31that's the cornerstone of your team.
12:33That is your first pick. There's a bunch of very good players on the board at that point. I'm just a little bit
12:38hesitant. So, it's on Underdog, it hurts you a little bit less because you don't really care too much that it's opening
12:44schedule and you can't like trade or anything. So, I don't want to full fade him there. I'm probably going to be
12:48underweight. But in a redraft league especially, if I'm in my main league, I don't know how much I want to be
12:53drafting him in the the tail end of round one, I think I'd wait, say, "Okay, hope that he starts the season as like the running
13:01back 15 to 20 over the first like, you know, three to four weeks." And then hope that you can start sending trade
13:07offers being like, "Ah, man, you know, James Cook not as involved this season.
13:11The touchdowns aren't there. Doesn't look as good." Knowing that he's probably going to, you know, increase in value after the first month, month and a
13:17half of the season.
13:19But I don't want to be taking those losses early on if James Cook does start a little bit slow. Um not worried about
13:25uh Josh Allen. He's viable in round three. It depends on your personal strategy. I do think um those like round like five, six, seven quarterbacks are
13:34just a little bit of a better value this season than round three Josh Allen, but you know, if you're especially in a
13:40league where you know you're going to be doing really well, um your league mates are maybe not as competitive and you're
13:46like, I just want to lock up the top quarterback in round three, go for it.
13:48I'm not concerned about the schedule in that regard. And if you like DJ Moore, um you think he's still got some juice
13:53left in him, and you want to be going after him in like that round five range, that's fine as well. Uh personally, I
13:59think the most appealing player is Josh Allen, and I don't know that I'd be overweight anyone else on Buffalo. Uh they just historically spread the ball
14:06around too much. Uh and the schedule opposite.
14:10Next team, fourth hardest schedule. Um hurts my soul. And I alluded to this before, um but I'm probably just going to bury my head in the sand and ignore
14:18the schedule here, but it's the Chicago Bears. They do have a very difficult schedule this season.
14:23Um Only two dome games, that's not great.
14:26It's at the Falcons in week six, at the Lions in week 12. Uh their fantasy playoff schedule, brutal. At Buffalo, home versus the Packers, home versus the
14:38Lions. I will say that game could be epic. So, if we get week 17 home versus the Lions, and that has any sort of
14:47playoff implications, whether they're I mean, crossing my fingers they're fighting for the number one seed, or like fighting for like the, you know,
14:53top seed uh in their division. Um but if both teams need to win to move up in the division, to to make the wild card,
15:03something like that, oh my goodness, that could be amazing game if we can also get good weather. Because that's the other thing here. You got at
15:11Buffalo, and then two games in Chicago in mid to late Jan in mid to late December and into January for that last
15:19game. That is not exactly the most like stable weather spots, Buffalo and Chicago in late December and early January. So, we could very easily get
15:29three straight games in the fantasy playoffs where they're playing difficult opponents. They're not necessarily going to drop 30, and we've got like 25° and
15:39windy or rainy or snowy and stuff like that. So, there's concern.
15:44But, um it's it's Chicago. And so, I it's like Ben Johnson is so good. Some of these skill players are so good that
15:51I can't full fade him uh full fade them.
15:54But, also you look beyond just the playoff schedule, and it's like some of these out-of-division games are really tough, too. They've got the Eagles, the
16:00Patriots, the Seahawks, the Jaguars. I already mentioned that at Buffalo game in the first round of the fantasy playoffs. So, it's concerning, and I get
16:07that. But, Ben Johnson is an offensive mastermind. Um I think Odunze and uh Burden are just really, really good talents. Um I would say still probably
16:18prospect for Burden just because he was so limited season and what they gave him, but he was so good on that limited
16:24sample. And I can guarantee you he's going to be a much more involved player on their offense this season. And I
16:31genuinely think there's a legitimate case to saying that Loveland should be picked over Trey McBride. And with a two-round difference, obviously the
16:38better pick is uh Loveland in round four versus McBride in the middle of round two, right? I think that's very obvious to say. Um
16:47because especially like draft strategy-wise, if you took Loveland in round four, well, the optimal start this season is probably two running backs and
16:54a receiver. You do that, you lock in your two running backs, you still get someone who can be a wide receiver one,
16:59and then you add on uh Colson Loveland who who could be the number one. He could easily be the number one tight end in
17:05all fantasy this season. So, I definitely like going there. Uh and I'll go back to what I kind of said in the
17:11Bryce Young section to start the video.
17:14Schedule and having really tough opponents is a lot more of a concern if you have Bryce Young as your quarterback or you have a combination of Jacoby
17:23Brissett and Carson Beck than is if you have Josh Allen. It is if your offensive coordinator is Ben Johnson. It also
17:32concerns me a lot more for running backs because we have all the data in the world to tell us that teams that
17:40win more have their running backs perform better in fantasy. It's not the running backs causing the winning, it's the winning causing a positive game
17:48script giving more of a workload to running backs because running backs are very volume driven.
17:53So, if you have a team that is not performing as well as expectations, their running backs are probably also underperforming expectations. Uh not
18:02necessarily the wide receivers and tight ends. You'd still prefer a good schedule for wide receiver and tight end, uh but it's not as bad as it is for running
18:10backs. So, tough schedule, um but I think it's more reason to just like not reach on Jahmyr Gibbs and De'Andre Swift, Zamir White,
18:17they're also probably going to split the workload. So, they're not two I'd really be going after. It is really just do not
18:23be full fading Adunze Burdin Loveland.
18:25Like in my main league, I would want one of them. I wouldn't draft two. I wouldn't want to over invest in those
18:31early rounds, but I would draft one of Adunze Burdin Loveland. Whichever one your favorite is at cost, I would order it Loveland first as a mid-fourth round
18:39pick, then Adunze at that like five-six turn, and then Burdin at that like four-five turn because believe it or not, he is going around earlier than
18:47Adunze. Um again, poor strength of schedule, it's it's more of an issue for running backs than pass catchers. That's how I'd order
18:54it. And in my main league, I would want one of them, just not multiple. And for Caleb, I think he's fine. I think he
19:00deserves to go in that general range that he is, that like five through seven range where all those like quarterback two through six maybe
19:10are all going. I think he deserves to be in that range. Where exactly he's ranked there is all a personal preference.
19:16They're all probably in your league going to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back, just depending on when the quarterback run starts. Um I would say, my gut says
19:24I would still take Lamar over him. Uh I would still take Drake Maye over him, and I would probably take Jayden Daniels
19:30over him as well. Uh but when we're talking about like Caleb versus Joe Burrow versus Jalen Hurts, I think that's all like kind of mixed together
19:39there. And I don't think the schedule should make too much of a difference because he has Ben Johnson as his uh play caller.
19:46So, uh lastly I want to go over is the Dolphins. They don't have the fifth toughest. I think it's the Cowboys with
19:52the toughest. I just skipped over them because, hey, it's the Cowboys. I wouldn't really fade them uh for really any reason schedule-wise. Uh and I
19:59wanted to talk more about the Dolphins because they have the sixth toughest schedule, but I think they're extra notable because it's also very
20:07back-loaded for that difficulty. They have the toughest schedule over the last five weeks of the season, and I think like with uh Arizona, everyone can agree
20:18that Miami is going to be a bottom-three team this season. So, they are absolutely live to look at these last five weeks, be like, "Wait a minute. We
20:28currently have the number one pick in the draft. I don't know. We're probably going to lose these games. Do we rest
20:35Achane? Do we look in a different direction uh for for, you know, this offense? And think about who else they have.
20:42Can you? Like truly. Like do you feel like they're so bad? Like look at their tight ends, their wide receivers.
20:48Nothing. There's absolutely nothing you want in fantasy. So, it's literally only Malik Willis and Devon Achane are the only two players you'd really consider
20:57drafting in most redraft leagues.
21:00But you have Mike McDaniel gone. He's now with the Chargers. They replaced him with Bobby Slowik who uh was their passing game coordinator last season,
21:08was the offensive coordinator for the Texans uh the two years before that.
21:13I don't know. This just screams risk.
21:15Like you change the quarterback to someone who doesn't dump off a lot because we know hypermobile quarterbacks like Malik Willis do not dump off the
21:22running back position nearly as often.
21:23They'll just scramble instead of doing that. So, you reduce that a lot. You take away Mike McDaniel and you say, "Okay, so all these schemed up screen
21:32passes, which it seemed like Achane was getting like four or five however every week, are those going to be there anymore?" Um this offense is not going
21:40to play very fast. They're going to be very run heavy, and that's fine for Achane, but do we think he's going to
21:48get a million carries? I don't know. If they're losing all these games, that's not good. And there's always that risk.
21:55You get late in the season, Achane has a little bit of an ankle, a little bit of a knee, a little bit of a hamstring
22:00that's not too much of a concern. It's something he maybe plays through if they aren't live for number one seed. But
22:07when you have the last five weeks of at the Broncos versus the Bears at the Packers versus the Chargers and versus
22:13the Bills, they're going to lose all of those games even if they play Malik Willis and Achane. And if they've got
22:20the number one pick locked up, there's just some rest of they look at this and they're like, "Why would we give Achane
22:2517 to 20 touches? Just give him like 13 opportunities, mix some other guys in, and look let's go get our quarterback
22:32number one overall." So, I'm not going to full fade Achane because he is a player that anytime he steps onto the
22:38football field can have 200 yards and three touchdowns. And when he is the only offensive player that has any sort of talent, they're going to feature the
22:46offense around him. So, I'm not going to full fade him.
22:49But it costs you a round one pick.
22:51Like it kind of like the round one two turn.
22:53I wouldn't do that in my main league.
22:56So, I don't think I would draft James Cook. I don't think I would draft Achane at the tail end of round one in my main
23:01league. On Underdog, where it's very spiked week dependent and he could go off in any matchup, I would not full fade him, but I would be below weight on
23:08Achane. I'd be below weight on James Cook on Underdog, and again, I would fade both of them in my main redraft
23:14league. So, uh those are the teams with the worst schedules this season. You can see all of the data like sorting as
23:20well. You can sort by playoff schedules.
23:22You could sort by weeks 11 through 14 if you really felt like sorting by that on my website thefantasyfootballadvice.com.
23:29And I've got a ton of free content over there as well. Free mock drafting tool this season, a bunch of free data that I
23:36uploaded the other day around red zone stats, efficiency metrics, uh usage data, whole lot more. You want to know which team targets the tight end
23:46position the most often last year, go for it. Um all of that again free on my website thefantasyfootballadvice.com.
23:54All right, that's it for this one. Thank you all for watching and I'll catch you all on the next one.
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