2026 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule — by Position

How it works

Each cell shows a team’s opponent for that week and that opponent’s points-allowed rank against the position you’ve selected. The formula is simple and fully disclosed: for every defense we total the fantasy points scored against it by opposing QBs, RBs, WRs, or TEs (in your chosen scoring format) and divide by games played — once for the 2025 regular season and once for 2026 so far. The two are then blended:

blended points per game = w × 2026 + (1 − w) × 2025, where w = 2026 games ÷ (2026 games + 4).

Right now that is the 2025 full season blended with 2026 through Week 4 (4 games weigh 50%). Two or three games is a thin read on a defense, so 2025 still carries most of the weight; by eight games 2026 counts 67%, and by the fantasy playoffs about 76%. All 32 defenses are ranked on the blended number. Rank 1 allowed the most points per game — the juiciest matchup, shown in teal. Rank 32 is the stingiest, shown in crimson. The row average is the mean of those ranks across the non-bye weeks in your selected range, so a lower number means a softer schedule. 2026 points allowed as of Oct 8, 2026; the matrix opens on Week 5 through Week 18.

Live, 2026 only or Start of season. The matrix opens on Live, the blend above. 2026 only grades every opponent on this season’s points allowed alone — the quickest read on a defense that has changed, and a small sample early (the option stays greyed out until every defense has played). Start of season is the 2025 regular season by itself: how defenses looked when 2026 began. Your pick is saved in the page address, so a copied link opens on the same view; the points-allowed table offers the same three samples.

DST: the easiest schedule for a fantasy defense

Pick DST in the position selector above the grid and the matrix grades each opponent offense instead of a defense: the fantasy points per game that team defenses have scored against it, in standard DST scoring (points-allowed tiers, sacks, turnovers, defensive and special-teams scores). An offense that turns the ball over and takes sacks feeds defenses, so it is a soft matchup. Rank 1 is the offense that has given defenses the most points — the same direction and colors as the other positions — and a team’s row average is the mean of those ranks across its games. The numbers are the ones in the DST column of the points-allowed table. There is no 2025 team-defense data to blend, so DST uses 2026 only: Live and 2026 only are the same for DST, and Start of season is unavailable. That is a small sample early in the year; for the single best defense to start this week, see the DST streaming rankings.

Why ranks instead of raw points?

Raw points-allowed numbers aren’t comparable across positions — a “bad” TE defense gives up 12 points a game while a bad WR corps allows 35. Ranks put every position on the same 1–32 scale, so the colors mean the same thing whether you’re looking at tight ends or wideouts. The tap-for-detail view still shows the underlying points per game for anyone who wants the raw number.

What points-allowed actually measures — and when SoS matters

Points allowed to a position blends true defensive quality with schedule luck: a defense that faced three top-five receivers looks worse against WRs than it is. Last season’s number can’t see 2026 coaching changes, rookie corners, or scheme shifts, and this season’s is only a handful of games — which is why the map blends the two, lets 2026 take over as its sample grows, and says so, rather than pretending to project defenses forward. Strength of schedule earns its keep in three spots: streaming positions (DST and TE, where the matchup often is the decision), planning for the fantasy playoffs in weeks 15–17, and breaking ties between players you already rate as equivalent. It should almost never overrule talent — a stud with a brutal slate still outscores a mediocre player with a soft one.

Related tools

• Fantasy points allowed by position — the per-game numbers behind every rank, plus this week’s matchups.
• Playoff schedule strength — a focused look at weeks 15–17 only.
• Bye-week clash checker — see whether your roster all sits out the same week.
• 2026 schedule grid — the full slate with byes and late-season weather flags.