TE Fantasy Football Playoffs Strength of Schedule - Best/Worst Tight End Matchups

Patrick looks at TE fantasy football playoffs strength of schedules, the best/worst tight end matchups for 2025 fantasy football playoffs (Weeks 15, 16, 17).

The fantasy playoffs are here, and unless you were lucky enough to hitch your wagon to the Trey McBride Express, you’ve likely had to Frankenstein together the tight end position to earn your spot.

The bad news is that unless somebody rage-quit your league and left McBride on waivers, you’re likely not done MacGyvering your way through the next three weeks. The good news? Tight end is the single most matchup-predictable position in fantasy football.

With tight end being such a uniquely versatile position on most NFL offenses, defenses either have the personnel to defend the big fellas or they don’t. That makes targeting the right matchup just as important as choosing the right player. So, what are the right matchups to target for the 2025 playoffs?

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

Best TE Stud for Fantasy Football Playoffs

Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts

Since the team’s Week 11 bye, Tyler Warren has cooled considerably from the torrid start to his career that had him looking like the Offensive Rookie of the Year and the Colts flirting with the league scoring record.

Unfortunately, the newfound uncertainty that comes with a literal grandfather taking over at quarterback isn’t 100% prescriptive to snapping him out of the worst three-game stretch of his young career. However, one of the league’s easiest fantasy playoff schedules and a potential back-to-basics approach to Shane Steichen’s offense could put things right for the exciting rookie.

Through the first six weeks of the season, as Daniel Jones acclimated to Steichen’s “throw to score, run to win” philosophy, tight ends and running backs combined to earn at least a 35% target share in all but one game. Over the second half of the year, as Jones worked deeper into the playbook, there has been less leaning on the easy button. Tight ends and backs have hit that 35% mark in only two of the last seven games.

With 44-year-old Philip Rivers preparing to take his first snaps since games were being played with cardboard cutouts in attendance, the offense should revert to the early season blueprint of simplifying reads, shortening the time to throw, feeding Jonathan Taylor, and treating Warren as the first read on more plays than not.

There’s also a non-zero chance we see more of Warren’s wildcat package. He logged 40 quarterback snaps in his final season at Penn State, and with Rivers coming in after half a decade on the bingo hall circuit, Steichen would be wise to explore every avenue to keep him far away from NFL violence.

Philip Rivers Had Knack For Finding Colts TEs For Touchdowns

He Threw 8 TDs Total To 3 Different TEs In 2020!

pic.twitter.com/csU1y8xtRI

— Peyton2Luck™️ (@Peyton2L) December 10, 2025

Rivers made a Hall of Fame-adjacent career out of peppering his tight ends, and playing point guard to Warren is one of the clearest ways for the Colts to keep their playoff hopes alive. Given the slate of opponents on the schedule, that is also one of the clearest ways to keep your championship hopes alive.

Fantasy Playoffs Strength of Schedule:

Among the four easiest tight end schedules for the fantasy playoffs, the Colts are the only one not buoyed by a matchup with the Bengals, who are currently on pace to allow the most receptions, yards, and touchdowns to the position in NFL history.

Instead, Indianapolis benefits as one of only two teams, along with Jacksonville, to face three straight defenses that have all allowed positive points above expectation to tight ends. Warren’s playoff run opens at Seattle and closes at home against the Jaguars, defenses ranked 29th and 28th against the position and sandwiched around a Week 16 matchup with the 49ers, who rank a modest 22nd.

Across those three games, Warren faces a combined +5.2 half-PPR points above expectation, good enough for the third-highest playoff mark in football and nearly double that of any playoff slate not featuring the Bengals.

The path to get here has not been ideal for the Colts or their beleaguered fans, but there are still enough pieces in place for Warren to return to his early season form and straight-up smash December.

Honorable Mentions for Best TE Stud Fantasy Playoff Schedules:

• George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers - TEN, @IND, CHI
• Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals - @HOU, ATL, @CIN
• Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys - MIN, LAC, @WAS

Toughest TE1 Matchup for Fantasy Football Playoffs

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders

Since returning from the knee injury that slowed the start of his sophomore season and ultimately caused him to miss three games, Brock Bowers has been on a 17-game pace of 96 receptions for 1,116 yards and 17 touchdowns. That level of production would trail only 2011 Rob Gronkowski on the all-time half-PPR single-season leaderboard.

HOW DID BROCK BOWERS MAKE THIS CATCH 😳

LVvsLAC on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/RhN24iTIx6

— NFL (@NFL) November 30, 2025

Obviously, you’re not leaving peak Gronk on your bench when the games matter most, but egads, Bowers faces a brutal fantasy playoff schedule.

By a sizable margin, Las Vegas ranks dead last in tight end strength of schedule during the fantasy playoffs. The Raiders are one of only four teams to face three defenses that have all held tight ends below their season average, and the only team whose entire playoff slate comes against opponents holding tight ends at least a full point below expectation.

Recent reports also suggest that Geno Smith could miss time with an injury to his throwing shoulder, leaving the known tight end murderer, Kenny Pickett, lurking as his replacement and ready to strike again. In Pickett’s 25 career starts, he’s thrown exactly three touchdowns to his No. 1 tight end while supporting an average stat line of 3.6 receptions for 39.8 yards per game.

Bowers is staring at the most hostile environment of any TE1 heading into the fantasy playoff season. But just to reiterate: you’re still starting him. Every week. Without hesitation. Just prepare yourself for a floor that hasn’t existed at any point during the most prolific start to a career the position has ever seen.

Fantasy Playoffs Strength of Schedule:

Brace yourself. The Raiders open the fantasy playoffs with back-to-back road games against Philadelphia and Houston before returning home to face the Giants in Week 17. The Eagles and Texans rank top five in difficulty against opposing tight ends, and your “reward” if you manage to make it through is a Giants defense that still sits 10th-best in the league at limiting the position.

On average, Vegas’ opponents have held tight ends a full 2.5 points below their season average in half-PPR formats. Only one other team, the New England Patriots, faces expectations of two or more points below average.

On the season, the Eagles and Texans alone have cost opposing tight ends a combined 84.5 points against their season-long pace, representing the third-most-difficult two-game stretch that any tight end has faced all season long.

In raw production, Philadelphia, Houston, and New York all rank in the top 10 in yardage, touchdowns, and fantasy points allowed to the position.

The deck is stacked, and the matchup gods are cruel, but not even the naughtiest on the Naughty List deserve the type of self-inflicted regret that comes from bowing out of the playoffs with a three-touchdown performance on the bench. Live with the matchups, trust the talent, and keep Bowers locked in.

Honorable Mentions for Tough TE1 Fantasy Playoff Schedules:

• Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles - LV, @WAS, @BUF
• Hunter Henry, New England Patriots - BUF, @BAL, @NYJ
• Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers - @KC, @DAL, HOU

Best TE Streamer for Fantasy Football Playoffs

Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

For more than a minute in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Darren Waller was one of the most feared tight ends in the game. Now, in a year where he’s barely qualified for a featuring credit, he’s already hit the second-highest touchdown total of his career with four scores in parts of just six games.

Miami is using him exactly how you’d like to see a 6’6” mismatch utilized, lining him up out wide at the highest rate since his rookie season, fueling a 13.6 yards-per-catch clip that also ranks as the second best of his career.

Waller’s return from the pectoral injury that landed him on injured reserve hasn’t brought the same fireworks we saw in his first return to action, but the Dolphins have faced two sleepwalk opponents in the Saints and Jets, leaving Tua Tagovailoa with roughly nothing to do.

Over the last two weeks, Tua has completed a combined 25 passes. That's a halftime stat line for some offenses when things are actually competitive. And the hope for Waller is that competitiveness is exactly what the next three games will bring, as the Dolphins continue to cling to their postseason hopes.

No tight end in the league faces an easier playoff schedule, and if Waller can keep his target share in the mid-teens while continuing to see those looks downfield or in the end zone, he could very well end up deciding league fortunes.

Fantasy Playoffs Strength of Schedule:

Miami opens the fantasy playoffs with a dream pairing: on the road against Pittsburgh and then home against Cincinnati, making it the only team to kick things off with back-to-back bottom-7 tight end defenses. Those two teams have combined to allow a preposterous 12 points per game above expectation to tight ends in half-PPR scoring. For comparison, the third-best two-game opening stretch (the Giants) sits at just 3.2 points above expectation.

Such is the magic of drawing the Bengals. Cincinnati has allowed 1,258 yards to tight ends through 13 games, a number so removed from normalcy that no other team comes within 300 yards. It has allowed 15 touchdowns, with no other team cracking double digits.

It is the single biggest cheat code in fantasy streaming this season, and Waller gets it in Week 16 following a gentle warmup against the 26th-ranked Steelers.

🎥 Darren Waller on matching up against Jalen Ramsey: "I think that's what makes this league exciting... people want to see big on big. It brings out the best in him, brings out the best in me when there are matchups like that." (@MiamiDolphins) #PhinsUp pic.twitter.com/YMI4hg5gwc

— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) December 9, 2025

Championship week brings a tougher matchup with the league-average Buccaneers, but by that point, Waller may have already proved himself an unbenchable red-zone monster. Though, of course, the idea of streaming the position means not getting attached if a better option shakes free.

Honorable Mention for Best Fantasy Playoff Streamers:

• Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens - @CIN, NE, @GB
• Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars - NYJ, @DEN, @IND
• AJ Barner, Seattle Seahawks - IND, LAR, @CAR

Ideal TE Streaming Strategy for Fantasy Football Playoffs

For those still pulling parts from the drawer, here’s a week-by-week plan to get this thing up and moving:

Week 15:

• Mark Andrews / Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens - @CIN
• Theo Johnson, New York Giants - WAS

Week 16:

• Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins - CIN
• Evan Engram, Denver Broncos - JAX

Week 17:

• Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars - @IND
• Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals - ARI

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