The National Football League has a strength of schedule formula that's simple to understand ... take the opponents' records from the previous season, add up the wins and losses and calculate a percentage for all 16 opponents. In fantasy football, there's a different method. Instead of using team records, we use the number of fantasy points allowed by defenses the previous season against a single position (both at home and on the road) and rank the teams/players according to the average.
For example, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers allowed 16.6 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks overall last season. However, their defense was much tougher at home (15.0 PPG allowed) than on the road (18.2 PPG allowed). As a result, any quarterback who faces the Bucs at home in 2018 receives 15.0 points, while opposing signal-callers in road games receive 18.2 points. This goes one step deeper than typical FPA analysis, which is based on a total average of the home and road numbers. Obviously, the bigger the overall point total per team, the easier the schedule.
While these ratings are not the be-all, end-all in determining a player's stock, owners can use them when picking between players with similar value and projecting potential sleepers or busts.
Quarterbacks
T-11. Atlanta Falcons (Home: 14.3 | Road: 19.2 | Average: 16.8)
T-11. Arizona Cardinals (Home: 14.9 | Road: 18.6 | Average: 16.8)
13. Miami Dolphins (Home: 14.2 | Road: 19.2 | Average: 16.7)
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Home: 15.0 | Road: 18.2 | Average: 16.6)
15. Dallas Cowboys (Home: 17.9 | Road: 14.7 | Average: 16.3)
16. Tennessee Titans (Home: 17.6 | Road: 14.5 | Average: 16.1)
17. New Orleans Saints (Home: 17.3 | Road: 14.0 | Average: 15.6)
18. Cincinnati Bengals (Home: 15.0 | Road: 15.9 | Average: 15.5)
19. Carolina Panthers (Home: 17.5 | Road: 13.1 | Average: 15.3)
20. Detroit Lions (Home: 16.8 | Road: 17.1 | Average: 15.2)
T-21. Denver Broncos (Home: 13.2 | Road: 17.1 | Average: 15.1)
T-21. Washington Redskins (Home: 10.9 | Road: 19.4 | Average: 15.1)
23. Philadelphia Eagles (Home: 12.9 | Road: 16.5 | Average: 14.7)
T-24. Pittsburgh Steelers (Home: 14.3 | Road: 13.4 | Average: 13.8)
T-24. Los Angeles Rams (Home: 11.9 | Road: 15.6 | Average: 13.8)
26. Chicago Bears (Home: 12.2 | Road: 14.2 | Average: 13.2)
27. Seattle Seahawks (Home: 13.2 | Road: 12.9 | Average: 13.1)
28. Buffalo Bills (Home: 11.0 | Road: 14.8 | Average: 12.9)
29. Los Angeles Chargers (Home: 11.5 | Road: 13.0 | Average: 12.3)
30. Minnesota Vikings (Home: 9.5 | Road: 13.9 | Average: 11.7)
31. Baltimore Ravens (Home: 10.2 | Road: 11.7 | Average: 10.9)
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Home: 10.7 | Road: 10.1 | Average: 10.4)
Running backs
1. Buffalo Bills (Home: 30.2 | Road: 26.1 | Average: 28.2)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (Home: 26.8 | Road: 26.6 | Average: 26.7)
3. Detroit Lions (Home: 24.6 | Road: 28.5 | Average: 26.6)
T-4. Los Angeles Rams (Home: 24.6 | Road: 27.6 | Average: 26.1)
T-4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Home: 25.8 | Road: 26.5 | Average: 26.1)
T-6. San Francisco 49ers (Home: 28.4 | Road: 23.1 | Average: 25.8)
T-6. Miami Dolphins (Home: 24.4 | Road: 27.2 | Average: 25.8)
T-6. Washington Redskins (Home: 23.7 | Road: 27.8 | Average: 25.8)
T-9. Green Bay Packers (Home: 23.8 | Road: 26.2 | Average: 24.9)
T-9. New York Jets (Home: 18.7 | Road: 31.1 | Average: 24.9)
11. Indianapolis Colts (Home: 23.4 | Road: 25.6 | Average: 24.5)
12. New York Giants (Home: 25.4 | Road: 234 | Average: 24.4)
13. Los Angeles Chargers (Home: 22.4 | Road: 26.2 | Average: 24.3)
14. Baltimore Ravens (Home: 22.9 | Road: 25.4 | Average: 22.2)
15. Oakland Raiders (Home: 22.1 | Road: 26.0 | Average: 24.1)
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (Home: 26.4 | Road: 20.7 | Average: 23.6)
T-17. Cleveland Browns (Home: 22.0 | Road: 24.8 | Average: 23.4)
T-17. New England Patriots (Home: 23.9 | Road: 22.9 | Average: 23.4)
T-19. New Orleans Saints (Home: 26.1 | Road: 20.2 | Average: 23.2)
T-19. Atlanta Falcons (Home: 21.2 | Road: 24.9 | Average: 23.2)
21. Tennessee Titans (Home: 25.8 | Road: 20.7 | Average: 22.9)
22. Chicago Bears (Home: 22.9 | Road: 22.8 | Average: 22.8)
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (Home: 19.5 | Road: 26.0 | Average: 22.7)
24. Dallas Cowboys (Home: 25.4 | Road: 21.8 | Average: 22.6)
T-25. Seattle Seahawks (Home: 24.2 | Road: 19.5 | Average: 21.8)
T-25. Houston Texans (Home: 21.3 | Road: 22.3 | Average: 21.8)
T-27. Arizona Cardinals (Home: 18.4 | Road: 24.4 | Average: 21.4)
T-27. Kansas City Chiefs (Home: 18.2 | Road: 24.6 | Average: 21.4)
29. Denver Broncos (Home: 19.2 | Road: 23.2 | Average: 21.2)
30. Carolina Panthers (Home: 16.5 | Road: 24.5 | Average: 20.5)
31. Philadelphia Eagles (Home: 16.6 | Road: 22.3 | Average: 19.4)
32. Minnesota Vikings (Home: 14.9 | Road: 20.1 | Average: 17.6)
Wide receivers
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Home: 34.7 | Road: 42.2 | Average: 38.5)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (Home: 31.0 | Road: 43.8 | Average: 37.4)
3. Carolina Panthers (Home: 41.2 | Road: 30.9 | Average: 36.1)
4. Green Bay Packers (Home: 31.6 | Road: 40.2 | Average: 35.9)
5. New England Patriots (Home: 33.8 | Road: 37.6 | Average: 35.7)
6. Houston Texans (Home: 28.5 | Road: 39.8 | Average: 34.1)
7. Dallas Cowboys (Home: 34.1 | Road: 33.4 | Average: 33.8)
8. Philadelphia Eagles (Home: 30.7 | Road: 35.6 | Average: 33.2)
9. New York Jets (Home: 32.1 | Road: 34.2 | Average: 33.2)
T-10. Indianapolis Colts (Home: 32.1 | Road: 34.0 | Average: 33.1)
T-10. New York Giants (Home: 30.7 | Road: 35.4 | Average: 33.1)
12. Tennessee Titans (Home: 34.9 | Road: 32.6 | Average: 32.9)
13. New Orleans Saints (Home: 31.0 | Road: 34.6 | Average: 32.8)
14. San Francisco 49ers (Home: 33.3 | Road: 31.9 | Average: 32.6)
15. Seattle Seahawks (Home: 32.7 | Road: 31.9 | Average: 32.3)
16. Detroit Lions (Home: 37.8 | Road: 26.4 | Average: 32.0)
17. Cleveland Browns (Home: 29.4 | Road: 33.9 | Average: 31.7)
T-18. Arizona Cardinals (Home: 27.8 | Road: 34.9 | Average: 31.4)
T-18. Chicago Bears (Home: 28.1 | Road: 34.6 | Average: 31.4)
20. Oakland Raiders (Home: 31.2 | Road: 30.8 | Average: 31.0)
21. Atlanta Falcons (Home: 30.6 | Road: 29.8 | Average: 30.2)
22. Buffalo Bills (Home: 26.1 | Road: 32.9 | Average: 29.6)
23. Los Angeles Rams (Home: 27.4 | Road: 31.1 | Average: 29.3)
24. Minnesota Vikings (Home: 30.6 | Road: 27.4 | Average: 29.0)
T-25. Pittsburgh Steelers (Home: 28.5 | Road: 28.9 | Average: 28.6)
T-25. Los Angeles Chargers (Home: 26.2 | Road: 31.0 | Average: 28.6)
T-27. Washington Redskins (Home: 24.4 | Road: 29.9 | Average: 27.1)
T-27. Baltimore Ravens (Home: 26.1 | Road: 28.0 | Average: 27.1)
29. Cincinnati Bengals (Home: 20.8 | Road: 32.0 | Average: 26.4)
30. Miami Dolphins (Home: 23.0 | Road: 29.5 | Average: 26.2)
31. Denver Broncos (Home: 26.6 | Road: 25.5 | Average: 26.0)
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Home: 24.3 | Road: 22.6 | Average: 23.4)
Tight ends
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on NFL.com and NFL Network and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Follow Michael on **Twitter**, **Facebook** and **Instagram** for all of your breaking fantasy football news, updates and analysis!