I have a secret to tell you.
The release of the NFL schedule, in the immortal words of the great William Shakespeare (Little known fact--big Jets fan, despite dying in 1616), "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
The schedule release is another opportunity for the NFL to get eyeballs on TVs (heaven forbid they pass up one of those), but on some level, it's information we have already had for some time--we have known each team's home and away opponents for months. We also know each team's opponents' collective winning percentage in 2024, which some use as a barometer of the "difficulty" of a team's schedule.
The problem with that is that so much changes from year to year in the NFL that a schedule that looks daunting in May could be a cakewalk by November. There are personnel changes galore, new coaching staffs, and changes in offensive or defensive philosophy. We may think right now that the New York Giants got hosed (they did) and the San Francisco 49ers have an easy slate (they do), but the impact of the schedule is perennially overrated.
That extends to fantasy football as well. Just because a team allowed fantasy points by the bucketful to linebackers last year doesn't mean they will do the same in 2025. Again, a lot can change from one season to the next.
Still, that's not to say there's nothing that can be gleaned from the schedule release, even if it's just a potential tool to break ties between closely-ranked players. With that in mind, here are some things that stand out about the 2025 slate in IDP leagues.
Defensive Linemen
The contract impasse involving Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson has already cast a pall over his IDP value. But even if Hendrickson does sign an extension soon and doesn't sit through a prolonged holdout, a slow start to the season could be in the offing. Cincinnati's Week 1 trip to Cleveland is a dream matchup--no team allowed more fantasy points to defensive ends in 2024. But after that comes a stretch of unfavorable matchups--starting with a Week 2 game against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that surprisingly allowed just 32 sacks last season.
One of Chicago's offseason priorities this year was to improve an offensive line that surrendered a whopping 68 sacks last year--tops in the NFL. It's not going to take especially long to find out if that new-look line is for real or not, as the Bears open the season against a number of big-name edge rushers. Prior to their Week 5 bye, the Bears will face the Minnesota Vikings (Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel), the Detroit Lions (Aidan Hutchinson), the Dallas Cowboys (Micah Parsons), and the Las Vegas Raiders (Maxx Crosby). It's a fairly daunting gauntlet for Bears left tackle Braxton Jones.
According to Ben Rolfe of PFSN, after offseason personnel moves, the worst offensive line in the National Football League belongs to the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the AFC South isn't exactly loaded with high-end edge rushers, although Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker of the Jaguars could benefit from Houston's deficiencies along the offensive front. However, the Texans and Jaguars don't meet until Week 3, so 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse and Byron Young of the Los Angeles Rams and Haason Reddick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get the first crack at making C.J. Stroud cry.
