Quarterback is one of those positions where it can often be fruitful to wait as long as possible before making your pick. 

Wait for a top RB? You could be left with D’Andre Swift as your RB1. Wait for a Top TE? You could be speaking Kyle Pitts again, pal.

But wait for a top QB? The value available in the later rounds often means it makes sense to wait and save that high draft capital so you can spend up at other positions.

Late (and I do mean late) round QBs Sam Darnold and Bo Nix ended the 2024 season as QB11 and QB9 for 2024, respectively.  Both men averaged under 4.0 points less than QB2 Josh Allen, who was the first or second QB taken last year in most drafts. Both men provided sound options as part of teams that used the QB by committee approach. 

Then there was Baker Mayfield, who, in late summer/early fall of 2024, was going off boards anywhere from QB18-QB22. He finished as QB3 for the season, tied with Joe Burrow at 22.5 FP per game, and averaged just 0.1 FP per game less than Josh Allen.  

This year? He’s the consensus QB7 in our early-season-long draft ranks. 

The point of all this? QBs are a position where it often makes sense to wait on them in season-long drafts, especially if we’re confident we can find those late-round sleepers who can make up the gap in points.

One way to do this (or do this with a slightly more successful hit rate than your peers)? Pay attention to the schedule. 

QB Strength of Schedule for Fantasy Football 2025

One thing a lot of those later-round QBs I mentioned above had in common in 2024 was soft schedules. Bo Nix had the seventh-easiest strength of schedule in 2024 for quarterbacks, while Mayfield had the ninth. Last year’s QB5, Jayden Daniels, who exceeded expectations as a rookie, had the easiest schedule. 

Strength of schedule is far from the end-all, be-all when it comes to drafting, but it can be a great tiebreaker and also a great way to find those guys like Mayfield and Nix later in drafts that your competitors may be overlooking. 

Below is the table listing the top 20 quarterback schedules based on strength of schedule for 2025 (SOS based on fantasy points allowed to the position in 2024). The quarterbacks' consensus rankings are in the far-right column.

What follows are five quarterbacks I'm giving upgrades to based on their strength of schedule.

QB Upgrades Based on 2025 Strength of Schedule

Kyler Murray, ARI

• Playoff Schedule: Week 15 at Texans, Week 16 vs Falcons, Week 17 at Bengals
• Dome Games: 12
• SOS: 2
• Consensus Rank (QBs): 9.3

Murray looks like he’ll have every chance to regain his standing as a top-three fantasy QB in 2025. 

His team has built around him, getting him an elite pass-catching TE in Trey McBride and solid outside receivers in Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson. He also remains an elite runner at his position, who ranked third in yards per rush last year and fifth in rush yards per game. 

The talent has always been tantalizing with Murray, but for 2025, the schedule should provide some of that good old-fashioned Fast and Furious nitro boost needed to launch Murray back into one of the premier players at his position. 

The Cardinals have the sixth-softest schedule based on opponent win rate from 2024, but Murray’s schedule is even better from a matchup perspective. He’s second in SOS from a fantasy points allowed (to his position) perspective and will play 12 games in a dome this season. 

Four of his first six games will come in domes against teams with losing records from last year (who are again favorites to be losers in 2025), and his first two games of the fantasy playoffs will both be in domes as well.

After a lackluster finish last season, where he sputtered to a QB10 finish (total points), his current consensus rank now makes him look like one of the better upper-tier values at QB.

Brock Purdy, SF

• Playoff Schedule: Week 15 vs Titans, Week 16 at Colts, Week 17 vs Bears
• Dome Games: 5 (counts SoFi Stadium as a dome)
• SOS: 5
• Consensus Rank (QBs): 11.5

There will be a lot of takes about Brock Purdy and his contract this offseason, but one thing is certain: if Purdy falls flat in 2025, it will not be because of the schedule. Via both Vegas win totals and last year’s win/loss metrics, San Francisco has the easiest overall schedule in the league–and it's not even that close.

Unlike last year, where the 49ers faced numerous division winners and had to make road trips to Miami, Green Bay, and Buffalo, this year they’ll face the soft AFC South and will avoid division winners like Detroit and Philadelphia. As you would expect, that’s translated into a ton of great matchups for Purdy, who ranks 5th in QB SOS going into 2025 and has a great fantasy playoff schedule that includes two home games vs weaker opponents and a dome game vs the Colts in Week 16.

Despite the tough schedule and a down season by the 49ers in 2024, Purdy still managed a respectable fantasy season, finishing as QB10 in total points. However, his current ADP has him going outside the top 10 QBs.

With plenty of after-the-catch All Stars still left in San Francisco, it’s hard not to like Purdy as a mid-to-late-round target, who should see more ceiling-type performances in 2025 thanks to a fantastic schedule. 

Trevor Lawrence, JAC

• Playoff Schedule: Week 15 vs Jets, Week 16 at Broncos, Week 17 at Colts
• Dome Games: 3
• SOS: 11
• Consensus Rank (QBs): 17.8

Lawrence has disappointed as a high draft pick for fantasy in the past, but he’s in a classic buy-low spot going into 2025. The former number one overall pick isn’t going anywhere near the top 12 in season-long or best ball drafts, but will have a new OC and offensive scheme for the 2025 season, as well as an improved receiving core with the addition of number two overall pick Travis Hunter.

New head coach Liam Coen could be huge for Lawrence’s fantasy output as well. The Coen-led Buccaneers offense ranked third in passing yards per game in 2024, while Bucs QB Baker Mayfield saw his yards per pass attempt rise from 7.5 (2023) to 8.0 (2024) under Coen.

Schedule-wise, Lawrence ranks 11th in SOS, but has a couple of soft matchups right off the bat with the Panthers (second-most FP allowed to QBs in 2024) and Bengals (sixth-most FP to QBs in 2024). If anything, that kind of scheduling will make him a prime QB-by-committee target at the end of drafts for those planning on implementing a rotation strategy at the position. 

There is no denying Lawrence has a couple of tougher matchups in the fantasy playoffs, including a road game in Denver Week 16, but his Week 17 matchup is in a dome vs the Colts (12th-most fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs in 2024).

Overall, Lawrence projects as a great buy-low candidate, and someone you should be looking to grab later in drafts if choosing to implement a committee approach.

Justin Fields, NYJ

• Playoff Schedule: Week 15 at Jaguars; Week 16 at Saints, Week 17 vs Patriots
• Dome Games: 1 
• SOS: 4
• Consensus Rank (QBs): 13.0

The draft was a boon for Justin Fields, as the Jets chose not to take a QB and roll with Fields as their starter for 2025. That’s been reflected somewhat in his current ranks already, but as one of the premier rushing QBs in the league, who has almost no depth chart pressure, a soft schedule is something that could lift him into the top-eight QBs by the end of the season.

Fields has just one dome game on his docket this year, which hurts his upside somewhat, but it’s worth noting that the former Bear and Steeler has played most of his career for teams in outdoor, cold-weather stadiums.

It’s also worth noting that the one dome game on his schedule (Week 16 at Saints) comes at a crucial moment in the fantasy playoffs and against a team that sports just a 4.5 win total for 2025.

Fields will have some tougher divisional opponents to deal with in Miami and Buffalo, but the rest of his schedule is littered with soft opponents. The fact that he still managed a healthy 19.05 FP per game over his six starts for the Steelers in 2024 (which would have made him QB9 last season) is a great sign that a soft schedule could elevate him to push for a top-five finish in 2025.

C.J. Stroud, HOU

• Playoff Schedule: Week 15 vs Cardinals, Week 16 vs Raiders, Week 17 at Chargers
• Dome Games: 11 (counts SoFi Stadium)
• SOS: 1
• Consensus Rank (QBs): 19.3

Stroud was one of the biggest busts of the 2024 fantasy season. He was a consensus-ranked top-12 QB going into 2024 for most, but ended the year well outside the top-20 QBs in total fantasy points. Now, barely cracking the top 20 in our consensus ranks, the Texans QB has a lot of tail winds associated with him going into 2025. 

The Texans fired former OC Bobby Slowik and replaced him with former Rams assistant Nick Caley, who is expected to give Stroud more leeway at the line of scrimmage. Then there is the schedule.

Stroud already plays in a dome, which is part of why his performance last season was so disappointing. However, unlike last year when Houston had one of the toughest schedules in the league (based on opponent win rate), Stroud will be dealing with a much easier slate in 2025. 

Houston’s average opponent win rate from last year is just .481, which is just 18th-best in the entire league and gives them the 14th-softest schedule overall. A far cry from last year, when they had the fifth-toughest schedule via that same metric. 

Further, if you’re planning on drafting Stroud as a fantasy backup or as part of a committee, you have to love Houston’s schedule for the fantasy playoffs. He has two home games in a row (Cardinals, Raiders), and a Week 17 matchup in an indoor environment against the Chargers.

Even if you’re not a believer in the talent, the schedule this year is much more favorable for Stroud and suggests he’ll be a much more efficient (and useful) fantasy QB because of it.

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