- WR George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys: Pickens should remain a high-volume fantasy football WR1.
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While elite wide receiver talent can thrive in all situations, soft matchups can facilitate positive outlier weekly results. The article below breaks down three wide receivers who face three of the six softest schedules, according to PFF’s strength of schedule metric.
The Cincinnati Bengals “could enjoy significant passing efficiency boosts thanks to potential tactical changes in 2026.” Bengals No. 1 wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase earned a career-high 90.1PFF receiving grade last year. It should be noted that Chase can easily exploit his positional fifth-ranked strength-of-schedule rating (8.0) this year.
As re-draft season comes into focus, St. Brown is being drafted as the half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) format’s 1.08, WR4 consensus pick by average draft position (ADP). As explained in “Best environments for 2026 fantasy football purposes, Part 2,” he plays in a fantasy-friendly offense. St. Brown is also one of the league’s best overall target earners, first-read target earners and high-value, centerfield target earners. His current ADP can reasonably be viewed as a buy-low opportunity.
St. Brown’s, Olave’s and Pickens’ strength-of-schedule data
Metric Detroit Lions New Orleans Saints Dallas Cowboys Strength of Schedule Rating 10.0 (No. 1) 8.6 (No. 3) 7.9 (No. 6) Week 15 Opp. – PFF Coverage Grade – PFF Pass-Rush Grade @ MIN – 56.9 – 74.0 @ TB – 50.9 – 76.9 @ LAR – 83.7 – 84.6 Week 16 Opp. – PFF Coverage Grade – PFF Pass-Rush Grade vs. NYG – 57.5 – 75.0 vs. ARI – 44.2 – 62.1 vs. JAX – 67.7 – 80.5 Week 17 Opp. – PFF Coverage Grade – PFF Pass-Rush Grade @ CHI – 75.0 – 65.5 @ ATL – 57.6 – 72.1 vs. NYG – 75.0 – 57.5The Bears’ secondary continues to experience poor health, year to year. Their defensive back injury tally currently sits at six, with high-priced safety Coby Bryant possibly set to miss the season.
The Cardinals’ pass defense closed the 2025 season banged up and opened the 2026 season in a similar, disgruntled fashion.
Falcons starting edge defender Jalon Walker suffered a season-ending ACL tear earlier this month. He earned a 67.0 PFF pass-rush grade last year. Fellow starter James Pearce Jr. is suspended for the first eight games. He produced a 64.2 PFF pass-rush grade last year. The Saints play Atlanta in Weeks 4 and 17.
Olave’s 33 deep targets ranked first among NFL skill-position players last year. Despite the downfield role, he also earned targets voluminously overall. His 151 targets placed sixth among 49 NFL pass-catchers with at least 95 targets last year. Among that group, Olave’s 79.7 PFF receiving grade ranked 21st; his 1.98 yards per route run (YPRR) were 13th; and his 25.7% target rate slotted seventh.
Olave’s primary target competition, first-round rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, aggravated the same right hamstring that disrupted his 2025 college season, prevented him from participating in pre-draft activities and sidelined him throughout spring practices. Although Tyson is an elite prospect who earned an 89.5 PFF receiving grade from 2024 to Week 8, 2025, he is expected to be sidelined for two months and could begin the year on short-term injured reserve. That, coupled with re-injury risk, raises Olave’s fantasy-scoring ceiling.
Olave will also benefit from Saints quarterback Tyler Shough’s expected second-year leap. His 73.1 PFF passing grade placed 16th among 37 NFL quarterbacks with at least 245 dropbacks in 2025.
Cowboys No. 1 wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, 27, suffered a high-ankle sprain in seven snaps into his team’s Week 3 game. He missed Weeks 4-7.
Pickens’ and Lamb’s injury-related receiving data
Metric George Pickens, Weeks 1-3 & 7-18 Pickens Weeks 4-6 CeeDee Lamb Weeks 1-3 Lamb Weeks 7-18 PFF Receiving Grade 83.4 85.9 69.7 79.0 Target Rate 20.7% 25.7% 27.0% 24.6% Yards Per Route Run 2.11 3.55 2.49 2.34 Yards After Catch Per Reception 4.8 6.6 3.7 4.4 9-Plus-Target Games/Games Played 7/14 2/3 2/3 8/11Lamb’s absence benefited Pickens, though Pickens proved himself as a productive player and voluminous target earner even when sharing the field with Lamb.
The two players get a target-volume boost from head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s smartly schemed, high-volume offense. The Cowboys should be viewed as the favorite to lead the league in offensive plays per game, assuaging concerns over one player garnering a lopsided target share.