It’s always a good idea at this time of the year to evaluate upcoming schedules, andI’ve rounded up some of the lower profile guys who have favorable schedules and could be gotten fairly easily in trade, along with some players who are big names but have bleak outlooks as far as opponents go. Hopefully you can use this info to make plans for the second half of the season.

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Smooth Sailing Ahead:

 

Roddy White WR, Falcons: White has been up and down all season, but following his week 9 bye, White has arguably the best schedule for WRs in league on his slate (Outside of teammate Julio Jones, of course.) The Falcons face TB, NO, CAR twice, and ARI over the last half of the season. All of these teams are in the top 5 in best matchups for WRs. It also spells good news for owners looking at acquiring Falcons QB Matt Ryan.

 

Joique Bell RB, Lions: Bell had been doing decent work until last week’s yawner against the worst run defense in the league (Atlanta). Hopefully this plants a seed of doubt in his owners so you can make an offer. Bell has Chi twice, TB, MIN, NE and GB on the menu, making a tough week 11 matchup with ARI worth the risk of acquiring him.

 

Marques Colston WR, Saints: Colston is notorious for his second-half ascensions, and though Brandin Cooks and Kenny Stills could factor into the equation,  he still might be worth the trouble for some desperate owners out there. He’s got cupcake tilts with the likes of BAL (bad against the pass), CAR, ATL and TB on the schedule.

 

Steven Jackson RB, Falcons: I despise the fact that I’m advocating for Steven Jackson here, but the Falcons continue to give him the carries and pretty much any owner is likely to accept anything close to a reasonable offer for him. If they realized he has TB, CAR twice, CLE and NO up ahead, they might not be so eager.

 

Trent Richardson RB, Colts: It’s time to face the fact that Richardson has been an RB2 this season, and he will probably maintain that distinction with powderpuff run defenses like NYG, NE, CLE, JAC and TEN on the horizon.

 

Travis Kelce TE, Chiefs: Kelce may finally live up to his billing with a slew of soft matchups before and after the Chiefs face the Bills in week 10. He’s been underutilized to this point, so his owners may be looking for any reason to unload him.

 

Doug Baldwin WR, Seahawks: After stifling Week 10 and 11 matchups, Baldwin has clear sailing for the rest of the way when he only faces teams that are in the Top 10 matchups for receivers per the RosterWatch Matchup Tool. Seattle doesn’t throw the ball a ton, but he’s the first option in the receiving corps until someone else stakes a claim.

 

Proceed with Caution:

 

Marshawn Lynch RB, Seahawks: Lynch always faces tough run defenses playing in the NFC West, so take this with a grain of salt if you like, but he has a brutal schedule after Week 10. Let him feast for the next two weeks, then think long and hard about moving him.

 

Andre Ellington RB, Cardinals: Ellington’s schedule closely resembles Lynch’s as they play in the same division. Outside of a Week 13 bout with ATL, there is a “sea of red ahead” when reviewing the RosterWatch Matchup Tool for the young man. The fact that he catches a lot of passes should temper too much of a decline, but you might want to closely consider offers that you get for him.

 

Patriots RBs: This is a blanket suggestion for owners of any Patriots RB. Ship them while you can. The uncertainty of usage coupled with a forecast of formidable opponents makes any NE back a weekly roll of the dice.

 

Lamar Miller RB, Dolphins: Miller actually gets a couple nice matchups to end the season with NE and MIN, but until that he only faces Bottom 10 matchups for RBs outside of this week versus SD.

 

Ryan Mathews RB, Chargers: By the time Mathews returns to form he’ll have a gauntlet of suffocating run defenses to face. He goes against DEN, KC, SF, and BAL in 4 of his last 5 games.

 

Jeremy Maclin WR, Eagles: Maclin has been playing extremely well, but he has tough sledding to finish out the year. He’ll face NYG again, who he only got 16 yards against in the first meeting, along with DAL twice and SEA.

 

Darren McFadden RB, Raiders: If you thought things were going to get better for Run DMC you were wrong. He still faces both DEN and KC twice in addition to BUF and SF. That hurts just typing it.