The New York Jets’ 2024 schedule is pretty easy according to DraftKings
After two years of purportedly difficult schedules before the season, the New York Jets’ luck has changed.
According to DraftKings over/under win totals after the NFL draft, the Jets have the third-easiest strength of schedule in 2024 at .472. Only the Falcons and Chargers have easier schedules.
2024 Post-Draft Strength of Schedule based on DraftKings 2024 O/U win totals (irrespective of odds)
1 = easiest, 32 = most difficult
1 – Falcons .448
2 – Chargers .462
3 – Jets .472
4 – Bears .476
5 – Bengals .479
5 – Saints .479
7 – Colts .483
8 – Chiefs .490
8 – Dolphins .490…— NFL Schedule Update (@NerdingonNFL) May 1, 2024
Take this data with a large grain of salt. There is little correlation between preseason strength of schedule and actual strength of schedule. The NFL playoff teams fluctuate from year to year, and both overachievers and underachievers are common.
Still, the AFC East is more vulnerable than it has been since Josh Allen became an elite quarterback in 2020. The Bills lost several of their key players, including Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Jordan Poyer, and Micah Hyde. The Dolphins’ offensive line and interior defensive line were both decimated in free agency, and they also lost defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Patriots drafted a volatile quarterback at No. 3 overall and still have many roster holes.
Furthermore, even according to a more analytically-based strength of schedule breakdown, the Jets still come out in a similar tier. Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis ranked the Jets’ strength of schedule the fourth-easiest in the NFL, behind only the Falcons, Chargers, and Bears.
The Jets’ 2024 performance is heavily contingent upon injury luck. Aaron Rodgers, Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, and Mike Williams are all on the wrong side of 30 (or 40) and coming off major injuries. Still, they’ve done a lot more to insure their depth this offseason. Perhaps injury and schedule luck will dovetail with expected performance to give the Jets their first playoff season since 2010.
