Planning around byes
Bye weeks are the most predictable problem in fantasy football and the one most often handled late. The schedule is known in August, which means the week you will be short two starters is knowable in August too. Checking it before your draft costs nothing and prevents the specific misery of starting three players on bye in the same week.
The practical rule is to avoid stacking byes at the positions where you carry the least depth. Two quarterbacks on the same bye is a genuine problem; two of your six receivers sharing one is not.
- Should bye weeks affect who I draft?
- Only at the margin, and mainly at quarterback and tight end where you likely carry one starter. Passing on a clearly better player because of a bye week collision is a bad trade of certainty for convenience.
- When should I pick up a bye-week fill?
- The week before you need him. Everyone else claims in the week itself, so acting early is usually the difference between spending a little and spending a lot.
- Is it worth carrying two quarterbacks through byes?
- In a one-quarterback league, generally no. Streaming the position for one week costs less than a roster spot for ten. In superflex, yes, because the replacement pool is far thinner.
