Using the Bye Week to Your Advantage

Dealing with bye weeks can be stressful for many Fantasy Football owners. But not if you follow these tips.

The best Fantasy Football owners do not fear the bye week, they embrace it. This is where depth and all those late-round draft choices you put the time into researching pays off. If you are an owner who just picks whomever in the later rounds and doesn’t put much thought into it, it’s time to change your ways. Or else, the bye weeks do become something to fear.

When drafting, do not overvalue the bye week. You don’t want to pass on a better player just because he and another player at the same position on your roster share the same bye week. Draft the best players available and adjust when the time comes. The only exception is at quarterback, a supremely valuable position at which you start only one player. Make sure your backup QB has a different bye week than your starter.

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It’s also important not to panic when the byes arrive. It’s only one game in the grand scheme of things. You don’t want to cut an important piece or make a crazy trade just to improve slightly for one week. Almost as important as not panicking is identifying the owners who do panic. See if they will make that crazy trade in which you get a stud who is on bye. If you can handle the one-week absence, those kinds of moves will help you down the road.

Prepare for bye weeks long before they come. Make sure you thoroughly hit the waiver wire every week. Don’t just wait until you’re desperate for bodies. If you plan for your byes problems weeks beforehand, you will save yourself a ton of stress.

Much like when you are streaming players, be sure to play the matchups. Grab a player whom perhaps no one wants on their roster long-term but could have a ton of value thanks to a favorable matchup when you have some bye weeks to account for. Don’t try to pull off a big trade and weaken your roster elsewhere when you can fill your temporary gaps with a player on the waiver wire who has a tremendous matchup at the right time.

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Be sure to construct a balanced team. You do not want to have two running backs and nine wide receivers. Bye weeks can become a nightmare if you have a poorly constructed team. Balance provides you with valuable options at each position.

You can overcome bye weeks if you put in the work and make calculated decisions. Building depth and preparing for bye weeks is how you take your skills to the next level. It’s what separates champions from the casual players. It starts on draft day and is critical to continue each and every week. If you wait until Sunday morning to set your lineup and rarely visit your league’s home page, bye weeks will punish your team. So, if you’re intent on winning a championship, be sure to take full advantage of bye weeks and the owners who can’t handle them.