If you’re new to fantasy football, you may not be aware of the impact of bye weeks. The purpose of today’s blog is to make you aware of it. If you are prepared to bench your starters because of bye weeks, you can still win.
The first bye week this year was week 4, when the Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins were the first two NFL teams to have a week off. This did not impact me at all because I had no starters on those two squads.
The following week was a different story. It seemed like half of my players were on the Chicago Bears, and they went “bye-bye” in week 5. Including the Bears defense and special teams. I won the game because I was prepared.
That’s right. I won with starters Jordan Howard, Allen Robinson, Trey Burton and the Chicago D/ST on the bench. Howard and Robinson were not a problem because I had plenty of depth at wide receiver and running back.
When a tight end is on a bye, it can create a problem for a team that has only one tight end. You may recall that I started the season with only one tight end – Rob Gronkowski – and I traded him a few weeks ago. I got Trey Burton in that trade.
Anticipating Burton’s bye week ahead, I was fortunate enough to pick up George Kittle. Kittle actually started for me in week 4 and week 5 before I traded him. Good tight ends are hard to come by, but mediocre ones are a dime a dozen.
While weeks 4, 5 and 6 had two teams on bye, the next two weeks have four each. But the most problematic weeks for fantasy owners will come in Week 9 and Week 11, which six teams will have their byes. More on this tomorrow.
Doubting Thomas' Fantasy Sports 