The time has come in the world of Fantasy Football where the more experienced and serious fantasy owners separate themselves from those who simply joined the league for S & Gs. That’s right my friends, the bye weeks are upon us. Some look at the bye weeks as if it were a drought period where they do little but scrape the bottom of the waiver barrel to get by each week in hopes of hitting a fantasy geyser to push them through their matchups. However, to the more cunning and wise fantasy owner, they seize the moment and take the opportunity to build their team into an unstoppable machine.
It may seem like just yesterday you were drafting your workhorses, signal callers, spectacular catchers, and the deep sleepers that now sit in free agency. But by now you have a better understanding of which players on your team are doing you more harm than good. This opens the door for many trading opportunities as league-mates are desperate to fill gaps in their starting lineup. Therefore, your main objective is to TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM, and I don’t mean slipping something in their drink and trading all their players. Let’s look at the bye week schedules below:
 Week 5: Browns, Cowboys, Dolphins, Rams, Ravens, Redskins
Week 6:Â Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Seahawks, Titans
Week 7:Â 49ers, Bengals, Bills, Eagles, Giants, Patriots
Week 8:Â Bears, Buccaneers, Falcons, Jets, Packers, Raiders
Week 9:Â Jaguars, Lions, Panthers, Vikings
Week 10:Â No Team
Week 11:Â Colts, Saints, Steelers, Texans
The first thing to notice is that weeks 5-8 are stacked with 6 teams sitting while weeks 9 & 11 have only 4 teams on byes each week. There are differing opinions on which is better, to have a player with an earlier bye or a later bye week. Supporters of the early bye weeks suggest that getting the bye week over and done with is most advantageous so that they can move forward with their season. Others believe that having a player in the later weeks gives you the advantage earlier to get your wins in until your players sit in the latter weeks of the season. Both have their upside and both have their downside. It all really depends on where you rank going into these byes.
If you’re sitting near the top of your league, you’ll want to look at the bye weeks as an opportunity to make your team stronger by making some sacrifices. There will be teams in your league that are 0-4 or 1-3 that have to make these next few weeks count in order to have a shot at the post season. Your best bet is to find one of these teams that may be willing to let go of a RB1 in order to get a win this week. For example, a Ray Rice or Peyton Hillis owner will let him go at a lower cost in order to fill their gap this week, or week 6 has a slew of players to buy low; Larry Fitzgerald, Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson, Ryan Matthews, etc. The point is that the bye weeks weaken every team, and if you’re willing to bite the bullet for a star on bye, it should pay huge dividends towards the end of the season.
Now if you’re floating somewhere in the middle or towards the bottom of your league’s rankings, you know how important a win is during these bye weeks. You also know that you need to make your team as strong as possible to hold on after the bye weeks pass. If you’re willing to sacrifice the first few bye weeks, then deploy the same strategy above. But if you have to win this week, then you’re only hope is to do exactly the opposite. Consider trading your players on their bye weeks to stronger teams in order to replace them with immediate help. This way, if you are facing someone who is losing some power due to the bye, you’ll at least have some sort of advantage. For example, you could shop Hillis for a Fred Jackson or Ahmad Bradshaw perhaps. And don’t be afraid to trade multiple players for a big name that will boost your team down the road. You need to have a sense of urgency about your team’s situation and now is the perfect time to fix it.
Do not fear the bye weeks my friends, learn to use them to your advantage and take control of your league. The opportunities are out there to improve, you just need to make the right moves, at the right time, in order to take the reins of your team, and your league.
