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Now that the NFL schedule is out, we can start thinking about the upcoming fantasy football season
Now that the full 2024 NFL schedule has been released, fans can start planning for the upcoming season.
And fantasy players can start thinking about bye weeks.
Bye weeks can cause serious problems for fantasy players, particularly when good teams have bye weeks on the same week, or when bye weeks come later in the season during the stretch run to the playoffs, or even during the fantasy playoffs themselves.
Unfortunately, fantasy players this upcoming season will have to navigate both points.
Here is every teams’ bye week for the upcoming NFL season, as well as some thoughts on potential implications.
Week 5
Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Tennessee Titans
Week 6
Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings
Week 7
Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys
Week 9
San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 10
Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Seattle Seahawks
Week 11
Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants
Week 12
Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets
Week 14
Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, and Washington Commanders
Takeaways
And now, some initial thoughts on how these bye weeks could impact your fantasy football season.
Late season bye weeks
As noted above, Weeks 12 and 14 see a combined 12 teams on bye weeks, coming either during the push to the fantasy playoffs, or in the playoffs themselves depending on your league’s schedule.
Week 14 alone sees the Ravens, Texans, Commanders, and Colts on bye weeks, which could hurt players who have quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Jayden Daniels, and Anthony Richardson on their rosters. Week 12 is just as difficult, as Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Joe Burrow will be on bye weeks. Then you have potential receivers on bye weeks as well, and good luck if you’ve added a stack to your roster such as Burrow/Ja’Marr Chase or Stroud/Stefon Diggs. Teams with players on these teams will need to prepare for Weeks 12 and 14 accordingly.
Early season bye weeks pose problems as well
The bye weeks in Weeks 12 and 14 could pose problems for teams in the playoffs, or making a final push to qualify for the playoffs.
But the early bye weeks in Weeks 5 and 6 could also pose some problems, depending on how you have constructed your roster.
Take Week 4, which sees the Eagles, Chargers, Lions, and Titans on bye weeks. That means no Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, or Dallas Goedert for the Eagles, and no Justin Herbert and company for the Chargers. You’ve also got Jared Goff sidelined along with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Jahmyr Gibbs. If you were hoping to catch fire with the Titans offense, they’ll be out this week as well.
Week 5 might be even tougher to navigate, with the Chiefs and Dolphins out on bye weeks, along with the Vikings and the Rams.
Another thing to consider? Players on these eight teams then have to finish the season without bye weeks, which raises injury risks
Week 11
Let’s take a look at Week 11 for a moment, which could pose problems for some rosters. If you were thinking of a potential Kyler Murray/Marvin Harrison Jr. stack, you will need to plan accordingly, as the Arizona Cardinals are on a bye this week.
The same goes for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so your Baker Mayfield/Mike Evans stacks will have you looking for a Plan B during Week 11.
Week 9
If you are a San Francisco 49ers fan, or just a fantasy player who is going to lean into the 49ers’ offense this season, Week 9 could be a wash with San Francisco on a bye week. Teams built around Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and/or Brandon Aiyuk are going to need some help via waivers, or the rest of their roster, with San Francisco on a bye week.
