Do you know what the best time to prepare for this week’s fantasy football ‘Byemageddon’ is? Last week.
Do you know the second best time to prepare for this weeks Byemageddon is? Right now.
The Byemageddon has arrived, and six teams are unavailable to us. Three of which are among the leagues highest scoring offenses; the Bills, Chargers, and Cowboys. The Jaguars, Steelers, and Vikings all have reliable fantasy football starters as well. So what do you do?
To me, it depends on your fantasy football record. Let’s check out some strategies based off of three different buckets. ‘The Winners’ or teams at 4-2 or better, ‘The Pack’ or the larger group sitting at or close to 3-3, and ‘The Losers’ at 2-4 or worse.
The Losers
This is a tough spot to be in; you really can’t afford to lose any more games. If you have a lot of players on Bye this week, I would look to trade them for startable players now. Specifically, I am targeting players in the Chiefs at Titans game, or the Bengals at Ravens game. I expect both of these games to be high scoring affairs, and I want a piece of the action.
Don’t be afraid to sell players previously deemed untouchable either. For example, I would look to trade Najee Harris, Dalvin Cook, or Austin Ekeler for a package including players like Leonard Fournette, D’Andre Swift, or Joe Mixon. It might be a downgrade at the position, but it also means you can get these players plus a potential Flex. Right now your goal is to squeak into the playoffs, where anything can happen. Good luck!
The Pack
For the larger crowd in the middle, I would focus on making more informed start/sit decisions. Your team isn’t that bad, but it’s also not great; yet.
D’Ernest Johnson and Demetric Felton will be on everyone’s mind when they put in their waver claims, and for good reason. Finding a starter at running back can be a bit of a lottery pick. However, the Browns are playing against Denver, whose defense is one of the best at stopping the run this year. I’m looking at guys like Elijah Mitchell, and James Conner instead.
Defenses can be a bit easier to hit on in these moments. If Arizona is available (they’re just above 50% rostered) I would grab them immediately. They play the Houston Texans in Week 7, and I think could put out one of those performances that makes your fantasy football league talk about changing how defenses score again. If they aren’t available, look at the Jets or Patriots, as the two rookie QBs in that match up will probably throw some interceptions.
If you need help at quarterback, Daniel Jones, and Taylor Heinicke could be options. They had bad games in Week 6, and are now probably available for you to pick up and start. I think both have a good opportunity to bounce back and score over 20 points in Week 7.
The Winners
Congratulations. You’re doing well. The most important piece of advice I can give you is to not panic and ruin a good thing. You have a high likelihood of making the playoffs. Figure out what you did right so far, and lean into it.
If you have a lot of players you can’t start this week, it’s possible that having a Byemageddon totally ruin one of your weeks can actually be a good thing. Every player in the pool will have a week off. If your team gets all of them out of the way sooner, then your team will be at full strength for a longer period of time.
If you’re an undefeated team, actively look to trade with one of the bottom few teams in your league. They need to win now if they have any shot at making the playoffs. There’s a high likelihood that they have Christian McCaffery, or Dalvin Cook. If ever there was a time to acquire one of these guys, that time is now. It might mean you drop a game or two coming up; but I would love to roll into the fantasy football playoffs with these guys in my lineup.
