Fantasy Football Week 7 begins Thursday and fantasy managers must replace Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens in this week’s lineups. Two teams. Meh.
That’s nothing compared to next week, when six teams will not be playing. They are the Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars. In fantasy, these weeks are known as bye-mageddons, and fantasy managers should aim to plan for this inevitability, if possible. We are here to help. If you’ve got the bench room, here’s some moves you make now to avoid next weeks waiver-wire rush.
Quarterback
Jared Goff and Sam Darnold are the highest-scoring QBs (entering Week 7) serving a Week 8 bye, with Goff rostered in more than 75% of leagues. New York Giants rookie Jaxson Dart (41.7%) may not feel like an appealing option for Week 7 at the Denver Broncos, but he has a rematch with the sputtering Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8. Dart scored 23.6 PPR points in Week 6 against the Eagles. Add him now and keep him around.
Other readily available QBs to add in advance include Minnesota Vikings starter (if healthy) J.J. McCarthy (29.5%) against the Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons left-hander Michael Penix Jr. (15.5%) at home against the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals 40-year-old Joe Flacco against the New York Jets.
Running back
Things are more difficult at this production-starved position with no Jahmyr Gibbs, Ashton Jeanty, Kyren Williams and Travis Etienne Jr. off in Week 8. Start with this week’s top pickup, Los Angeles Chargers fill-in Kimani Vidal (58.5%). Add him now before you miss out. Houston Texans rookie Woody Marks (56%) should see an uptick in volume this week, and in Week 8 he faces the San Francisco 49ers.
After that, it is mostly about backups, with Pittsburgh Steelers surprise Kenneth Gainwell (59.5%), the Atlanta Falcons’ Tyler Allgeier (34.2%), the Tennessee Titans’ Tyjae Spears (27%) and New Orleans Saints’ Kendre Miller (23.3%).
Wide receiver
The three highest-scoring WRs in PPR formats will not play in Week 8 (Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Amon-Ra St. Brown. Read that one again! It will be tough replacing 20 PPR points per game. The Green Bay Packers play in the Week 8 Sunday night game in Pittsburgh, making Romeo Doubs (59.4%) and potentially Jayden Reed (44.7%) attractive. The Indianapolis Colts are hosting the Tennessee Titans, making Josh Downs (46.9%) and potentially Alec Pierce (2%) worth a look.
Atlanta’s Darnell Mooney (42.6%), San Francisco’s Kendrick Bourne (41.9%), New England’s Kayshon Boutte (20%) and Denver’s Troy Franklin (33.7%) are other options with reasonable matchups. We can only guess which Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be available in a week to face the Saints, but Sterling Shepard (17.2%) and Tez Johnson (9.4%) are out there today. You may not need them this week, but you may in Week 8.
Tight end
Arizona’s Trey McBride, arguably the top option at the position, is off in Week 8, along with Sam LaPorta and Brock Bowers (who may be off this week as well). Cleveland Browns rookie Harold Fannin Jr. (46.3%) faces the Patriots in Week 8. The Jets’ Mason Taylor (29.5%), Tampa Bay’s Cade Otton (17.5%) and Houston’s Dalton Schultz make sense as deeper-league additions as well.
D/ST
Many may wish to keep the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions units rostered because they enter Week 7 having scored among the most PPR points in fantasy. That is a reasonable decision, under the circumstances. Punt the others. Readily available units worth streaming for Week 8 include the Buffalo Bills (51.4%) at Carolina, the Los Angeles Chargers (23.6%) versus the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons (9.2%) hosting the Miami Dolphins. And please don’t ask about kickers. Never keep a kicker on the bench. Just replace them.
