NFL Schedule 2023: How knowing every team's bye week can help with fantasy football draft strategy

Nick Musial

NFL Schedule 2023: How knowing every team's bye week can help with fantasy football draft strategy image

With the start of the 2023 NFL season less than a month away, it's officially fantasy football season. As you study up for your drafts, utilizing cheat sheets to pinpoint this year's crop of sleepers, busts, and ADP gems, it's a wise endeavor to make note of each team's bye week.

Although bye weeks don't exist in the fantasy football world, the timing in which a team goes on bye can impact how successful your fantasy squad ends up being. With byes taking place from Weeks 5 to 14 this season, there's a good chance one of your early-round picks is relegated to bench duties in what could be a make-or-break week for postseason purposes. 

What can you do to minimize the bye-week impact in 2023? Is there merit in ignoring the bye-week schedule as a whole and just drafting the best available players with overlapping bye weeks?

Below, we'll break down each team's bye week in 2023, detailing the weeks in which key fantasy contributors are idle. After that, we'll discuss the pros and cons of three common "strategies" for dealing with bye weeks before offering up our advice.

DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2023 Fantasy Cheat Sheet

NFL Schedule 2023: Bye Weeks

Week 5: Buccaneers, Browns, Chargers, Seahawks

Week 6: Packers, Steelers

Week 7: Bengals, Cowboys, Jets, Panthers, Texans, Titans

Week 8: None

Week 9: Broncos, Jaguars, Lions, 49ers

Week 10: Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, Rams

Week 11: Colts, Falcons, Patriots, Saints

Week 12: None

Week 13: Bears, Bills, Giants, Raiders, Ravens, Vikings

Week 14: Cardinals, Commanders

2023 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Top 200 | S-Flex | IDP

Notable overlapping bye weeks by position

Quarterback:

Week 5 (Deshaun Watson, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith)
Week 7 (Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud)
Week 9 (Russell Wilson, Trevor Lawrence)
Week 10 (Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts)
Week 13 (Justin Fields, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kirk Cousins)

Running Back:
Week 5 (Rachaad White, Nick Chubb, Austin Ekeler, Kenneth Walker)
Week 6 (Aaron Jones, Najee Harris)
Week 7 (Joe Mixon, Tony Pollard, Breece Hall, Derrick Henry, Miles Sanders, Dameon Pierce)
Week 9 (Javonte Williams, Travis Etienne, Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey) 
Week 10 (Isiah Pacheco, D'Andre Swift, Cam Akers)
Week 11 (Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, Rhamondre Stevenson, Alvin Kamara)
Week 13 (James Cook, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, JK Dobbins, Alexander Mattison)
Week 14 (James Conner, Brian Robinson Jr.) 

Wide Receiver:
Week 5 (Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans)
Week 6 (Christian Watson, George Pickens, Diontae Johnson)
Week 7 (Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Garrett Wilson, DeAndre Hopkins)
Week 9 (Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk)
Week 10 (Kadarius Toney, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Cooper Kupp)
Week 11 (Michael Pittman Jr., Drake London, Chris Olave, JuJu Smith-Schuster)
Week 13 (D.J. Moore, Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Davante Adams, Rashod Bateman, Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Jefferson)
Week 14 (Marquise Brown, Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson)

Tight End:
Week 5 (David Njoku, Gerald Everett)
Week 6 (Pat Freiermuth)
Week 7 (Jake Ferguson, Tyler Conklin, Dalton Schultz, Chigoziem Okonkwo)
Week 9 (Greg Dulcich, Evan Engram, George Kittle)
Week 10 (Travis Kelce, Dallas Goedert, Tyler Higbee)
Week 11 (Jelani Woods, Kyle Pitts, Taysom Hill)
Week 13 (Cole Kmet, Darren Waller, Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson)
Week 14 (Zach Ertz)

2023 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Top 200 | S-Flex | IDP

Bye-Week Fantasy Strategy No. 1: Ignore 'em

Strategy No. 1 is simple. By ignoring bye weeks and drafting the top available players, you end up selecting the highest-valued players each round.

Frankly, you shouldn't let a player's bye week stop you from drafting them. Say you draft Amon-Ra St. Brown as your WR1, there's no reason you should pass up drafting Calvin Ridley a round or two later just because you can't start either player in Week 9.

With six teams on bye in Weeks 7 and 13, there's a chance you draft a handful of players with overlapping byes in those weeks. While it's never a great feeling to punt on a week, there are always underrated free agents with starting potential lurking on the waiver wire (assuming you're not in a 16-team league). Putting yourself in a hole for one or two weeks of the fantasy season likely won't hinder your playoff chances, so draft for value and disregard each player's bye week.

2023 FANTASY SLEEPERS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Each Team

Bye-Week Fantasy Strategy No. 2: Stack 'em

Stacking involves drafting players with identical bye weeks. It doesn't necessarily imply you’re drafting players from the same team, though. For example, say you select opt to draft players idle in Week 13 like Josh Allen, Tony Pollard, Rashod Bateman, and Darren Waller. Clearly, your chances of ending Week 13 with a "W" are slim given you're down four starters, but Week 13 is about the only time you're relying on several bench pieces and free-agent adds as starters.

This sounds like a wise way to go about bye weeks in theory, but it's quite challenging to complete this tactic during your fantasy draft. Chances are you'll deter from drafting the highest-valued players each round, instead searching for players with identical bye weeks. The main goal in fantasy drafts is to extract as much value as possible, so utilizing this strategy simply does more harm than good.

We will commend you for devising a plan ahead of your draft, but you'll undoubtedly face some roadblocks during the season. A couple of injuries to the players you drafted with identical bye weeks will deteriorate your plan, as it's beyond challenging to project out the season before Week 1 rolls around.

By attempting to stack bye weeks, you unnecessarily cap yourself, potentially hurting your chances of drafting a well-rounded team filled with value picks.

2023 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR):
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Ks | Overall

Bye-Week Fantasy Strategy No. 3: Spread 'em around

Our final bye-week tactic is likely the most popular one. This one's a relatively straightforward approach, but it's still worth detailing the nuances.

By spreading your bye weeks around and avoiding players with the identical bye week as much as possible, you limit the number of holes your lineup could face during the bye-heavy weeks. You'll have a fighting chance to compete for a "W" each week, putting yourself in a position to not only secure a playoff berth but potentially earn the coveted first-round bye.

While this strategy looks good on paper and is a popular choice among fantasy owners, it does hinder your chances of drafting the best value pick each round. With the Chiefs and Eagles sharing bye weeks in Week 10, is it worth passing up paring Tyreek Hill with DeVonta Smith if you have a shot to draft Smith as your WR2?

We'd much rather draft two high-upside wideouts, disregarding the fact they'll be relegated to bench duties in Week 10. By not selecting Smith, you avoid drafting for value, hurting your fantasy prospects in the long run. We think it's exponentially smarter to pounce on the value when it's there for the taking. 

2023 POSITION TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST

What is the best bye-week strategy in fantasy leagues?

As we detailed, there isn't one, true best practice when it comes to bye-week strategy.  No one strategy is foolproof, but in our experience, mostly ignoring bye weeks is the best move.

Once you factor in injuries, the rise of must-have waiver wire gems, and in-season trades, there's a high probability your team will look much different in Week 8 than it did on draft night. As long as you try your best to extract the most value during your draft, your roster should be in a solid spot to endure those inevitable in-season speedbumps.

Nick Musial

Nick Musial Photo

Nick Musial is a Content Producer at The Sporting News. He recently joined the team after studying sport management and journalism at the University of Kansas. Nick’s an avid sports bettor who’s always looking for value.