Geoff Lambert previews QB Bye Week Options for the 2017 season.
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There is only one thing in fantasy football that is more useless than having a kicker position, and that’s the “bye week quarterback.” While both are a necessary evil, the bye week quarterback is particularly awful because, barring an injury to your starter, you will only use that QB one time all season.
There are two different routes you can go when rostering your bye-week QB. You either draft one in August or you grab one off the waiver wire the week you need him. Both routes have their pros and cons and you can win your fantasy championship going with either option. For the sake of this article, I’m going to go through all the bye weeks for the season and give you my opinion on all of the options you will have available for that week. I’ll group them into two categories, quarterbacks that should be on your waiver wire that can be added the week of your bye or quarterbacks that you will have to draft in August to fill in for your starter.
Thankfully, FantasyPros has put together a great tool that will show which fantasy relevant players are on a bye for every bye week of the season. This is a great tool to bring to your draft, and coupled with this article, will put you one step ahead of all your league mates.
2017 Draft Kit: View printable cheat sheets, sleepers & mistakes to avoid 
Week 5 (Falcons, Broncos, Saints, Redskins)
Week 5 will be big for bye week QBs with three of the four teams on a bye having potential top-10 QBs. Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins, and Matt Ryan owners will likely all be looking to nab a QB off the waiver wire. Lucky for them there are plenty of options to choose from. Joe Flacco is the safest bet here as the Ravens throw the ball a ton. Even though Flacco doesn’t always put up huge numbers, his volume alone makes him a viable fill-in.
If you are looking for upside from your bye week QB, I think I would take a chance on Carson Palmer. He is a year removed from his 2015 season in which he was one of the top QBs in all of fantasy. He gets a good matchup with the Eagles who struggled against the pass last year ranking 20th in that category.
If you choose to draft a QB I think you have two very good options in Eli Manning and Andy Dalton. Given a choice I’d take Manning over Dalton, but Dalton is playing at home where he typically plays well and you can likely get him a round or so later than Manning.
Draft
- Eli Manning (NYG) vs LAC
- Andy Dalton (CIN) vs BUF
Waiver Wire
- Brian Hoyer (SF) at IND
- Joe Flacco (BAL) at OAK
- Sam Bradford (MIN) at CHI
- Carson Palmer (ARI) @ PHI
Week 6 (Bills, Bengals, Cowboys, Seahawks)
Depending how deep your league is, there will likely be only two team owners looking for QBs this week, Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott owners. If your league is deeper than 12 teams, than there could be as many as four owners looking for a QB. Either way, there are a plethora of waiver wire options here in Week 6.
Joe Flacco tops the list in “safest” category again this week. The others are risky at best. Because this is one of the early bye weeks, I’d recommend drafting your bye week QB if you own Wilson or Prescott.
Philip Rivers would be my first choice, but you may have to reach a little higher for him in the draft. Bortles is an interesting upside call, and by Week 6 you should know if he is playing horribly like he did in 2016 or if he’s able to bounce back and play like the fantasy stud he was in 2015.
Draft
- Philip Rivers (LAC) at OAK
- Blake Bortles (JAC) vs LAR
Waiver Wire
- Joe Flacco (BAL) vs CHI
- Tom Savage/Deshaun Watson (HOU) vs CLE
- Sam Bradford (MIN) vs GB
- Ryan Tannehill (MIA) at ATL
- Brian Hoyer (SF) at WAS
Week 7 (Lions, Texans)
With only two teams on a bye in Week 7, if you’re a Matthew Stafford owner you can rest easy knowing you won’t have to compete with anyone on the waiver wire. With that said, there aren’t a ton of good options. My top choice for the waiver wire would be Carson Palmer who threw for 543 yards and four TDs in two games against the Rams last season.
If you don’t like your options on the waiver wire and choose to draft your fill-in, Tyrod Taylor has a high floor because of his rushing ability. He does have a tough matchup with Tampa Bay, but it’s not tough enough to avoid him.
Draft
- Blake Bortles (JAC) @ IND
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF) vs TAM
Waiver Wire
- Alex Smith (KC) @ OAK
- Carson Palmer (ARI) @ LAR
- Ryan Tannehill (MIA) vs NYJ
Week 8 (Cardinals, Packers, Jaguars, Rams, Giants, Titans)
A lot of teams are on bye in Week 8, but there aren’t many “sure-fire” starters among them. In fact, Aaron Rodgers and Marcus Mariota are the only ones that should be drafted as QB1s this year.
There are a few decent waiver wire pickups, with my favorite being Carson Wentz against the lowly San Francisco defense. The addition of Alston Jeffery gives him a big-play threat, and he could be in for a good game in a great matchup here. If you’re going the draft route I really like Andy Dalton in a plus matchup at home against Andrew Luck and the Colts. That game could turn into a shootout, which we love in fantasy football.
Draft
- Andy Dalton (CIN) vs IND
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF) vs OAK
Waiver Wire
- Sam Bradford (MIN) @ CLE
- Carson Wentz (PHI) vs SF
- Joe Flacco (BAL) vs MIA
- Ryan Tannehill (MIA) @ BAL
- Mike Glennon (CHI) @ NO
Week 9 (Bears, Browns, Chargers, Vikings, Patriots, Steelers)
Another six-team bye week but with very few sure-fire QB1s. Only Tom Brady and Ben Roethisberger owners will likely be looking for QBs here, and there are plenty for them to choose from.
My favorite waiver wire QB is once again Caron Palmer. He has a great matchup against the very young and susceptible 49ers secondary, and he should be able to pick them apart. If you are looking to the draft for your QB, you have four really good options with my favorite being Eli Manning.
The Rams have a good defense, but the Giants have little to no running game and will need to throw the ball a ton to move the chains. Brandon Marshall should help Manning’s touchdown numbers in the red zone, and they won’t have to settle for as many field goals as they did last year.
Draft
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF) @ NYJ
- Eli Manning (NYG) vs LAR
- Andy Dalton (CIN) @ JAX
- Blake Bortles (JAC) vs CIN
Waiver Wire
- Tom Savage/DeShaun Watson (HOU) vs IND
- Carson Palmer (ARI) @ SF
- Ryan Tannehill (MIA) vs OAK
- Alex Smith (KC) @ DAL
Week 10 (Ravens, Chiefs, Raiders, Eagles)
There is only one owner that will be looking for a QB in Week 10 and that’s Derek Carr owners. The waiver wire leaves a lot to be desired, but there are plenty of draft options. In fact, there are so many draft options that a few of these guys may be on waivers by Week 10. Most owners will have already gone through their bye week and will likely drop their second QB to get the latest hot pickup.
My favorite QB to draft would again be Eli Manning against the lowly 49ers defense. The 49ers defense will be one to target this season when looking for a streaming QB or a bye-week fill in.
Draft
- Blake Bortles (JAC) vs LAC
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF) vs NO
- Eli Manning (NYG) vs SF
- Philip Rivers (LAC) @ JAC
Waiver Wire
- Sam Bradford (MIN) @ WAS
- Mike Glennon (CHI) vs GB
Week 11 (Panthers, Colts, Dolphins, Jets, 49ers, Buccaneers)
The final bye week has three likely QB1s. Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, and Jameis Winston will all be home watching the games, leaving their owners looking for a fill in.
The waiver wire is a bit scarce, and only Joe Flacco is really safe. It will be tough to draft a second QB and keep them on your bench for basically the entire year if you’re an owner of one of these QBs, but if you want to play it safe, I think drafting a second QB is the only way to go.
I reallly like Blake Bortles here. Of course, by Week 11, if he is playing like he did last season, we could be talking about Chad Henne and not Bortles in this spot. Tyrod Taylor has the highest floor of the three draft QBs and a decent matchup against the Chargers.
Draft
- Blake Bortles (JAC) @ CLE
- Tyrod Taylor (BUF) @ LAC
- Philip Rivers (LAC) vs BUF
Waiver Wire
- Sam Bradford (MIN) vs LAR
- Alex Smith (KC) @ NYG
- Joe Flacco (BAL) @ GB
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