Make Your Move: Your Bye Week Buddha-  10/08/11

GUIDE TO MANAGING BYE WEEKS

It’s that time of year again, time for the bye weeks and the true test of your ability to manage it.  This season there are 4 weeks (5-8) where 6 teams will be on a bye and 2 weeks (9 & 11) where 4 teams will be on a bye.  Some of the owners in your league may have paid close attention to the bye weeks when they were drafting their team and already have a plan, and then there are owners, like myself who don’t look at a player’s bye week and draft the best player on the board.

Let’s take a look at the bye week schedule this year.

Week  5:  BALTIMORE, DALLAS, MIAMI, ST. LOUIS, WASHINGTON, CLEVELAND

Week  6:  ARIZONA, DENVER, KANSAS CITY, SAN DIEGO, SEATTLE, TENNESSEE

Week  7:  BUFFALO, CINCINNATI, NY GIANTS, PHILADELPHIA, SAN FRANCISCO NEW ENGLAND

Week  8:  ATLANTA, CHICAGO, GREEN BAY, NY JETS, OAKLAND, TAMPA BAY

Week  9:  CAROLINA, DETROIT, JACKSONVILLE, MINNESOTA

Week 11:  INDIANAPOLIS, NEW ORLEANS, PITTSBURGH, HOUSTON

Hopefully, even if you were not paying attention to the bye weeks in the first 6 rounds you did after that and picked someone that you can put into the slot.  This is not a time to be panicking about a defense or a kicker.  If your league allows weekly transactions, drop your kicker or defense and pick up another, especially if you have good depth on your team.  There is no reason to drop a player that scores points for a one week replacement at kicker or defense. 

As will happen, there will be one of these weeks where you really get hit hard by the bye week.  It is important not to lose focus on the season long goal and make a foolish move in order to cover one of these weeks.  The first and most important thing to do is first look at your match up.  If you are facing a team that has no byes and all of his impact players in, then it is in your best interest to keep the strength of your team and take the loss that week.

You need to remember that you are playing for the long haul and at this point one loss is not going to hurt that much.  You are going to have your unfavorable situation to deal with, but your opponents are going through exactly the same thing.  With that in mind, there is probably a team in your league that you could trade with that would help both of you.  If you are deep at WR and need a RB for your bye weeks, find the team that has extra depth at RB and will be short at WR and you could make a deal that benefits both teams. 

If you are in a situation where you have 2 guys that are essentially the same as a potential replacement then you need to look at the match up.  Look over the past 3 weeks and check the box scores of those games.  You will see what players (at the position you have the decision between) had success over that period of time and if it looks like your option is a good play.  If you take the time to look for the trend you can spot the potential for bigger game and not leave those points on your bench.

This is also the time of the season where owners are going to be much more willing to make trades in order to cover holes that they have and will allow the shrewd owner to think ahead and make a bold move.

If you are looking to improve your team you can use the bye week as added incentive to making a deal.  If you are trying to make a blockbuster deal, then you might find that if your target has not had his bye week, but one of the main pieces you are looking to trade in the deal has that could help to seal the deal.  Success in Fantasy Football is dependent on your ability to take advantage of all possible opportunities and stay one step ahead. 

One of the ways to do this is to see the move before it happens.  Let’s take a look a closer look at the Minnesota Vikings.  The team is 0-4 and has blown leads late in multiple games.  Leslie Frasier has forgotten that he has ALL DAY running the ball and Donovan McNabb seems to be validating Andy Reid and his decision to trade him.  The team is in turmoil and in the NFC North it is unlikely that the Vikings have any chance to compete this year.  Even if they win a game or two in the upcoming weeks they will be facing an uphill challenge by the time their bye week hits in week 9.  At that time, if not before, you can expect to see Christian Ponder make his NFL debut.  There are still weapons in Minnesota and Ponder has had his time on the sidelines to familiarize himself with the offense so that he should put up much better numbers than McNabb.  If you are in a league where you have to start a rookie, you should grab him now.           

You should also be paying attention to the situation in Indianapolis as they continue their horrible season.  Delone Carter, rookie running back from Syracuse, will be given more chances going forward.  This is the only real battle for the Colts and they will want to know if they have anything in Carter before it is done.  He has only carried the ball 29 times this season and averaging 3.6 yards per carry, but he is seeing 40% of the chances right now.  He has only rushed the ball 11 times in the last 2 weeks but the Colts have been behind for most of the season and have been relying on their inconsistent passing game.   

There will be plenty of chances to help your team out in a trade if you have depth.  Each week there will be a different team that is dealing with the issues of the bye week.  I like to look through each team and see when they will be hit big and if they have something I like I make trade offers.  There are owners who never trade and those owners rarely win.  When making your moves it is about the situation and never losing sight of the end goal. 

If you have an specific questions that you would like answered send me an email at etw74@msn.com

by Houdini

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- 10/08/11