Bye Week in Fantasy Football, Explained
A bye week is the one week of the NFL season in which a team does not play, so its players score no fantasy points that week.
Updated · Education, not advice
How a bye works
Every NFL team has one bye in the regular season, so a team plays 17 games over 18 weeks. A player on his team's bye has no game and no points, and a fantasy lineup that starts him has an empty spot that week.
- Weeks in the regular season
- 18
- Games each team plays
- 17
- Bye weeks each team has
- 1
Planning around it
Look at your roster's byes ahead of time so you are not short in a week when several starters are off. The fantasy helper shows a player with no game as a bye and counts him as zero, so you see the hole before kickoff.
Questions and answers
- What is a bye week?
- A week in which a team has no game. Every NFL team gets one in the regular season.
- Do bye-week players score points?
- No. With no game they have no stats, so they score zero.
- Can I add a player while his team is on a bye?
- Yes. Leagues usually allow adds and drops any week, though a player on a bye gives you nothing that week.
Read next
- Waiver wireThe waiver wire is the pool of fantasy football players that no team in your league has on its roster, available to be added.
- FLEX spotA FLEX spot is a starting spot in a fantasy football lineup that any running back, wide receiver or tight end can fill.
- Start/sit decisionA start/sit decision is the weekly choice of which of your fantasy football players go in your lineup and which stay on the bench.
- PPR scoringPPR scoring, short for points per reception, gives a fantasy football player one point for every catch on top of his yards and touchdowns.
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