Get ready for your season with theScore's 2018 Fantasy Football Draft Kit.
Bye weeks shouldn't be a major concern when selecting a fantasy quarterback. But you should keep them in mind to avoid being left empty-handed when your QB1 is unavailable.
Consider this a preseason cheat sheet. It shows which quarterbacks you should target on the waiver wire in the weeks leading up to your starter's bye. We left out any passer in the top 20, assuming they'll be owned in the majority of leagues. We also flipped from veteran starters to first-round rookies after Week 8, expecting teams will make the switch around then.
When creating the lists, we took into account how the potential replacements should fare in 2018, how defenses performed against fantasy quarterbacks last year, and how those defenses may improve heading into 2018.
You can also view our 2018 bye-week cheat sheet here.
And our complete fantasy quarterback rankings here.
Week 4
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Cam Newton | Case Keenum vs. KC |
Alex Smith | Tyrod Taylor at OAK |
Eli Manning vs. NO | |
Mitch Trubisky vs. TB | |
Ryan Tannehill at NE | |
Sam Bradford vs. SEA |
Week 5
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Jameis Winston | Case Keenum at NYJ |
Mitch Trubisky | Blake Bortles at KC |
Ryan Tannehill at CIN | |
Andy Dalton vs. MIA | |
Joe Flacco at CLE |
Week 6
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Matthew Stafford | Mitch Trubisky at MIA |
Drew Brees | Josh McCown vs. IND |
Blake Bortles at DAL | |
Derek Carr vs. SEA |
Week 7
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Aaron Rodgers | Case Keenum at ARI |
Russell Wilson | Mitch Trubisky vs. NE |
Ben Roethlisberger | Andy Dalton at KC |
Derek Carr | Tyrod Taylor at TB |
Ryan Tannehill vs. DET |
Week 8
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Philip Rivers | Case Keenum at KC |
Marcus Mariota | Eli Manning vs. WAS |
Dak Prescott | Derek Carr vs. IND |
Matt Ryan | Mitch Trubisky vs. NYJ |
Andy Dalton vs. TB | |
Baker Mayfield at PIT | |
Josh Rosen vs. SF |
Week 9
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Carson Wentz | Derek Carr at SF |
Andrew Luck | Baker Mayfield vs. KC |
Blake Bortles | Ryan Tannehill vs. NYJ |
Eli Manning | Sam Darnold at MIA |
Andy Dalton | Mitch Trubisky at BUF |
Sam Bradford | Joe Flacco vs. PIT |
Case Keenum vs. HOU |
Week 10
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Deshaun Watson | Mitch Trubisky vs. DET |
Kirk Cousins | Blake Bortles at IND |
Case Keenum | Eli Manning at SF |
Joe Flacco | Baker Mayfield vs. ATL |
Ryan Tannehill at GB | |
Josh Rosen at KC | |
Sam Darnold vs. BUF |
Week 11
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Tom Brady | Eli Manning vs. TB |
Jimmy Garoppolo | Josh Rosen vs. OAK |
Baker Mayfield | Derek Carr at ARI |
Ryan Tannehill | Blake Bortles vs. PIT |
Josh Allen | Joe Flacco vs. CIN |
Sam Darnold | Andy Dalton at BAL |
Case Keenum at LAC |
Week 12
Bye | Top Replacements |
---|---|
Patrick Mahomes | Mitch Trubisky at DET |
Jared Goff | Ryan Tannehill at IND |
Baker Mayfield at CIN | |
Derek Carr at BAL | |
Blake Bortles at BUF | |
Joe Flacco vs. OAK |