Episode 9 - Navigating Bye Weeks
Death, taxes, and bye weeks — three certainties, but only one we can actually plan for. Jeff shows how to anticipate “bye week crunches,” manage short rosters, and decide when to spend, swap, or take the zero.
Bye weeks don’t have to derail your season.
Death, taxes, and bye weeks—these things are certain, but we can actually prepare for one of them in dynasty fantasy football. In this episode, Jeff Blaylock (The Other Jeff B from Footballguys) explains how to manage bye weeks strategically instead of reactively.
He revisits the Five Kinds of Players and the Startability Ladder to frame lineup decisions when stars are sitting out, then introduces the four types of bye-week crunches: Critical, No Depth, One-Injury Risk, and Superflex Swap. From there, Jeff walks through his process for mapping out upcoming weeks, identifying where roster gaps will occur, and deciding when to patch them through waivers, trades, or simply patience.
Tying in his FAAB Four framework, Jeff outlines how to evaluate potential fixes—what problem you’re solving, when the player will actually help, and what cost you’re paying. For contenders, sometimes that means spending to stay afloat; for others, it might mean embracing a short-term zero to protect long-term value.
Bye weeks don’t have to derail your season—if you think ahead.
Key Takeaways / Highlights
“Death, taxes, and bye weeks — three certainties, but only one we can actually plan for.”
The Startability Ladder: a framework for deciding who fills your open lineup spots.
Four Bye-Week Crunches: Critical, No Depth, One-Injury Risk, and Superflex Swap.
Use injuries and byes together to forecast lineup stress before it hits.
Apply the FAAB Four: problem, player type, timeline, and cost.
“Unless I’m in win-now mode, I won’t sacrifice long-term value for a one-week fix.”
Chapter Timestamps
00:00 – Death, taxes, and bye weeks
03:19 – Five Kinds of Players & Startability Ladder refresher
07:17 – Four types of bye-week crunches
10:14 – Identifying crunches (ideal lineups, injuries, and byes)
13:19 – Managing crunches: Critical vs. risk tolerance
17:48 – The FAAB Four applied to bye weeks
20:38 – Why I’d take a zero
21:41 – Coming next week: “Bye-Byes”
Related Links / Mentions
Watch this episode on YouTube
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Ep. 6: The FAAB Four
