Bye weeks shouldn't be a major concern when selecting a fantasy quarterback, but they are something to keep in mind so you aren't 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 anyone in the top 20, assuming they will be owned in the majority of leagues.
When creating the lists, we took into account how the potential replacements should fare this season, how defenses performed against fantasy quarterbacks last year, and how those defenses may have improved heading into 2017.
You can also view our complete fantasy quarterback rankings here.
Week 5
Bye
Top Replacements
Drew Brees - NO
Sam Bradford at CHI
Matt Ryan - ATL
Brian Hoyer at IND
Kirk Cousins - WAS
Blake Bortles at PIT
Paxton Lynch - DEN
Joe Flacco at OAK
Ryan Tannehill vs. TEN
Week 6
Bye
Top Replacements
Russell Wilson - SEA
Sam Bradford vs. GB
Dak Prescott - DAL
Brian Hoyer at WAS
Tyrod Taylor - BUF
Ryan Tannehill at ATL
Andy Dalton - CIN
Deshaun Watson vs. CLE
Alex Smith vs. PIT
Blake Bortles vs. LAR
Week 7
Bye
Top Replacements
Matthew Stafford - DET
Blake Bortles at IND
Deshaun Watson - HOU
Brian Hoyer vs. DAL
Ryan Tannehill vs. NYJ
Sam Bradford vs. BAL
Alex Smith at OAK
Week 8
Bye
Top Replacements
Aaron Rodgers - GB
Sam Bradford at CLE
Marcus Mariota - TEN
Joe Flacco vs. MIA
Eli Manning - NYG
Ryan Tannehill at BAL
Carson Palmer - ARI
Mike Glennon at NO
Blake Bortles - JAC
Brian Hoyer at PHI
Jared Goff - LAR
Week 9
Bye
Top Replacements
Tom Brady - NE
Joe Flacco at TEN
Ben Roethlisberger - PIT
Alex Smith at DAL
Philip Rivers - LAC
Deshaun Watson vs. IND
Sam Bradford - MIN
Ryan Tannehill vs. OAK
Mike Glennon - CHI
Blake Bortles vs. CIN
Cody Kessler - CLE
Paxton Lynch at PHI
Week 10
Bye
Top Replacements
Derek Carr - OAK
Sam Bradford at WAS
Carson Wentz - PHI
Mike Glennon vs. GB
Joe Flacco - BAL
Cody Kessler at DET
Alex Smith - KC
Blake Bortles vs. LAC
Deshaun Watson at LAR
Week 11
Bye
Top Replacements
Andrew Luck - IND
Joe Flacco at GB
Jameis Winston - TB
Blake Bortles at CLE
Cam Newton - CAR
Mike Glennon vs. DET
Ryan Tannehill - MIA
Sam Bradford vs. LAR
Brian Hoyer - SF
Josh McCown - NYJ
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