Good Bye or Bad Bye

Much like the NFL's weeknight schedule, expect the Bye weeks to change year after year as they tweak it to improve revenue. The Bye weeks run longer this year than any prior year, which means less teams off during the heart of the season. The exception is week 7 when 6 teams are on Bye. On the other 7 weeks, the NFL only rests 2 or 4 teams. Aside from Miami, the teams on Bye this week contain multiple players started in more than 75% of all leagues. These players include 3 of the top 10 QBs in terms of points scored this season, 5 of the top 15 RBs, 4 of the top 15 WRs and 3 of the top 15 TEs. The waiver wire is thin enough when it comes to replacing these players, but then you need to mix in injuries. These situations leave a definitive demarcation between The Haves and The Have-Nots. Hopefully, you were careful enough (or lucky enough) to not load your roster up with players from teams on Bye this week. If not, there are some players available with good matchups that can prove useful this week:

Fill-in Players for Week 7:

QB: Brandon Weeden (CLE) - the Colts defense is still very bad. They are so bad that they made both Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow look like NFL quarterbacks last weekend. Mix in that Trent Richardson has banged up ribs so the Browns will be throwing more.

RB: Felix Jones (DAL) - if he is available, grab him and belittle the DeMarco Murray owner that failed to handcuff Jones to Murray. When you have a RB1 with a history of injuries, it is a MUST to have his backup on your lineup. I was shocked to see how many leagues had Jones on the waiver wire going into this week.

RB: Mike Goodson (OAK) - speaking of handcuffs, Darren McFadden owners have left Goodson on the waiver wire even as he has been seeing more action each week. Goodson has done quite a bit with his opportunities and McFadden has a dinged up shoulder so I can see Goodson continue to work into more series.

RB: Jonathan Dwyer (PITT) - with Rashard Mendenhall out with an achilles strain, Dwyer is getting another shot as the starting RB since Isaac Redman is also out for the week. Dwyer is just coming of an injury of his own, so the Steelers will work Baron Batch into the rotation on Sunday as well.

WR: Josh Gordon (CLE) - see Brandon Weeden. We recommended Gordon last week. This week, we strongly recommend Gordon if he is available in your league. These two rookies have bonded and have bonded on the deep route so get Gordon off the waiver wire and into your starting lineup. He could end up Wally Pipping Derrick Bowe in your lineup if he and Weeden keep up this connection.


WR: Chris Givens (STL) - Givens is not seeing a lot of action, but he is involved in at least one big play a game recently. As teams begin keying on Brandon Gibson, Sam Bradford may begin looking Givens' way a bit more often.