Every NFL team gets one week off per 18-week season, playing a total of 17 games (that odd number still bothers me, but I digress). The rest is necessary for NFL teams, and in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, the players angle for a second bye week to accommodate the grueling schedule. I would support that. But for our game of fantasy football, bye weeks are often inconvenient and force us to start players we don’t want to. Yes, the dreaded Week 14 bye — a pox for high-stakes players — is back in 2023. Also in 2023, we have six teams off in Week 13, which could be a huge issue as fantasy managers look to make a late playoff push.
And if you’re drafting two quarterbacks or two tight ends, like is necessary in best ball drafts on a site like Underdog Fantasy, you likely want players who are taking their byes on different weeks. So consider this a resource to bookmark so you can easily know which teams are off a particular week when you’re drafting your fantasy football teams in 2023.
2023 NFL Bye Weeks
Week 5
Cleveland Browns
Los Angeles Chargers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
These bye weeks make rostering Justin Herbert with a high-end QB2 like Deshaun Watson or Geno Smith potentially suboptimal.
Week 6
Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 6 is a relatively inconsequential bye week. Neither the Packers or Steelers currently have a player going in the first three rounds, per Underdog Fantasy ADP.
Week 7
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
New York Jets
Tennessee Titans
Houston Texans
This is the first of two monster six-team bye weeks. (The other is a gross, super-late Week 13 monster.) Seven of the top 30 players by Underdog Fantasy ADP — Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Garrett Wilson, Tony Pollard, Derrick Henry, Tee Higgins, and Breece Hall — are affected. I love Carolina’s Bryce Young as a super late QB2 in best ball — his ADP is QB23 — but you might need to take a third QB if you’re pairing him with Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott.
Week 8
There are no teams off in Week 8 in 2023.
Week 9
- Denver Broncos
- Detroit Lions
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- San Francisco 49ers
This is a four-team bye week with, nonetheless, some very good fantasy offenses affected.
Week 10
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Los Angeles Rams
- Miami Dolphins
- Philadelphia Eagles
Gross. Three of the top five offenses in the NFL — the Chiefs, Dolphins, and Eagles — are off in Week 10.
Week 11
Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
Only two of these teams — the Colts (Anthony Richardson) and the Saints (Derek Carr) — have a quarterback going in the top-24 at the position, per Underdog ADP.
Week 12
There are no Week 12 byes in the 2023 NFL season.
Week 13
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
Las Vegas Raiders
What a monster of a bye week. Three of the top five QBs by ADP — Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Fields — take off this week. So do two more of the top 14 (Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones). The fact that it comes so late in the season is potentially bad news for teams led by one of these QBs trying to make a late push.
Week 14
- Arizona Cardinals
- Washington Commanders
The Week 14 bye week is always awful for fantasy, but the only player from these two teams currently going in the first four rounds of Underdog Fantasy drafts is DeAndre Hopkins, and he could well be traded before the season starts.
