Fantasy Football: Week 9 a Tough Hurdle When Drafting

Fantasy football owners have many strategies when drafting their teams, but one that always gets in the way is working around bye weeks.

Every season, the NFL schedule makers seem to generate one week where all of the powerhouse teams in the league are sitting out at  the same time.

In the 2016 season, week nine will be that time. New England, Cincinnati, Arizona, Houston, Washington, and Chicago.

What does that mean? It means fantasy football owners will have the daunting task of drafting around a bye week that features multiple superstars at the skilled position.

Here are just a few of the big fantasy names that will be out for week nine.

QB: Tom Brady, Andy Dalton, Carson Palmer, Brock Osweiler, Kirk Cousins, Jay Cutler

RB: LeGarrette Blount, Dion Lewis, David Johnson, Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue, Matt Jones, Chris Johnson, Jeremy Langford

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WR: Julian Edelman, AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, John Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, DeSean Jackson, Josh Doctson, Alshon Jeffrey, Kevin White, Michael Floyd, Will Fuller, Braxton Miller

TE: Rob Gronkowski, Martellus Bennett, Jordan Reed, Tyler Eifert

As you can see, there are some major issues fantasy football owners will come across when drafting. The biggest roadblock will be the wide receiver position, as eight big-time starters will be watching from their couches.

Looking at the draft boards across various networks (ESPN, NFL, CBS) it will be hard to work around the week nine bye week. If you are looking for that consistent home run hitter in fantasy, you almost have to take one of these guys.

The key is not having two starters with the same bye week. Unless there is a player who is dropping ridiculously that you have to take, try to avoid getting caught in the bye week quicksand.

Later this week, we’ll start looking at some fantasy football mock drafts and key rookies that are worth a pick.