This article is part of our Fantasy Football Draft Strategy series.
Bye weeks shouldn't be high on your priority list when evaluating fantasy football draft decisions, but they shouldn't be completely discounted either. In best ball formats without any in-season adds or deeper leagues with few players worth adding, having too many players with the same bye can leave you at a significant disadvantage in a certain week, and given the cumulative scoring format of many best balls, one bad week could be the difference between winning a championship and finishing out of the money. Even in traditional fantasy formats, dropping a quality bench player for a one-week plug-in or settling for a zero at one or more positions could have ramifications on the outcome of your season.
Given the rising prevalence of stacking players from the same offense, running into a roster crunch on a particular bye week has become a more common problem. You shouldn't take a clear downgrade in value just to avoid an uncomfortable bye week, but if you're choosing between two otherwise similar options, you may as well take the one that will be available when some of your other top players aren't. The same logic can apply early in drafts, as picking a player on a less populated bye week could help you preemptively avoid stress in later rounds.
To help make informed decisions when it comes to bye week distribution on your fantasy football teams, let's take a look at which bye weeks project to be especially difficult to navigate at certain positions and which ones are less likely to present problems. Bye weeks during the 2023 season will span from Week 5 to Week 14, with between two and six teams off each of those weeks except Week 8 and Week 12, when the entire NFL will be in action.
NFL Bye Weeks 2023
Week 5
Byes: 
Chargers 
Browns 
Seahawks 
Buccaneers
Most Affected Position: Wide Receiver
The Chargers have Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, the Seahawks have DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and the Buccaneers have Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, so you will be missing out on three of the league's premier wide receiver duos, as well as Browns No. 1 Amari Cooper. On top of that, two of the four first-round wide receivers from the 2023 NFL Draft will be off in Week 5: Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seahawks and Quentin Johnston of the Chargers.
Potential Impact: 7/10
The Chargers are one of the top fantasy offenses, with a clear-cut QB1 (Justin Herbert) and RB1 (Austin Ekeler) to go with their aforementioned deep receiving corps. Deshaun Watson and Geno Smith are both fantasy relevant QBs even in shallow leagues, and Nick Chubb is another clear-cut RB1 that will be unavailable in Week 5. If Tampa Bay still had Tom Brady, this could have been a 10/10 problematic bye week, even with four teams on bye rather than six.
Week 6
Byes: 
Packers 
Steelers
Most Affected Position: Running Back
This bye will go unnoticed by most fantasy managers, but if you drafted Najee Harris and Aaron Jones at running back, you'll be feeling the pain come Week 6. Doubly so if you hedged injuries by taking AJ Dillon or Jaylen Warren in the later rounds.
Potential Impact: 2/10
Both teams have unproven quarterbacks and decent but not elite talent at wide receiver. Unless you have both Harris and Jones at running back or committed to a Green Bay or Pittsburgh stack, you will have little to worry about on this two-team bye week.
Week 7
Byes: 
Bengals 
Cowboys 
Jets 
Titans 
Panthers 
Texans
Most Affected Position: Running Back
Each of these teams has a running back that's being drafted as an every-week fantasy starter: Derrick Henry, Tony Pollard, Breece Hall, Joe Mixon, Dameon Pierce and Miles Sanders. That's a lot of talent missing from a position that could also be ravaged by injuries at this point in the season.
Potential Impact: 9/10
In addition to those six starting fantasy RBs, we're talking three fantasy starters at QB (Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers), as well as five WR1 candidates (Ja'Marr Chase, Garrett Wilson, CeeDee Lamb, Tee Higgins and DeAndre Hopkins). The only thing keeping this six-team bye week from scoring a 10/10 is the presence of the underwhelming Carolina and Houston offenses, which aren't projected to have many fantasy starters outside of their running backs and Texans TE Dalton Schultz.
Week 9
Byes: 
49ers 
Jaguars 
Lions 
Broncos
Most Affected Position: Wide Receiver
The impact of the byes in Week 9 is pretty balanced, with every position taking a notable hit, but wide receiver stands out as the most affected position. The 49ers have Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, the Jaguars have Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk, the Lions have the best of the bunch in Amon-Ra St. Brown, and the Broncos have Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Throw in Jacksonville's Zay Jones and Detroit's Jameson Williams as unavailable potential fill-ins from the bench, and plenty of fantasy teams are going to be scouring the waiver wire for receiving help in Week 9.
Potential Impact: 7/10
In addition to the aforementioned wide receivers, San Francisco also has elite options at RB (Christian McCaffrey) and TE (George Kittle); the Jaguars have fantasy starters at QB (Trevor Lawrence), RB (Travis Etienne) and TE (Evan Engram); the Lions have two fantasy relevant RBs (Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery) as well as a borderline QB (Jared Goff); and the Broncos boast at least four additional borderline fantasy starters (QB Russell Wilson, RBs Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine, and TE Greg Dulcich).
Week 10
Byes: 
Eagles 
Chiefs 
Dolphins 
Rams
Most Affected Position: Quarterback
There are plenty of positions to choose from on this brutal bye week, but the scarcity at the quarterback position could make Week 10 especially difficult to navigate under center. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are usually the top two QBs off the board in fantasy drafts. When you spend so much draft capital on a QB, you usually don't grab a backup, which means there could be a mad dash to the waiver wire to fill in for two elite starters. If you have a roster spot available, it could be a good idea to grab your Week 10 fill-in QB a week or two early. Tua Tagovailoa and Matthew Stafford are also fantasy-relevant QBs, with Tua being drafted in starting range in 10-team formats.
Potential Impact: 10/10
While the QB situation overshadows these other positions, Week 10 is also quite painful when it comes to WR and TE byes. Miami (Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) and Philadelphia (AJ Brown and Devonta Smith) have two of the league's most productive WR duos, the Rams have WR1 Cooper Kupp, and with Mahomes throwing them the ball, the likes of Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Rashee Rice and Marquez Valdes-Scantling should be weekly WR3 and Flex candidates. At TE, Travis Kelce is the cream of the crop, with Dallas Goedert also firmly in starting range and Tyler Higbee on the borderline. With most of these teams employing RB timeshares, at least the damage at that position will be more a matter of quantity than quality, with Cam Akers, D'Andre Swift, Isiah Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon, Rashaad Penny, De'Von Achane, and Raheem Mostert among the names off the board in Week 10.
Week 11
Byes: 
Saints 
Falcons 
Colts 
Patriots
Most Affected Position: Running Back
If Jonathan Taylor doesn't hold out and gets healthy, he should return to RB1 status for the Colts. Rookie eighth overall pick Bijan Robinson is projected to be an RB1 from the get-go in a Falcons offense that also has incumbent Tyler Allgeier, and the Saints added 2022 rushing TD leader Jamaal Williams to a backfield that still has Alvin Kamara. Meanwhile, Rhamondre Stevenson could be the only every week fantasy starter for the Patriots.
Potential Impact: 4/10
Outside of RB, the damage isn't too bad in Week 11. Overcoming the absences of WRs Chris Olave, Drake London, Michael Pittman, Michael Thomas and JuJu Smith-Schuster shouldn't be too difficult, and Kyle Pitts will be the only surefire fantasy starter missing at TE. Anthony Richardson's mobility makes the rookie an intriguing fantasy QB while Derek Carr projects as a borderline fantasy starter after joining the Saints in free agency, but those shouldn't be major holes to fill, either.
Week 13
Byes: 
Bills 
Vikings 
Ravens 
Giants 
Raiders 
Bears
Most Affected Position: Quarterback
There are plenty of affected position groups to choose from in Week 13 with six teams on bye, but the most glaring one is quarterback. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins and Daniel Jones are all being drafted as potential fantasy starters, and Jimmy Garoppolo won't be an option to pick up as a replacement in Week 13.
Potential Impact: 9/10
Tight end is a close second to quarterback for the most affected position group in Week 13. Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson and Darren Waller are clear-cut starters, while Cole Kmet is a borderline starter, plus Dalton Kincaid and Michael Mayer are two of the top rookie sleepers at the position. There will also be three top-flight WRs missing in Week 13: Justin Jefferson, Stefon Diggs and Davante Adams. DJ Moore is also being drafted as a fantasy starter at WR and Gabe Davis is at least a flex play, but the overall damage isn't so bad at that position. Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs are the two biggest names at RB off in Week 13, though the absences of Minnesota's Alexander Mattison and Baltimore's J.K. Dobbins could also prove painful here.
Week 14
Byes: 
Cardinals 
Commanders
Most Affected Position: Wide Receiver
Terry McLaurin is usually the first player off the board from one of these two teams in fantasy drafts, and the Commanders also have an intriguing No. 2 WR in 2022 first-round pick Jahan Dotson. The departure of DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona could open the door for more production from holdovers Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore.
Potential Impact: 2/10
Week 13 should mark the end of the road as far as byes you need to play around, as the damage is fairly minimal in Week 14. James Conner's a starting fantasy RB and QB Kyler Murray should be fully healed from his torn ACL late in the season and thus a possible fantasy starter as well, but Murray's managers will likely have drafted him as their No. 2 QB to begin with. Washington RBs Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson are being drafted as bench pieces and thus shouldn't be missed all that much.
