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Fantasy: Quarterback bye-week replacement guide

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Get ready for your season with theScore's 2018 Fantasy Football Draft Kit.

Bye weeks shouldn't be a major concern when selecting a fantasy quarterback. But you should keep them in mind to avoid being 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 any passer in the top 20, assuming they'll be owned in the majority of leagues. We also flipped from veteran starters to first-round rookies after Week 8, expecting teams will make the switch around then.

When creating the lists, we took into account how the potential replacements should fare in 2018, how defenses performed against fantasy quarterbacks last year, and how those defenses may improve heading into 2018.

You can also view our 2018 bye-week cheat sheet here.

And our complete fantasy quarterback rankings here.

Week 4

Bye Top Replacements
Cam Newton Case Keenum vs. KC
Alex Smith Tyrod Taylor at OAK  
Eli Manning vs. NO
Mitch Trubisky vs. TB
Ryan Tannehill at NE
Sam Bradford vs. SEA

Week 5

Bye Top Replacements
Jameis Winston Case Keenum at NYJ
Mitch Trubisky Blake Bortles at KC
Ryan Tannehill at CIN
Andy Dalton vs. MIA
Joe Flacco at CLE

Week 6

Bye Top Replacements
Matthew Stafford Mitch Trubisky at MIA
Drew Brees Josh McCown vs. IND
Blake Bortles at DAL
Derek Carr vs. SEA

Week 7

Bye Top Replacements
Aaron Rodgers Case Keenum at ARI
Russell Wilson Mitch Trubisky vs. NE
Ben Roethlisberger Andy Dalton at KC
Derek Carr Tyrod Taylor at TB
Ryan Tannehill vs. DET

Week 8

Bye Top Replacements
Philip Rivers Case Keenum at KC
Marcus Mariota Eli Manning vs. WAS
Dak Prescott Derek Carr vs. IND
Matt Ryan Mitch Trubisky vs. NYJ
Andy Dalton vs. TB
Baker Mayfield at PIT
Josh Rosen vs. SF

Week 9

Bye Top Replacements
Carson Wentz Derek Carr at SF
Andrew Luck Baker Mayfield vs. KC
Blake Bortles Ryan Tannehill vs. NYJ
Eli Manning Sam Darnold at MIA
Andy Dalton Mitch Trubisky at BUF
Sam Bradford Joe Flacco vs. PIT
Case Keenum vs. HOU

Week 10

Bye Top Replacements
Deshaun Watson Mitch Trubisky vs. DET
Kirk Cousins Blake Bortles at IND
Case Keenum Eli Manning at SF 
Joe Flacco Baker Mayfield vs. ATL 
Ryan Tannehill at GB 
Josh Rosen at KC 
Sam Darnold vs. BUF  

Week 11

Bye Top Replacements
Tom Brady Eli Manning vs. TB
Jimmy Garoppolo Josh Rosen vs. OAK
Baker Mayfield Derek Carr at ARI
Ryan Tannehill Blake Bortles vs. PIT
Josh Allen Joe Flacco vs. CIN
Sam Darnold Andy Dalton at BAL
Case Keenum at LAC

Week 12

Bye Top Replacements
Patrick Mahomes Mitch Trubisky at DET
Jared Goff Ryan Tannehill at IND
Baker Mayfield at CIN
Derek Carr at BAL
Blake Bortles at BUF
Joe Flacco vs. OAK

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