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In fantasy football planning is everything. Being a manager consists of proper preparation. You can draft the best team on paper and be left with all types of issues. Poor play, injuries, team inconsistencies that reduces team talent, and the crucial all important bye weeks.

Bye weeks can be your best friend in leagues that managers give up in. It happens all the time. The classic manager that digs her or himself a hole and flat out stops managing the team. You can catch a break with pure luck as the owner hasn’t set his lineup and has two to three players sitting out on a bye week.

That’s a process of pure laziness on those owners behalves. Here are a few simple strategies to pre-plan not having a major hole on those ever-crucial bye weeks.

Know your team
It’s a simple thought but knowing your team shouldn’t catch you by surprise. You don’t want to be coming off a fantasy football win and then figure out on Tuesday that you have two potential starting receivers on bye weeks. You should know this way ahead and bolster your bench positions before hand. If the bye week is week six that gives you a month and a half leeway to figure things out. You can either do that via a trade or managing the waiver wire. Risking a loss in a likely 13-14 game regular fantasy football season can’t be tolerated, especially in a money league.

Quarterbacks and Tight Ends Deserve the Highest Attention
I see this mistake far too often as well. An owner will invest heavily through auction or standard drafts at getting an elite tight end or quarterback. Their plan is a no-brainer and to start that tight end or quarterback all year. This strategy seems acceptable but it’s not. That’s two combined weeks having to use a lower tier non-starter. To make up this ground you need to offset this with favorable matchups. Your current backup quarterback or tight end does not have to be your starter that week. Look at a backup quarterback that’s starting because of an injury. Last year Josh McCown paid huge dividends for fantasy owners and there are countless other examples of this.

Upgrade, upgrade, and upgrade
Do not be a lazy fantasy owner. Take it seriously and find the resources to make your team better. All information is out there to make an improvement for any bye week scenario. Analyze and make the proper moves for those two to three tough bye week decisions a year.

Questions @Cimini

Bye Week Teams: Pittsburgh and Indianapolis
It’s the first week of bye weeks and injuries are starting to mount up. Do not be an owner that makes a costly error of not reviewing injury notes prior to Thursday or Sunday’s games. Matthew Stafford is looking as if he is going to be a game time decision by the Detroit Lions. Have a backup plan well in advance. Inserting Shaun Hill for this week is even a good option.

Here are some fantasy players of note to consider placing on the bench for week four.

Quarterbacks
Mike Vick
One of the first teams to corral Vick during his surprise comeback and overtaking of Donovan McNabb were the NY Giants. They know how to contain Vick in the pocket and do what every team in football is doing now, and that is lay hits on Vick. All the offensive line issues and poor play calling by Andy Reid has this team on the verge of another media and self team collapse. Sunday night football will only elevate and expose the Eagles even more.

Christian Ponder
Ponder has been a surprise to start the season and is right on the borderline of tier one and tier two fantasy quarterbacks currently. This has been done with the Vikings calling a basic offense and rather mediocre numbers from the skilled position wide receivers. Though the matchup looks favorable against Detroit, I do not expect Ponder to be ranked in the top fifteen this week for fantasy quarterbacks.

Drew Brees
As shocking as this looks, Brees has too many factors that make a foreseeable rough game against the Green Bay Packers. The number one issue is the Saints defense. They have not been able to stop the run or pass, and this is the type of game that Aaron Rodgers has been waiting for. He has faced some of the toughest defenses to start the year in the Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco. With the anger of the Packers matched with the offset of the Saints poor play, means this could get ugly quick for the Saints. Frustration is already evident and will only grow for Brees when they’re 0-4

Other Quarterbacks to Sit: Peyton Manning and Kevin Kolb

Running Backs
Ryan Williams
The big news Wednesday was that the Cardinals decided to place Beanie Wells on the injured reserve, assuring that Williams is going to be the primary back for at least eight weeks. Williams may have a couple of solid games intermixed in these eight weeks, but not enough to make him a RB1 or RB2 starter. He can possibly be a flex option, but the Cardinals are not going to improve from being near the bottom of the league in rushing. Miami has been tough against the run and will make Williams full time duty debut a rough go.

Willis McGahee
Peyton Manning is struggling early on in games because teams are able to condense down the secondary for Manning’s quick throws. McGahee is as tough a runner as they come but Manning’s limitations are going to hurt his overall effectiveness. Oakland has not necessarily been a stalwart against the run, but McGahee is not a flashy back anyhow. McGahee is a straight forward runner that the Raiders should be able to boggle down.

Doug Martin
Though Washington ranks near the bottom overall for defense, this game will be more about boosting Josh Freeman’s confidence heading into the Buccaneers bye week. The Redskins secondary has allowed every quarterback to thrash them through the air thus far, and have given up ten passing touchdowns overall. Freeman will finally get into rhythm with new receiver Vincent Jackson, and add to Mike Williams touchdown totals.

Others to Sit: Mike Bush if Matt Forte is declared available Sunday, and Chris Johnson

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Steve Smith (Carolina)
Cam Newton himself has admitted he has to work on his demeanor when adversity lurks. The Panthers have had some extended days off after playing last Thursday in an embarrassing home loss to the Giants. Newton just may need a sophomore slump to look back upon for true growth. Facing the red hot Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta is going to be extremely tough for Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Miles Austin
Much of the focus with Chicago always surrounds Jay Cutler. Year after year that’s what the media focuses on. Chicago likes it that way, as their defense has been as consistent as any team in the NFL, but for some reason the focus remains off of them. Tony Romo has had below standard performances against the Buccaneers and Seahawks. A home game against the Bears figures to be an opportunity to change things, but I believe the Bears will continue the pattern of frustration of Romo.

Antonio Gates
Gates has continued to shake off injuries year after year but it appears that has began to take its toll on him. Fantasy owners that drafted him in the same relative rounds as Vernon Davis, Jimmy Graham, and Rob Gronkowski are cursing up a storm like Chris Johnson owners. Especially with how elder tight end Tony Gonzalez is performing. In years past Gates has shaken off the injury bug to put on strong games. It just does not seem like his high catches and yardage games are going to happen as frequently anymore. He is now more in the mid to bottom range of a tier one tight end. That is only if the Chargers can solve their scoring woes. Kansas City is always tough for Philip Rivers and divisional opponents, and will give Rivers enough fits this week to hurt Gates’s production.
Others to Sit: Eric Decker and Marques Colston