Week 7 Bye Planner: Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence Are All Off, and the Stashes to Grab Now

Week 7 takes four starting quarterbacks off the board at once. The Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders are all on bye from Oct. 22 through Oct. 26, per the NFL's published bye schedule, which Fox Sports, NBC Sports and FantasyPros all match. That means Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence are unavailable in the same week, along with a long list of skill players fantasy managers have been starting every Sunday.

With 28 teams playing 14 games, the slate is not thin, but the losses are concentrated at the most important position. The time to fix that is now, before Sunday's games turn waiver priority into a bidding war.

Who is on bye and what you lose

The table below lists the confirmed bye teams and the fantasy-relevant players who will be unavailable. Injury statuses for Week 6 are a separate question, so this is a planning list, not a start/sit sheet.

James Cook is among the league's top rushers this season, which makes Buffalo the most painful bye for most rosters. Parker Washington has emerged as Jacksonville's top receiver, and Tuten has reportedly taken over as the Jaguars' lead back. Ladd McConkey is the only Chargers receiver many analysts are treating as a must-start right now, and Hampton's snap share has been uneven. Washington plays Monday night against the 49ers before its week off, so Commanders managers get one more look at their backfield before planning around them.

Quarterback: plan now, not Wednesday

Footballguys flagged Week 7 as a brutal quarterback week, and the problem compounds in superflex and two-quarterback leagues, where Allen, Daniels, Herbert and Lawrence are often rostered together. Several streaming options stand out based on Week 7 matchups:

Aaron Rodgers (PIT) vs. the Saints in Paris. RotoBaller lists him as rostered in about 40 percent of Yahoo leagues and argues he should be rostered far more widely. The Steelers are a short favorite in a neutral-site game at Stade de France.

Kyler Murray (MIN) vs. the Colts. Footballguys calls him a viable starter in a solid matchup. He is rostered in a little over half of leagues, so check your wire before assuming he is gone. The Vikings are favored by more than a field goal at home.

Bo Nix (DEN) at Arizona, Malik Willis (MIA) at the Jets and Matthew Stafford (LAR) at Las Vegas also appear on early Week 7 streamer lists. Stafford is likely rostered in most competitive leagues, while Willis is the deepest of the three.

Jameis Winston (NYG) at Houston is a deeper option. Roto Street Journal lists him at roughly 16 percent rostered and describes him as a veteran who keeps producing in favorable spots.

The key is sequencing. If you roster Allen or Daniels, you do not need a long-term answer, only one week of coverage. Use a low waiver priority or a small FAAB bid on Rodgers or Murray, and save larger bids for running backs.

Running backs and receivers to stash this week

Jonah Coleman (DEN). The Broncos rookie is eligible to return as early as Week 7, per Roto Street Journal's early stash list, and he could be a useful add before he is activated. Stash him now while he is cheap.

Germie Bernard (PIT). Bernard tops the same list among wide receivers. The Steelers' Week 7 game in France kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET, so anyone starting him needs to set lineups early that morning.

Pat Freiermuth. Freiermuth is listed as a tight end stash. Managers losing Brenton Strange for one week can use him as a short-term replacement without dropping Strange, who analysts project as a TE1 for the rest of the season.

Keaton Mitchell (LAC). Mitchell is Omarion Hampton's backup and is rostered in fewer than half of leagues, but he is on bye in Week 7 along with the rest of the Chargers. He is a handcuff stash for later, not a Week 7 fill-in. Managers should also know that Kimani Vidal shares that depth chart, so Mitchell is not a pure handcuff.

Rachaad White (WAS). White is a popular early add because Croskey-Merritt is out for Monday night. That helps only in Week 6. He is on bye in Week 7, so do not use a high claim on him expecting help next week.

What to do in your league

Start with a roster audit. Count how many of your starters come from Buffalo, Jacksonville, Los Angeles and Washington. If it is three or more, the move is to trade for a starter before Week 7 rather than hoping the wire covers it. Managers who drafted Allen and Cook, or Daniels and McLaurin, are the most exposed and should sell surplus depth for a Week 7 starter.

Next, protect against the late-game trap. The Commanders play Monday night, so any Washington player you start in Week 6 cannot be benched after his game begins, and he is also useless the following week. Plan your Week 7 claims Sunday night instead of waiting for Monday's result.

Finally, do not drop bye-week players you need later. James Cook, Parker Washington, Omarion Hampton and Terry McLaurin are all players to keep through the bye. The waiver adds should be the weakest spots on your bench, not players who come back in Week 8.

The Verdexed take

Week 7 rewards managers who think a week ahead. Quarterback is the clearest need, and Rodgers and Murray are the most practical one-week fixes on most wires. At running back, the smarter play is future value, such as Coleman, rather than chasing one-week committee backs. Avoid spending big on Week 6-only adds like White, since the bye immediately cancels their value.

For bettors, the bye also concentrates market attention on a smaller slate, and several Week 7 lines are already posted. For Verdexed's view of each matchup once Week 7 picks go up, check the NFL predictions hub.

What's next

Week 6 wraps Monday with Commanders at 49ers. Week 7 opens Thursday with Patriots at Bears, and the Sunday slate includes Steelers at Saints in Paris, Colts at Vikings, Dolphins at Jets, Packers at Lions and Chiefs at Seahawks, before Cowboys at Eagles on Monday night. Waiver claims process early in the week in most leagues, so the deadline for setting your Week 7 quarterback plan is sooner than it looks.