Week 8 Bye Planner: Christian McCaffrey, C.J. Stroud, Malik Nabers and Alvin Kamara Are Off Next Week, So Plan Now

Week 7 is not over, but the smartest fantasy move of the weekend may be about Week 8. The San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, New York Giants and New Orleans Saints all have their bye next week, which takes Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins, Malik Nabers and Alvin Kamara off the board for the Nov. 1 slate. This week's byes, the Bills, Jaguars, Chargers and Commanders, were a speed bump. Next week's are a wall for anyone built around San Francisco or Houston.

The managers who handle bye weeks best do it before waivers run, not on Saturday night. Here is the planner.

Who you lose

The table below lists the fantasy-relevant players off in Week 8, along with the role each fills and how hard they are to replace.

McCaffrey and Kittle are the hardest pieces to replace. A healthy McCaffrey in this offense is a weekly RB1, and with Mike Evans out with ribs and Achilles tendinitis entering Week 7, the 49ers' passing game has run through Kittle as much as anyone. Purdy managers lose one of the higher-floor quarterbacks in the league for a week.

Houston's bye stings for a different reason. The Texans have been adding talent, with Marvin Harrison Jr. joining Collins and Tank Dell on track for his season debut this week, and Stroud's projection has been rising. A manager with Stroud and a Texans receiver loses a correlated piece of the lineup at once.

The positions that will be tight

Quarterback. With Purdy, Stroud, McCarthy and Shough off, single-quarterback managers who roster any of them need a streamer. The best candidates are quarterbacks who will play in favorable spots next week and who may be on waivers now. Start that search with players whose Week 7 games kick off late, so you can see their performance before claims run.

Running back. McCaffrey and Kamara headline, and Woody Marks and Cam Skattebo add depth to the list. Skattebo's role has cratered in recent weeks (he played six snaps without a touch in Week 6), so the Giants' bye matters less than his usage does. McCaffrey managers have no realistic one-for-one replacement and should be thinking about a flex-quality back who can soak up volume for one week.

Wide receiver. Nabers, Collins and Olave all go dark, along with Harrison and Jaylin Noel. Nabers has been one of the most productive receivers in football over the last month, including a 12-catch, 165-yard game against the Saints, so his managers are losing a weekly WR1.

Tight end. Kittle is the big loss, with Isaiah Likely the other startable name off. Tight end is the shallowest position in fantasy, so Kittle managers should be the most aggressive on waivers this week.

Waiver targets to grab now

The best bye-week replacements are players who are already trending up and who might get more expensive after this weekend. The targets below each play in Week 8 and fit the positions above.

Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet is the stash with the most upside. Seattle activated him from the PUP list this week and then held him out of Sunday night's game against the Chiefs, but he practiced in full and his next chance is the Monday, Nov. 2 home game against Chicago. A healthy Charbonnet in a committee is a viable Week 8 flex, and a stash for the fantasy playoffs.

Rams receivers Konata Mumpfield and Jordan Whittington are the speculative adds. With Davante Adams out six to 10 weeks and Puka Nacua questionable with a calf, one of them may emerge as a regular target. Watch the Rams' Week 7 snap counts before you spend a claim.

Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson is the obvious Kittle pivot if he is available. He returned from the concussion protocol this week, gets a healthier Minnesota offense around him, and is the kind of tight end who can be a starter for the rest of the season, not just one week.

Jets running back Braelon Allen is worth a look depending on Breece Hall's status. Allen has handled the overwhelming share of New York's backfield work since Week 4, and if Hall's quad keeps him limited, Allen is a volume flex for Week 8.

The trade angle

Bye weeks create trade leverage, and the next few days are when it is easiest to use. A manager who is stacked with 49ers or Texans and fighting for a playoff spot may be willing to move a star for two healthy starters to avoid a zero next week. If you are on the other side of that and have a deep bench, this is the time to buy a McCaffrey or a Nabers at a modest discount.

Conversely, if your own team is loaded with Week 8 byes and you are already in a strong position in the standings, do not panic sell. One week without a star rarely sinks a contender, and the second half of the season, when those players return, is where championships are won.

The Verdexed angle

Verdexed publishes its NFL picks weekly, at /blog/nfl-week-7-picks-2026 this week, and the Week 8 board will appear in the same format once the slate is set. For player-level matchups, /nfl/predictions updates through the week. The strategic point for Week 8 is that byes reshape DFS ownership as well as season-long lineups: with four offenses off, fewer stacks are available, and ownership tends to concentrate on the remaining high-total games. That makes contrarian builds in mid-total games more valuable than usual.

What to do this week

Before waivers run, count how many starters you lose to Week 8 byes. If it is one, a single streamer will do. If it is three or more, start working the trade market now, while the managers you are negotiating with are still focused on Week 7 rather than seeing their own hole next week. The managers who plan early pay less.