We know the upcoming season’s schedule the minute the earlier season ends. Not the order, however the opponents. Two video games in opposition to every division opponent, taking part in a pair divisions as soon as every, then a pair extra video games primarily based on end. The order issues, however the opponent is the key data. Of course, there’s yet one more factor we don’t know, and we received’t comprehend it for a pair months, till the NFL schedule comes out in May: The bye weeks. If your crew has an early bye, you mourn the lengthy endless stretch of video games that awaits them afterward. If it’s a late bye, effectively, that messes up the fantasy soccer playoff drive. But what the byes are is the one factor each crew runs into over the course of the season, the one time a crew can effectively and actually take a step again and make some important adjustments. To that finish, yearly you see a handful of gamers see a dramatic shift in fantasy scoring earlier than and after the bye. A man who will get elevated in position instantly goes from a fantasy bench man to a starter. Another man will get phased out and solely stays a fantasy title due to fame. There are any variety of causes a participant sees an enormous bounce or fall in fantasy manufacturing round the bye. Today, let’s take a look at a few of the greatest post-bye fallers in fantasy soccer final 12 months, and what that may imply for 2026. Thursday, we checked out the greatest risers. (PPR scoring; gamers wanted at the very least three video games on both sides of the bye and 100-plus whole fantasy factors to qualify.)
2025 Fantasy Football Post-Bye Fallers
Kayshon Boutte, WR, New England Patriots
PPR factors per sport earlier than the bye: 10.3 PPR factors per sport after the bye: 3.7 Change: -64.3%
FOXBOROUGH, MA – SEPTEMBER 21: Kayshon Boutte #9 of the New England Patriots makes positive he’s onside throughout a sport between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 21, 2025, at Gillette stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)
It’s necessary to notice that the Patriots had a late bye (Week 14) and Boutte missed Week 17, so it’s a tiny denominator right here. But Drake Maye didn’t look Boutte’s method a lot down the stretch. After averaging 3.5 targets per sport earlier than ethe bye, together with three video games of 5 targets and considered one of 8, Boutte had 1, 3 and 4 targets after the bye, totaling 4 catches for 70 yards in these three video games. That’s an enormous a part of why the Patriots bringing in Romeo Doubs isn’t the finish of their offseason strikes. Whether that’s a commerce for A.J. Brown or a draft choose or one thing else, we’ll see, however it’s exhausting to think about they’re finished at the place.
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Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers
Before: 10.0 After: 3.9 Change: -60.6%
Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers
Before: 14.1 After: 8.3 Change: -41.5% Dowdle left Carolina for Pittsburgh in free company partly as a result of he appeared fairly dissatisfied together with his utilization down the stretch of the season. Unfortunately, although, that manufacturing didn’t actually go to Hubbard, both. The Panthers misplaced three of 4 down the stretch (and backed into the division title nonetheless), and people trailing video games meant that there wasn’t work for the working backs. So principally, your religion in Hubbard (and Jonathon Brooks, if/when he returns) in 2026 actually boils down as to if you consider in the Panthers being respectable once more.
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Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
Before: 19.9 After: 8.3 Change: -58.2% Odunze regarded like a real star earlier than the Bears’ Week 5 bye. He had at the very least 15.2 PPR factors in every of the 4 video games and trailed solely Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St. Brown in PPR scoring at the place. But after the bye, it dried up. Odunze averaged 8.8 targets, 74.0 yards and 59.0 offensive snaps earlier than the bye. Those numbers dropped to six.9, 45.6 and, crucially, 62.1, respectively after. He was taking part in simply as a lot however wasn’t getting targets. Meanwhile, take a look at the variety of his Bears teammates:
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|
Before the Bye (Per Game) |
After the Bye (Per Game) |
||||||
|
|
Targets |
Yards |
Snaps |
PPR Points |
Targets |
Yards |
Snaps |
PPR Points |
|
Rome Odunze |
8.8 |
74.0 |
59.0 |
19.9 |
6.9 |
45.6 |
62.1 |
8.3 |
|
DJ Moore |
5.3 |
45.0 |
56.3 |
9.7 |
4.9 |
39.1 |
57.9 |
10.1 |
|
Luther Burden III |
2.0 |
34.3 |
24.2 |
5.9 |
4.5 |
45.8 |
43.5 |
9.5 |
|
Colston Loveland |
2.0 |
14.3 |
26.7 |
4.9 |
5.8 |
51.5 |
47.8 |
18.6 |
If the rookies had been going to go up, one thing needed to give, and that one thing was principally Odunze’s ceiling. But now, with Moore gone, I’d be snug betting on Odunze rebounding. Sure, WR3 might be asking an excessive amount of, however the Odunze we noticed down the stretch in 2025 isn’t the Odunze we’ll see in 2026.
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Before: 27.4 After: 12.6 Change: -53.9% Taylor was cruising to an MVP earlier than the Colts’ Week 11 bye. He had 25.1 extra PPR factors than the RB2, Christian McCaffrey. He had 17 touchdowns. He had 1,139 speeding yards. But after the bye, he solely scored 3 extra occasions, and he was solely the RB18 in PPR. RB18 is completely fantastic, however it’s not “Whoa, runaway RB1.” Of course, the Colts solely had Daniel Jones on the subject for two-and-change video games after the bye, and he was damage even throughout these video games. Taylor was by no means going to maintain up the tempo he had earlier than the bye, however he fell additional than he in any other case may need as a result of the offense total fell aside. He ought to comfortably be an RB1 in 2026 if Jones is something resembling his 2025 self.
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Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Before: 15.4 After: 8.1 Change: -47.6%
TAMPA, FL – SEPTEMBER 21: extensive receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates after a primary down catch throughout a sport between the New York Jets and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, September 21, 2025 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Ricky Bowden/Icon Sportswire)
Admit it — as quickly as you noticed the headline to this piece, Egbuka is the participant who got here to thoughts. He got here on like gangbusters as a rookie, the WR3 via 5 weeks and the WR7 getting into the crew’s Week 9 bye. After an excellent Week 10 sport, although, Egbuka fell aside, averaging 6.1 PPR factors per sport down the stretch, one thing round Calvin Austin III numbers. He had at the very least 58 yards six occasions in 9 video games via Week 10, then one sport over 42 yards after that. He didn’t rating once more after Week 10. His taking part in time fell when the Bucs obtained Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan and Mike Evans again on the subject as effectively; opposite to what you’d anticipate from a rookie, three of Egbuka’s 4 video games with the fewest offensive snaps got here in is final three weeks of the 12 months. The future continues to be brilliant for Egbuka, however he’ll want to start out displaying that shortly in 2026.