Underdog Fantasy best ball drafts are different than your standard Fantrax best ball draft in those late bye weeks, and matchups matter because they’re playoffs, not just another week. Let’s look at those most impacted by late bye weeks and tough matchups to end the year…
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators have a few fantasy-relevant players, such as Eugene Wilson III, Elijhah Badger, and Montrell Johnson, among others. Still, you may want to avoid due to their 2024 schedule.
They don’t have a bye week but face two SEC opponents (LSU and Ole Miss) and rival Florida State. FSU poses the most formidable defensive matchup (gave up just 19.3 points per game in 2023), while LSU and Ole Miss may be more shootout than defensive-focused matchup. Ole Miss did rank 40th in points per game last season, giving up just 22.5 points per game. Their defense gave up single-digit points four times last season and 25 or fewer ten times in 2023!
Virginia Cavaliers
Surprising to some, the Cavaliers have a few players who are relevant to fantasy. Malachi Fields, the likely WR1, and Anthony Colandrea, the favorite to be the quarterback this season, could easily be drafted in every draft. Beware as they face Notre Dame, SMU, and Virginia Tech to end the season, giving them one of the toughest schedules to round out their season.
Notre Dame shouldn’t surprise you as a top-10 scoring defense, but SMU finished 11th on the season, giving up just 17.8 points per game. Virginia Tech struggled at times last season but returned two extremely talented members of the secondary and boosted its defensive line with multiple defensive tackle transfers.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Yellow Jackets have a week 11 bye before facing off against Miami (FL), NC State, and Georgia to end the season. NC State was the 25th-ranked defensive team in terms of points per game, and Georgia continues to be a force to be reckoned with on defense.
Haynes King, the extremely talented dual-threat quarterback, has seen his ADP drop with the realization that he has three bye weeks compared to most team’s two and faces an excruciatingly tough playoff schedule. With a softer schedule, he’s easily a top-ten fantasy quarterback. Jamal Haynes and Eric Singleton Jr., the team’s top running back and receiver, both take hits for these reasons.
USC Trojans
This Trojans offense is in for trouble once November hits. In their final three weeks of the season, they face off against Nebraska (18.3 PPG allowed in 2023), UCLA (18.4 PPG), and Notre Dame (15.9 PPG). All three ranked in the top 15 of scoring defenses last season, and while things change year after year, that’s not a great start.
Miller Moss is in a quarterback battle with Jayden Maiava, so whoever wins that job will have some tough starts ahead of them. At the other skill positions, we see Jo’quavious Marks (running back) and a plethora of receivers all face inopportune matchups come playoffs.
Oklahoma Sooners
Look, I’m not going to sit here and say avoid Oklahoma players because of some late matchups, but it’s certainly worth keeping in the back of your mind. They have a Week 11 bye, then face off against Missouri, Alabama, and then play LSU.
As already stated, LSU isn’t the toughest matchup by any means. We may see this as a positive if the Tigers’ offense is humming with essentially a brand new skill position group in 2024. The game is on the road, though, and potentially as a night game, it isn’t the most exciting of things to think about from a fantasy perspective. Alabama at home in week 12 is fairly middle of the pack regarding matchups.
The team below didn’t make the cut but has players impacted by something unfortunate: a week 13 bye! Take a look at those teams and players impacted below:
Oregon:
-Dillon Gabriel, QB
-Jordan James, RB
-Tez Johnson, WR
-Evan Stewart, WR
-Terrance Ferguson, TE
