The NFL schedule is cruel to fantasy managers. With zero teams on bye during Thanksgiving week, we must now go without four units in Week 14: New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers.

With the fantasy playoffs hanging in the balance across the land, let's take a look at the top waiver wire fill-ins for Week 14 and look ahead to the fantasy playoffs for both redraft and Guillotine Leagues™.

All roster rates denoted are from Yahoo leagues.

Week 14 Bye Week Schedule For Fantasy Football

Here are the top fantasy players scheduled for byes in Week 14, with their FantasyLife rest-of-season positional rank listed.

Quarterback Bye Week Strategy For Week 14

Few options are available on the wire for managers who didn't plan ahead for Week 14. 

Week 14 QB byes: Drake Maye, Brock Purdy, Jaxson Dart, Bryce Young

Marcus Mariota (10%) looks like he'll get one more week at the helm of the Commanders offense. Jayden Daniels has been "ripping" throws in practice, according to Head Coach Dan Quinn, but the team is rightly being careful with its star QB and won't make a call on his Week 14 status until later this week. Mariota has filled in admirably, averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game in six starts this year. 

Aaron Rodgers (26%) is another beat-up quarterback who will probably start some fantasy playoff matchups if any top QBs are hurt before then. The 42-year-old struggled in his return against the Bills last week and hasn't thrown more than one touchdown pass in a game since Week 8, but he has a friendly matchup at Baltimore in Week 14. If you need to turn to the veteran in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Steelers host Miami and then visit Detroit. 

Fantasy playoff look-ahead:

Jayden Daniels (70%) is available in nearly a third of leagues and could return in time for the fantasy playoffs despite the Commanders being nowhere near the real-life playoff picture. Last season's rookie of the year is recovering from a sprained non-throwing elbow and is reportedly throwing well. The Commanders' fantasy playoff schedule is quite fantasy-friendly: @NYG, vs. PHI, @DAL (Weeks 15-17).

Running Back Bye Week Strategy For Week 14

With the fantasy playoffs around the corner, it's absolutely running back handcuff season. 

Week 14 RB byes: Christian McCaffrey, Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard, TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson, Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary

With Alvin Kamara out, Devin Neal (53%) inherited a solid workload in Week 13 with 14 carries for 47 yards and three receptions for 22. Neal posted an 81% snap share, took 58% of the team's rushing attempts and saw 10% of the targets. Taysom Hill still looks around the goal line, but Neal has been productive through the air in recent weeks, offering a fantasy floor. The 5-foot-11, 213-pound rookie caught five passes on seven targets two weeks ago. 

Blake Corum (26%) once again demonstrated why he is a must-add for anyone rostering Kyren Williams, who briefly left the Rams' Week 13 loss with an injury. Corum racked up 81 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, a typical workload for the second-year RB. Since Week 7, Williams has only out-carried Corum 88-60, good for 58% and 40% rush shares, respectively. It's not unfathomable that Corum would inherit an even larger workload than Williams currently has if the former were injured. The role is lucrative: Williams has scored six rushing touchdowns in the last seven weeks.

Tyler Allgeier (41%) just keeps scoring TDs, making him a fringe fantasy starter most weeks. His league-winning upside is obviously contingent on a Bijan Robinson injury, but these things happen. In Week 13, Allgeier scored his eighth rushing TD of the season on just eight carries for 20 yards (plus two catches for 35). Robinson has only five rushing TDs on the year, along with two through the air. 

Bhayshul Tuten (42%) has cut into Travis Etienne's workload in recent weeks, handling 33% of the team's rush attempts compared to the starter's 50% over the last three games. The rookie has scored in two of three and three of five, during which time he and Etienne have evenly split six carries inside the five. Tuten has only handled double-digit carries once this season, with season-highs of 15 carries for 74 yards back in Week 11. He's a high-end handcuff who is usable in a pinch. 

Week 14 desperation play: Ray Davis (7%) is fresh off an efficient nine carries for 62 yards against the Steelers. He and the Bills have the privilege of the Cincinnati Bengals' league-worst defense against fantasy RBs in Week 14. 

More RB handcuffs: Brian Robinson (23%), Keaton Mitchell (3%), Dylan Sampson (12%), Ray Davis (7%), Tank Bigsby (18%), Samaje Perine (4%), Will Shipley (1%), Malik Davis (1%), Isaiah Davis (3%)

Wide Receiver Bye Week Strategy For Week 14

The Week 14 wide receiver byes are not very debilitating, so we'll focus on a few players whose workloads have been improving in recent weeks. 

Week 14 WR byes: Tetairoa McMillan, Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Wan'Dale Robinson, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall

Christian Watson (64%) has been in this article for weeks as the fourth-year receiver has steadily improved both his usage and production since returning in Week 8 from an ACL repair. Watson is the PPR WR12 over the past three weeks, having commanded a 31% target share and 40% of the team's end-zone targets over the span. With star tight end Tucker Kraft out for the season, Watson appears to have taken on the alpha role in the Green Bay passing game. The Packers' remaining schedule is excellent for WRs with the exception of Denver in Week 15. 

Jayden Higgins (38%) has carved out a significant role for the Texans over the last four weeks, catching 18 passes on 28 targets for 200 yards and two scores. The resulting 12.5 fantasy points per game since Week 10 is good for WR24. Higgins' 20% target share still trails Nico Collins' 26% over that time frame, but the rookie appears to be the clear-cut No. 2 in the Houston passing offense, having buried Christian Kirk (9% target share) and Xavier Hutchinson (8%) over the past month.  

Fellow early-second-round rookie Luther Burden (9%) has followed a similar ascent to Higgins, although the volume hasn't quite kept up in a more crowded Bears offense. Still, Burden is being heavily targeted — and producing — when on the field, leading the team with in targets per route run (24%) over the last three weeks. In that time, Burden has caught 13 passes on 19 targets while running routes on only 57% of passing plays. There's competition for snaps in Chicago with Rome Odunze, DJ Moore and two tight ends in the mix, but all evidence suggests a spike coming if and when Burden gets more playing time. 

Adonai Mitchell (19%) appears to have established himself as the Jets' WR1 since joining the team at the trade deadline. Over the last two weeks, Mitchell leads the team with a 32% target share, having turned 19 targets into 10 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown. Last week, the second-year receiver's 10-102-1 line was good for WR5 on the week. Mitchell is still struggling with drops, as he did in Indianapolis, but there is very little target competition in New York as long as Garrett Wilson is on the shelf. 

Playoff stashes: Mike Evans (67%) is available in too many leagues when there's a legitimate possibility he returns for Week 15 or 16. … Things are a bit murkier for Jayden Reed (38%), but he is seemingly making progress, and Green Bay visits a forgiving Bears pass defense in Week 16.

Tight End Bye Week Strategy For Week 14

Tight end options are limited on the waiver wire. Use the Fantasy Life Strength of Schedule tool to make sit/start decisions among players outside the position's top-10.

Week 14 TE byes: George Kittle, Hunter Henry, Theo Johnson 

The production finally spiked last week for Brenton Strange (56%), who was earning a big share of the Jaguars passing offense before a hip injury cost him six weeks. Strange has a 17% target share since returning in Week 12, second on the team to Jakobi Meyers (24%), resulting in TE4 and TE7 finishes over the past two weeks. The Jaguars have the seventh-best remaining schedule for fantasy TEs.

If Harold Fannin (35%) played for another team, he might be in the same fantasy tier as Tyler Warren by now. At least Shedeur Sanders found the rookie for a touchdown last week, his third of the season. Fannin is drawing consistent targets and doing what he can with them, offering a fantasy floor even if the ceiling isn't very high. The Browns have the eighth-best remaining schedule for TEs, including a Week 15 matchup with the Bears and Week 17 versus the Steelers.

Colston Loveland (41%) continues to look the part of a top-10 fantasy tight end, but the Bears' depth at receiver is limiting his upside. The rookie has brought down three or more catches on four-plus targets in each of his last seven games, with only two top-12 finishes to show for it. With Cole Kmet's role continuing to shrink, there is still room for Loveland's role to grow — and if he gets more looks in the red zone, he could be a factor in the fantasy playoffs.

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