When plotting a fantasy draft strategy, risk aversion is always a prominent thought. You look to minimize risk in the early rounds by avoiding injury-prone players. You try to avoid guys who are looking at possible suspensions or continuously find themselves in front of some sort of disciplinary committee. You even take a deep-dive into coaching schemes to avoid players who may not fit into a new offense being implemented. And yet, after all of that, there is still push-back with regard to handcuffing? What gives?
For those of you who may be new to the fantasy game, handcuffing means you own multiple players from the same team who play the same position in an effort to minimize the damage to your roster should there be an untimely injury or possible benching. In most cases, it is a concept reserved for the running back position. Last season, if you drafted Le’Veon Bell, you handcuffed him to James Conner . It didn’t matter if he reported or not because, either way, you owned the starter. When it became obvious Bell was going to miss the entire season, you added Jaylen Samuels as a handcuff to protect yourself, should Conner get injured. It’s as simple as that.
Handcuffing can also be important at the quarterback position, especially if you play in a 2-QB or superflex format. We’re not talking about drafting Jacoby Brissett late if you picked Andrew Luck, although now in hindsight, you probably hoped we were. We’re talking about the situations like Denver, Miami, Washington and the New York Giants. Rookie quarterbacks like Drew Lock , Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins are expected to take over for the veteran incumbent at some point in the season. While in Miami, Drew Rosen will be competing with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job. If you find yourself in need of a late-round quarterback in 2-QB or superflex leagues and your only choices are Eli Manning or Joe Flacco , you may need to hold an extra roster spot open to grab his handcuff.
While the concept sounds safe and clearly minimizes your overall risk, there are many who don’t subscribe to the belief that handcuffing is necessary. You can list a variety of situations where it was necessary last season and they still find a way to poke holes in the theory.
Kareem Hunt was suspended last year and kicked off the Chiefs. If you handcuffed him to Spencer Ware , then you were covered. Once Ware was moved up the depth chart, your next move was to handcuff him to Damien Williams and if Ware got hurt, which he did, you still had the starting running back in an Andy Reid system. Hard to argue against the late-season and playoff performances of Williams, isn’t it?
If you were a handcuff-truther and owned Todd Gurley , you would have also owned Malcolm Brown . And when Brown got hurt, you would have picked up C.J. Anderson . Anyone want to argue against that production?
In 2018, handcuffing would have given you Tevin Coleman , and subsequently Ito Smith , when Devonta Freeman suffered his Week 1 injury. It would have given you T.J. Yeldon when Leonard Fournette was out, Nick Chubb when Carlos Hyde was traded, Austin Ekeler when Melvin Gordon missed time (and Justin Jackson when Ekeler was hurt), Latavius Murray in the absence of Dalvin Cook and even Gus Edwards when the Ravens had enough of Alex Collins . In each case, the handcuff was clear and the value of handcuffing was huge.
You have to look at this season in the exact same light with regard to handcuffing your backs. Injuries occur every single year and opting to leave yourself unprotected poses a tremendous risk. If you draft Todd Gurley , you better own Darrell Henderson. If you own Dalvin Cook , you should leave a late-round spot to grab Alexander Mattison. If Leonard Fournette is your guy, Ryquell Armstead better be in your running back stable.
There is one caveat here and that comes when discussing the draft cost of a running back. Many will tell you they won’t handcuff Henderson to Gurley due to the cost. Currently, Henderson’s ADP is around 88 which puts him in the eighth round. For some, that’s too high for a handcuff. Running backs like Chris Carson , Lamar Miller and Tevin Coleman have similar ADP numbers and each of those players are expected to start for their teams in Week 1. Leaving them available so you can grab an insurance policy for Gurley is bad business to them and while, the argument does hold water, we can counter with a cherry-pick of our own.
Over the last four seasons, if you drafted Devonta Freeman , you were still paying a relatively high cost for his handcuff Tevin Coleman . However, we were made fully aware that Kyle Shanahan was going to use Coleman in a complementary role which meant a mid-round pick wasn’t a terrible overpay. Given the fact that the Rams have already stated a need to limit Gurley’s touches this year due to his arthritic knee, Henderson seems to fall in that same category.
This isn’t to say that handcuffing is an absolute must and you will lose if you don’t. It’s more of a suggestion on how to minimize risk at a position everyone prioritizes each and every year. Can you take a risk and not draft any of your handcuffs? Absolutely. Maybe they will be available on waivers. But if you have the roster space and there are concerns regarding the starter, then the old “better safe than sorry” adage should be your mantra.
How about an early look at the 2019 RB Handcuff Grid...?