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A lot has happened since last week’s Handcuff Report. We’ve had a major trade and several injuries which have changed the dynamics in a number of backfields. The Running back Handcuff Grid has been properly updated but let’s detail some of the situations that have changed and see if we can make some lemonade out of these fantasy lemons we keep getting.
Buffalo Bills
There hasn’t been any change in the backfield hierarchy, but injuries have hit the Bills relatively hard and keeping tabs on everyone’s condition is imperative. Yes, even with the Bills we should be paying attention. LeSean McCoy is currently in the concussion protocol and we are awaiting clearance before moving forward with him. His immediate back-up, Chris Ivory , is dealing with an unspecified injury and the Bills have not been forthright with the information. Ivory continues to downplay the situation, but how many times have we heard a player misdiagnose himself or give a return timetable way shorter than the actual? Unfortunately, we’re left twisting in the wind, wondering if Marcus Murphy is worth anything here. As a lead back, maybe he has some minimal value, but let’s try to remember this is the Bills we’re talking about and the most we’ve seen one running back total is 85 yards done by McCoy in Week 5. He did not get into the end zone.
Cleveland Browns
Last Friday was a big day as the Browns traded running back Carlos Hyde to the Jaguars in a deal that shook the fantasy community. We’ll get to Hyde later, but for the Browns, this elevated rookie Nick Chubb to the RB1 slot while Duke Johnson remained the third-down back. I went over this in both the Hot Takes piece and the Fantasy Football Stock Watch article, so I’ll try to refrain from repeating myself too much. But that fact remains that this is now Chubb’s backfield and everyone who was pining away for Duke Johnson to step into a larger role can go back to bed. If you are a Duke-truther, think of it like betting on the over in a football game. We bet what we want to see, not what actually is. Time to take off those rose-colored glasses.
Denver Broncos
See that? All we needed was an injury to help sort out this mess. Royce Freeman suffered a high-ankle sprain during Thursday’s win over the Cardinals and could be out for a couple of weeks. The team is simply listing him as week-to-week, but we’ve all seen how long it takes for players to return from this type of injury. It’s similar to a calf injury in that you need to put a walking boot on the guy and keep him off the foot/ankle for at lest two weeks before re-evaluating. Maybe the Broncos will handle this differently, but to me, this puts Phillip Lindsay into a much better spot to see regular touches out of this backfield. Will he lose a few here and there to Devontae Booker ? Probably. Be he may not lose as many to Booker than he would have had it just been the regular time-share between him and Freeman.
Jacksonville Jaguars
This is where the big mess of the week is. The Jaguars seemed to be doing just fine with T.J. Yeldon filling in for Leonard Fournette , but turned around and made the trade for Carlos Hyde on Friday. To many, the belief was, if the Jaguars were going to pick up the three-year, $15M contract of Hyde, then maybe we weren’t going to see Fournette return at all this season. The team would go with a tandem backfield of Yeldon and Hyde and we all move on from there. However, another report surfaced to say that the Jaguars still planned to have Fournette return to action in Week 10, following the team’s bye week. If that’s the case, then it looks like Yeldon is going to be the odd man out here. You don’t pick up that kind of money in Hyde to simply use him as a third-string insurance policy. Looking to the immediate future, it would appear that Yeldon and Hyde will share the backfield in Week 8 against the Eagles and the team will reassess everything over the Week 9 bye. So, in a nutshell, you’re getting zero clarity to this situation and if you have either Hyde or Yeldon, you can expect them to see half the touches this week, unless, of course, someone gets hurt. Clear as mud? Exactly. Good luck to all of us who have to sort through this debacle.
Minnesota Vikings
Hang on to those shares of Latavius Murray , everyone! A recent report from ESPN’s Courtney Cronin says Dalvin Cook will be held out through the Vikings’ Week 10 bye. That’s another two games – home games against the Saints and Lions – Cook will be out and another two games you get to reap the benefits of a solid ground game against subpar run defenses. Ridiculously frustrating for Cook owners, for sure, but again, let this be a lesson to you about handcuffing your running backs. Barring an injury to Murray, this situation should stay in a holding pattern until we get additional updates on Cook during the bye week.
New England Patriots
While Sony Michel owners dodged a bullet with news that there was no structural damage to his knee, we still need to patch up this situation on our fantasy rosters. First off, the assumption is that Michel will be out for at least a couple of weeks. The team has listed him as week-to-week but they have not updated us with his most recent diagnosis. You can figure two weeks for now, but you may want to err on the side of caution and assume he’ll miss the next three games leading into the Patriots’ Week 11 bye. Better safe than sorry.
Do not assume that James White will see some big uptick in touches here. The team is expected to employ the same dual-backfield as before with Kenjon Barner filling in for Michel. Barner saw 10 carries last week after Michel left the game and while he only posted a 3.6 yards per carry average, the important thing to note is the touches he received. White did receive a few extra carries, but that was more about Barner not being used much in previous games than anything else. I fully expect this to remain a split backfield and Michel owners will want to grab Barner off waivers if they need someone to pick up the slack.
New York Jets
The news of Bilal Powell heading to Injured Reserve due to a neck injury broke early Wednesday morning, so if you are playing in a shallow league where, somehow, Isaiah Crowell was still available, he should be scooped up immediately. Trenton Cannon will serve as Crowell’s immediate back-up, but it seems unlikely that he will have as big a role in the backfield as Powell had this season. He’ll see work, but probably not enough to warrant a roster spot on fantasy teams. One thing to also note is that the Jets have Elijah McGuire on IR, but designated to return. McGuire made an appearance at Jets practice last week, suggesting that he may be able to return when eligible after Week 9. If that does become the case, McGuire could find himself sharing the work with Crowell just as Powell did. Add him to your Watch List.
Oakland Raiders
Marshawn Lynch ? He gone! After a few days of deliberating, Lynch underwent surgery to repair his groin last week and the Raiders placed him on IR, thus ending his season. Doug Martin is expected to move up into the earl-down role that Lynch maintained with Jalen Richard staying exactly where he is – the pass-catching, third-down back. If you’re sitting here wondering why Richard’s role doesn’t change, it’s simple – that’s the way the Raiders want it and believe it should be. You can refer back up to the Duke Johnson part if you need additional explanation as to why all your dreams aren’t coming true. Remember, the Raiders also have DeAndre Washington on the roster, so if Martin fails or gets hurt, he will step into the early-down role and Richard? Yes, that’s right…stays as the third-down, pass-catching back. Considering the Raiders are blowing up their roster here, you can probably assume they will be playing from behind quite a bit, so Richard definitely has value. He’s just never going to be the RB1 so many of you are hoping he’ll be.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Here we are in the middle of Week 8 and still no sign of Le'Veon Bell . This dude sucks. Totally ruining fantasy teams everywhere. James Conner maintains his hold on the lead running back job in Pittsburgh and no, you shouldn't trade him at this point. What's the point? You've gotten way more out of him than you or anyone else expected, so appreciate him for that. As for a shared backfield if/when Bell returns? Time to stop sweating that. If it is, so be it. You've been playing on borrowed time anyway.