How about WR handcuffs? Could it be a thing? (1 Viewer)

It's late rounds, and you already drafted guys like Doug Baldwin, Keenan Allen, Julio Jones, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Thomas, etc.  As you can see, I've chosen some top-notch WR's on teams with less than stellar TE's.  Now, it's the last few rounds, and guys like Tyler Lockett, Mike Williams, Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, and Cameron Meredith are on the board.  Each may hold some value on their own, but would see a spike if the stud were to miss time.  The question is - would you be inclined to draft these guys ahead of another WR a few spots higher on your chart, simply because you own the stud?

No.

WR injuries are much more rare, shorter term, and usually many people step up in place of the absent WR on any given week. 

I'd rather my late round WR to be someone I could actually USE during my stud's bye week (can't if he's on the same team), or a swing for the fences guy.

One reason I would do two from one team is if I was unsure who was going to step into the WR2 role on the team and take both of them hoping one does.

Owner of A-Rob and I'm going to try to get Miller - probably sooner than I'd like.

I'm debating keeping Mike Williams over Kupp because I'm keeping Keenan Allen.

I think it only works if you're confident that the guy you're selecting has talent and just lacks opportunity. As Deamon points out, you're hurting your depth, so there are only a few situations where I'd think about doubling up.

zamboni said:

Owner of A-Rob and I'm going to try to get Miller - probably sooner than I'd like.

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Not sure he's a handcuff as he seems to be a rising asset regardless of ARob's health.

foxco said:

Not sure he's a handcuff as he seems to be a rising asset regardless of ARob's health.

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Agreed. I was thinking as a handcuff so that I cover myself in case he outperforms ARob and I don't wind up with a wasted asset.

First of all, you shouldn't even be drafting RB handcuffs. Handcuffing should be a strategy for later in the season, when the upside of your handcuff outweighs the value of whatever is left on the waiver wire.

WR handcuffs are an even worse idea, for the reasons @Deamon outlines above.

zftcg said:

First of all, you shouldn't even be drafting RB handcuffs. Handcuffing should be a strategy for later in the season, when the upside of your handcuff outweighs the value of whatever is left on the waiver wire.

WR handcuffs are an even worse idea, for the reasons @Deamon outlines above.

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I think I need to clarify my thought process here...

Based on current ADP, say you go WR heavy and start with DeAndre Hopkins (1.9) and Keenan Allen (2.4).  Then, between rounds 3 & 10 you get your WR3 and WR4.  Round 11 comes up and Mike Williams is available.  Now, obviously your WR5, no matter who it is, should not be in your starting lineup.  They are only bench depth.  I guess I am asking if it would sway you one way or the other?

I'm not a fan of drafting any kind of handcuffs.  I think the draft should be used to get as much variety as possibly in order to have a better chance on hitting on a stud.  Once the season gets going and I have a better idea of how teams look I may work on getting a player's handcuff if possible.  Certainly not going out of my way to do it though.

TheWinz said:

I think I need to clarify my thought process here...

Based on current ADP, say you go WR heavy and start with DeAndre Hopkins (1.9) and Keenan Allen (2.4).  Then, between rounds 3 & 10 you get your WR3 and WR4.  Round 11 comes up and Mike Williams is available.  Now, obviously your WR5, no matter who it is, should not be in your starting lineup.  They are only bench depth.  I guess I am asking if it would sway you one way or the other?

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If I thought Williams would have stand-alone value regardless of Allen's health AND I didn't think much of LA's other receiving weapons AND I was particularly worried about Allen's health, then yeah, maybe I would bump him up slightly relative to other options available. But if he has stand-alone value, then he's no more of a handcuff than Tevin Coleman or Dion Lewis are.

I think that's what you're really asking here: Would you consider bumping the value of a late-round WR who's on the same team as your WR1 as a hedge against injury? And I would say that, generally speaking, my late-round strategy is far more focused on high-upside dart throws than on hedging risk.

Imagine JuJu's numbers without AB.

Demian said:

Imagine JuJu's numbers without AB.

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Except that JuJu is being drafted as a WR2 (I assume; don't know his ADP off the top of my head). So are you really going to draft both guys as your first two WRs off the board?

zftcg said:

Except that JuJu is being drafted as a WR2 (I assume; don't know his ADP off the top of my head). So are you really going to draft both guys as your first two WRs off the board?

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This.  But I don't think he meant JuJu would be a 'handcuff' to Brown.  I wouldn't mind owning both as my top 2 to be honest, but that is a whole other conversation than the one in this thread.

Handcuffs are a bad idea for almost all positions. The only time you can make an argument for it is when you have an established back up that has proven he will be just as good as the starter. Tevin Coleman is an example. Who was David Johnson's handcuff last year? How about Zeke? 

In November?  Sure.  In August?  No.

Handcuffs generally aren't worth it because they don't pan out that often (since that requires both an injury to the guy ahead of them and solid production once that happens) and there are usually better uses for a roster space than waiting around for an injury.

WR handcuffs seem significantly less valuable than RB handcuffs. The next-man-up at RB sometimes gets handed a huge workload, but that rarely happens at WR where targets get distributed more. There are often a few RB handcuffs who have a good shot to be a borderline RB1/RB2 if the starter goes down, while a WR handcuff is unlikely to get you more than a WR3.

Also, the difference between a handcuff and a lottery ticket is that the handcuff pays off at precisely the moment when you have a hole in your lineup. Because of positional scarcity, having a hole in your lineup at RB is a much bigger problem than having a hole in your lineup at WR. So the added insurance benefit of a handcuff matters less at WR than at RB.