Handcuff vs. No Handcuff (2 Viewers)

[JohnnyU]

I ‘cuffed Quinshon with Dylan Sampson during my rookie draft. Didn’t think he was going to have so much relevance this early.



I didn’t read throughout the entire thread. But to add to it, there’s obvious handcuffs, and then there’s the other guys.

More often than not, your “handcuff” isn’t going to be that valuable. Sure, he will get you maybe 50-60% of your starter - but is that worth the roster spot?

I’ll handcuff CMC of course. But there’s not many more backups that I would chase. Maybe Wright if I had Achane.

Ford isn’t chopped liver.

 

[zamboni]

Very timely - Jeff Ratliffe’s podcast The Rant just did an episode on handcuffing. Does a good job of laying out the pros and cons as we stated above.

Should You Handcuff?

The Rant with Jeff Ratcliffe · Episode

open.spotify.com

Also available on iTunes and his website.

 

[bluemanfoo]

Very timely - Jeff Ratliffe’s podcast The Rant just did an episode on handcuffing. Does a good job of laying out the pros and cons as we stated above.

Should You Handcuff?

The Rant with Jeff Ratcliffe · Episode

open.spotify.com

Also available on iTunes and his website.

Ok, I agree with it. Down the stretch as you prepare for the playoffs, I'm ok handcuffing valuable starting RBs if you have some deadweight on your bench. And looking back, I did do that with Gurley in 2018 when his bad knee caused him to miss week 14 and onward. But early in the season, I'm looking for players with weekly scoring potential, not hedging bets.

 

[Chaka]

Very timely - Jeff Ratliffe’s podcast The Rant just did an episode on handcuffing. Does a good job of laying out the pros and cons as we stated above.

Should You Handcuff?

The Rant with Jeff Ratcliffe · Episode

open.spotify.com

Also available on iTunes and his website.

Ok, I agree with it. Down the stretch as you prepare for the playoffs, I'm ok handcuffing valuable starting RBs if you have some deadweight on your bench. And looking back, I did do that with Gurley in 2018 when his bad knee caused him to miss week 14 and onward. But early in the season, I'm looking for players with weekly scoring potential, not hedging bets.

CJ Anderson was probably a league winner for a lot of people in 2018...if they had the stones to start him.

Week 15: 20-167-1 + 1--5-0
Week 16: 23-132-1 + 3-22-0

 

[bluemanfoo]

Very timely - Jeff Ratliffe’s podcast The Rant just did an episode on handcuffing. Does a good job of laying out the pros and cons as we stated above.

Should You Handcuff?

The Rant with Jeff Ratcliffe · Episode

open.spotify.com

Also available on iTunes and his website.

Ok, I agree with it. Down the stretch as you prepare for the playoffs, I'm ok handcuffing valuable starting RBs if you have some deadweight on your bench. And looking back, I did do that with Gurley in 2018 when his bad knee caused him to miss week 14 and onward. But early in the season, I'm looking for players with weekly scoring potential, not hedging bets.

CJ Anderson was probably a league winner for a lot of people in 2018...if they had the stones to start him.

Week 15: 20-167-1 + 1--5-0
Week 16: 23-132-1 + 3-22-0

Yeah, that was great. My team was ravaged by injury even before I lost Gurley after week 13. In the finals, I started Mahomes and a bunch of late season waiver wire pickups - CJ Anderson, Damien Williams, Jamaal Williams, Robby Anderson and Elijah McGuire. And all of those guys had great games, It was a Fantasy miracle lol. Looking back, I got lucky there for sure.

 

[Ilov80s]

Normal redraft- early on no, wastes a roster spot that could be used to add upside instead of hedging. Later in the year as you get ready for a playoff run I think it becomes ok for the right players in the right situations (good offense, clear handcuff)

Best ball- never you aren’t going to win a large field tourney by hedging, draft with confidence

Dynasty- absolutely, rosters are usually quite deep, there’s far less hot waiver wire pick ups that come up during the season and you are playing it out for multiple seasons so chances of getting injury go up while ease of replacement goes down.

 

[Gally]

Normal redraft- early on no, wastes a roster spot that could be used to add upside instead of hedging. Later in the year as you get ready for a playoff run I think it becomes ok for the right players in the right situations (good offense, clear handcuff)

I am actually of the opposite opinion. Rostering handcuffs early makes more sense to me (provided they are quality RB's that are startable in replacement of an injured starter) because you have more season left so a bad injury to a starter hurts for multiple weeks where you need people to play.

In the playoffs I prefer to stash upside players that backup other teams players. The reason for this opinion is because you are likely not staring a handcuff unless your starter gets hurt. If your starter gets hurt it is likely mid game meaning he didn't score very well which means you are likely to lose the playoff game anyway so having the backup to your own starter doesn't really help in those situations.

Essentially if my starter goes down mid game what are the odds that I am going to win that playoff game? Probably not very good.

 

[Ilov80s]

Normal redraft- early on no, wastes a roster spot that could be used to add upside instead of hedging. Later in the year as you get ready for a playoff run I think it becomes ok for the right players in the right situations (good offense, clear handcuff)

I am actually of the opposite opinion. Rostering handcuffs early makes more sense to me (provided they are quality RB's that are startable in replacement of an injured starter) because you have more season left so a bad injury to a starter hurts for multiple weeks where you need people to play.

But every week you sit on a back-up you can't play, you are missing out on adding a player from the waiver wire that might be able to help right away. Waiver wire contributors are especially valuable early in the season because you get to start them for more games. As the year goes on, the less and less interesting the waiver wire gets as it has become more clear who is good and who isn't. Having your own handcuff early in the year is a safe insurance play. It's a bet that says I will pay with this roster spot all year and if something bad happens to me, I hopefully can get 75% of the value back into my line-up. Stashing other teams handcuffs is playing with a path to improve your team. If the injury happens, your team gotten better and a has a new player to possibly enter your lineup.

Handcuffing yoyur guys early in the season is playing to not get worse. Having other players handcuffs is playing to get better. Later in the year, if you are a playoff team and look like a contender you might not really need to get better to win the league and it might be enough to just stay as good as you currently are. Just like if you bet on the Packers to make the SB. It doesn't make sense to hedge that bet in August or September or October but if it's January and the Packers are the #2 seed in the NFC, now your bet is worth enough to consider hedging. Note that isn't to say near the playoffs you only want handcuffs for your guys, it's still good to have any kind of high upside handcuff even if it's just to prevent others from having them.

In the playoffs I prefer to stash upside players that backup other teams players. The reason for this opinion is because you are likely not staring a handcuff unless your starter gets hurt. If your starter gets hurt it is likely mid game meaning he didn't score very well which means you are likely to lose the playoff game anyway so having the backup to your own starter doesn't really help in those situations.

Essentially if my starter goes down mid game what are the odds that I am going to win that playoff game? Probably not very good.

I don't agree with this premise. Did they get hurt in the 1st quarter or 4th? A player could already have 100 and 2 TDs before getting a concussion or spraining an ankle. Also even if your player does get hurt and finish with 4 fantasy points, there's a chance another guy on your team puts up 35 and makes up for it or your opponent has a player who turns in a total dud game as well to balance it out.

 

[Gally]

I don't agree with this premise. Did they get hurt in the 1st quarter or 4th?

It's not an absolute but typically if you have a main starter get hurt in a playoff game you are gonna have a hard time winning that week. In the playoffs I will cycle high upside backups if available from other teams and hope to gain that starter and keep them away from others.

 

[Gally]

But every week you sit on a back-up you can't play, you are missing out on adding a player from the waiver wire that might be able to help right away. Waiver wire contributors are especially valuable early in the season because you get to start them for more games. As the year goes on, the less and less interesting the waiver wire gets as it has become more clear who is good and who isn't. Having your own handcuff early in the year is a safe insurance play. It's a bet that says I will pay with this roster spot all year and if something bad happens to me, I hopefully can get 75% of the value back into my line-up. Stashing other teams handcuffs is playing with a path to improve your team. If the injury happens, your team gotten better and a has a new player to possibly enter your lineup.

I agree mostly and was meaning more for the high upside worthy handcuffs.......ie Guerrendo to CMC type. That is my prime handcuff example and one of the few I would be doing this for (I am assuming that as TC goes Guerrendo becomes the obvious cuff to have). We know that SF backs perform well and get volume. Risking a late 1st on CMC is worth it to me if I can get the cuff that goes along with him. I am willing to lock down that roster spot because I believe the upside safety net is worth the risk of picking CMC in the late first. There aren't too many situation that warrant this. To my point, for one of the situations I think it is worth it. To grab the cuff to Chuba Hubbard probably not so much.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Well, in the 18.09 spot of a 12 team start-up I grabbed Rico Dowdle, as Chuba is my RB2.

Felt like a valuable addition to my team at this point, especially compared to the scrubs on the board.