I used to handcuff religiously.
I found that when my dude went down, my "handcuff" performed ~75% (or worse) as the starter. Which makes sense, because the starter is the elite player and the handcuff often is not. Sometimes the backup is trash (hellllooooo Chubba Hubbard last year)
The only time handcuffing truly paid off for me was when I took Larry Johnson after Priest Holmes.
But the fact is, I would have been better off taking any other player then Larry Johnson because Holmes was a risky/bad pick that year.
Now I play with the idea that I'd rather have someone else's handcuff - a RB with league-winner upside if the main dude gets hurt. That next Larry Johnson. For this year my favorite two are Pollard and Jamaal Williams. They both have flex-appeal (Pollard maybe RB2 appeal if he is indeed running routes out of the slot) and if Swift goes down for his annual 4 game vacation, or Zeke's balky knee becomes a problem again, you've got a feature back on your hands as your 4th or 5th RB.
So in a way, yes - I want handcuffs. I want my league-mate's handcuffs. If my RB1 or 2 goes down I have a RB3 to fill in. But I also have a couple of lotto tickets, both of whom could contribute periodically. They are also excellent trade bait for the owners who wanted them as their handcuffs.