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Necessary Handcuffs (1 Viewer)

GreenMachine51

Footballguy
It seems like the handcuffs going into this season are guys you can get really late...but there are a couple out there (like Chester Taylor) who will cost around a 10th rounder. I'm not sure if ADP were to miss some games, Taylor would necessarily be better than some of the other RB options in the mid-rounds due to the presence of Favre and Harvin. So I'm just trying to figure out the stone-cold locks in the "Must Have Handcuff" category vs. handcuffs that you can pass on and get better value...

Out of players that will cost a mid-round pick- Which of these handcuffs do you think are must haves? (and who are you targeting even if you don't draft the starter?):

Chester Taylor

Jerious Norwood

Felix Jones

Rashard Mendenhall

Earnest Graham

Tim Hightower

Lendale White

Leon Washington

Fred Jackson

Ricky Williams

Ahmad Bradshaw

LeSean McCoy

Michael Bush

Ladell Betts

Handcuffs that can be had for cheap:

Jamaal Charles

Bernard Scott

TJ Duckett

Leron McClain/Willis McGahee

Maurice Morris

Kevin Jones

Sammy Morris

Let me know if I missed anyone...

 
Felix JonesRashard MendenhallEarnest GrahamTim HightowerLendale WhiteLeon WashingtonFred JacksonMichael BushJamaal CharlesWillis McGahee
I think the guys above are worth owning, period. Forget handcuff - some of them will finish as legit RB2/3s.As far as pure handcuffs: Kevin Jones tops my list.
 
I'll probably end up with at least two, if not all, of these guys:

Leon Washington

Jamaal Charles

Peyton Hillis

LeSean McCoy

Sammy Morris & whoever else is in the Pats backfield

 
I've never been a big believer in handcuffs. This is probably considered poor FF management but I'm not wasting roster spots on guys who can't be started and have no trade value - the Kevin Joneses of the world.

I've taken guys like that before (Tony Hunt, guffaw) and almost always waive them after a week or two. So rather than thinking in terms of "handcuffing" my starters I just draft backups from any team in the order of who'll score the most points. So yeah, the guys like Taylor, Sproles, Washington are worth going after, but not based on who I drafted as my RB1/RB2.

There are many guys on the OP list who I consider undraftable unless you fully expect the players they back up to get hurt.

 
How many RBs do you draft before Sproles, though? Probably no less than 3. If you have to start 2, and Tomlinson is out, and Sproles is your RB4, is he necessarily your best option? (If that makes sense...) If I've got a Lynch, Addai, Larry Johnson etc. as RB3, did I really need to spend that 8th round pick on Sproles? I draft conservatively in some ways, but not this way.

 
RB James Davis from the Browns has looked good so far; however, if you are handcuffing him to Jamal Lewis - good luck on your season!

 
The question is to look at your squad and ask: Who do I start if X goes down. If you have Ronnie Brown, for instance as your RB3, you would probably start him over Sproles. That makes the handcuff less important. But if your RB3 is Hightower, then Sproles would look like a godsend.

 
...but there are a couple out there (like Chester Taylor) who will cost around a 10th rounder. I'm not sure if ADP were to miss some games, Taylor would necessarily be better than some of the other RB options in the mid-rounds
May not be popular opinion, but I believe this is the case for anyone if you have decent depth. I don't believe any handcuff is mandatory. I would have taken Taylor if he made it to me in the 12th, because he does have some value in PPR; I had him last year without Peterson. But he went a few picks before my turn.
 
The question is to look at your squad and ask: Who do I start if X goes down. If you have Ronnie Brown, for instance as your RB3, you would probably start him over
Unless San Diego was @ Pittsburgh or @ Baltimore, I'd start Sproles over Brown. But I get your point.
 
Not a big fan of handcuffs just for the sake of having one. I think a lot of times you can get more value out of handcuffing another team's back if you think they have a greater likelihood of getting injured.

 
i am thinking coffee is becoming a must handcuff for gore owners.
Why..Unless Gore get injured Coffee wont see the field much .He is one of the best in the business and still young ,
Well yeah, but isnt that the point of this thread? Handcuffs are guys that likely will not see the field often unless an injury to the starter strikes. With the strong play of Coffee so far and Gore's punishing style of running (missed 2 games last year and many others struggled to finish), I think Coffee fits the mold of a strong handcuff.
 
Lots of things go into a handcuff decision. The point, as I get it, is that if you have maybe already lost one of the 3 decent RBs you went into the season with and then Forte also goes down, having Kev Jones lets you keep two starting RBs in the lineup where you otherwise wouldn't have them. Jones costs you a 13th round pick or somethng, where having yet another fulltime starter would have cost you a 4th rounder or something - which you can use at draft time to dramatically upgrade WRs or something. Is a starting KJ more valuable at that point than the other waiver wire RBs. Certainly in my leagues.

But it all depends. If you are in an 8 or even 10 team league, guys will be more available and handcuffs may not be worth far more than guys on the waiver wire. But they sure do in my 16 team league - where you aren't even going to find Maurice Morris on the wire midseason. It also depends a lot on roster size. If you only get 13 or 14 roster spots, you may not have the luxury to backup your starters if you need the space so as to have guys to play every week. But if you have rosters of 25, handcuffs are cheap and exteremely useful (and there probably isn't much available that isn't already rostered somewhere.

In my opinion, a handcuff of roughly equal ppg value is virtually always more valuable to you than a backup to someone else's starter, since you get to use your guy, if at all, when you need him - when your starter is hurt. Having another guy's backup won't help you at all if the starter ahead of him doesn't go down at the same time your starter does and you eed the replace,ment. If your starer goes down, having a backup for another guy who is healthy and playing won't help you, and if your starter is healhy, the backup to an injured starter on a competitor's team probably isn't going to improve your lineup.

In the right situation, handcuffs save a lot of seasons. If you play in small leagues or with short rosters ... not so much.

 
It seems like the handcuffs going into this season are guys you can get really late...but there are a couple out there (like Chester Taylor) who will cost around a 10th rounder. I'm not sure if ADP were to miss some games, Taylor would necessarily be better than some of the other RB options in the mid-rounds due to the presence of Favre and Harvin. So I'm just trying to figure out the stone-cold locks in the "Must Have Handcuff" category vs. handcuffs that you can pass on and get better value...Out of players that will cost a mid-round pick- Which of these handcuffs do you think are must haves? (and who are you targeting even if you don't draft the starter?):Chester TaylorJerious NorwoodFelix JonesRashard MendenhallEarnest GrahamTim HightowerLendale WhiteLeon WashingtonFred JacksonRicky WilliamsAhmad BradshawLeSean McCoyMichael BushLadell BettsHandcuffs that can be had for cheap:Jamaal CharlesBernard ScottTJ DuckettLeron McClain/Willis McGaheeMaurice MorrisKevin JonesSammy MorrisLet me know if I missed anyone...
DeShawn Wynn...... cheap and well worth the stash.
 
I was going to say Donald Brown for any Addai owners. The more Addai falls the more I like this RBBC, Brown can still be had relatively cheaply and I think there will be some big games for the Indy rushers this season.

 
:goodposting:

A lot of handcuff players would be pretty valuable in a starting role.

Deciding if and when to draft them is a combo of gambling and insurance.

 
Dynasty leagues - start qb, 2rb, 2wr, te, 1flex (rb, wr, te), k, def

<=20 roster spots you don't handcuff

>20 you handcuff, but only with certain players

 
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flranger said:
How is J Stew not on this list?
I don't know. Maybe some are wondering if Goodson will be the handcuff just as much this year. It's worrisome that Stewart's achilles tendon has bothered him all summer and it isn't feeling any better. Fox said that they haven't done any further test on him, and that they are just trying to get him better. It doesn't like it is getting any better. Here is a recent interview with Stewart this past Saturday night.

Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart said he never expected his sore Achilles to cause him to miss so much practice and game time. "I came into training camp expecting to work my way up from one-a-day (practicing) to two-a-days, but unfortunately that hasn't been the case," Stewart said Saturday night after the Panthers' exhibition at Miami. "We've just got to be smart and figure out what's going on and treat my Achilles to where it's going to be good for the team."

Stewart went through pre-game warmups in uniform Saturday, but then watched the game in street clothes. He missed the final seven practice days of training camp in Spartanburg and didn't practice with the Panthers Friday in Charlotte.

Stewart said he has "ongoing pain" in his Achilles. "Just imagine you waking up in the morning and you have a knee problem or it's just stiff," he said. "Every morning it's that way, every time I walk. It's just a nagging injury."

Stewart said he didn't know whether he'd play in the preseason. "Ask the trainers," he said. "I'm planning on being there for sure in the regular season. We just have to play it by ear."





 
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