2024 RB Handcuff Guide and Backfield Primer

Whether you’re leaning heavily into the zero RB strategy, looking to insure your own high-investment running back, or shooting the moon late in drafts, drafting running back handcuffs is a tried-and-true way to swing the pendulum in your favor and prevent your own team from crashing when one of your own players inevitably goes down. As the most fragile position in fantasy football, running backs can be in and out of the lineup in the blink of an eye. Translation: your fantasy season can be right on track one minute, and flying off the rails the next. The safety net that can stand between a potentially catastrophic end to the fantasy season and your fantasy team is the handcuff(s) you take late to stave off disaster.

Simply put, a fantasy football handcuff is a player you draft who is most likely directly in line for a boost in utilization when the starter ahead of them on the depth chart gets hurt or would otherwise miss game action for any reason. For example, Tyler Allgeier would be the handcuff to Bijan Robinson, Braelon Allen the handcuff to Breece Hall, etc. They all serve the same purpose, but not every handcuff is made equal. Certain running backs like Jaylen Warren will earn a baseline workload regardless of the health of Najee Harris, who is currently slated as the RB1 on the Steelers’ depth chart. Meanwhile, players like Zach Charbonnet and Elijah Mitchell are unlikely to see any meaningful snaps on a consistent basis to be fantasy-relevant unless/until the starters ahead of them (Kenneth Walker III and CMC) would get hurt. For ease of reference, we’ve categorized RB handcuffs into four tiers of quality so that we can clearly see which ones are worth targeting in drafts, as well as which RBs are best left on the waiver wire. The four categories are:

RB1B: These running backs have roles very similar to the 1A in their backfield, but aren’t quite as valuable as a result of their down position on the depth chart. They would be very valuable should anything happen to the starter.

Handcuff+: These running backs would take on a huge role if the starter got hurt, but have a slightly smaller baseline workload than RB1Bs.

Handcuff: These running backs do not have a consistent baseline workload to be startable as long as the starter ahead of them is healthy, but would assume a large workload should the starter sustain an injury and miss time.

Committee: Sometimes, there’s no one player that assumes the vacated workload of a bell cow. The touches are likely to be too widely distributed to sustain consistent production from any one back – these RBs aren’t worth stashing and will most likely just cause a headache.

AFC East

Buffalo Bills

• Primary: James Cook

• Handcuff+: Ray Davis

Dolphins

• Primary: De’Von Achane

• 1B: Raheem Mostert

• Handcuff: Jaylen Wright

Patriots

• Primary: Rhamondre Stevenson

• Handcuff: Antonio Gibson

Jets

• Primary: Breece Hall

• Handcuff: Braelon Allen

NFC East

Cowboys

• Primary: Rico Dowdle

• 1B: Ezekiel Elliott

Giants

• Primary: Devin Singletary

• Handcuff: Tyrone Tracy Jr

Eagles

• Primary: Saquon Barkley

• No direct handcuff, shared backfield

• Favorite: Kenny Gainwell start of season, Will Shipley 2nd half of season

Commanders:

• Primary: Brian Robinson

• 1B: Austin Ekeler

AFC North

Ravens

• Primary: Derrick Henry

• Handcuff+: Keaton Mitchell (later in year)

Bengals

• Primary: Chase Brown

• 1B: Zack Moss

Browns

• Primary: Nick Chubb (2nd half of year)

• 1B: Jerome Ford (2nd half of year, 1A 1st half)

Steelers

• Primary: Najee Harris

• 1B: Jaylen Warren

NFC North

Bears

• Primary: D’Andre Swift

• Shared backfield

• Favorite: Khalil Herbert

Lions

• Primary: Jahmyr Gibbs

• 1B: David Montgomery

Packers

• Primary: Josh Jacobs

• Handcuff+: Marshawn Lloyd (later in year)

Vikings

• Primary: Aaron Jones

• Handcuff+: Ty Chandler

AFC South

Texans

• Primary: Joe Mixon

• Handcuff: Dameon Pierce

Colts

• Primary: Jonathan Taylor

• Handcuff: Trey Sermon

Jaguars

• Primary: Travis Etienne

• Shared backfield

• Favorite: Tank Bigsby

Titans

• Primary: Tony Pollard

• 1B: Tyjae Spears

NFC South

Falcons

• Primary: Bijan Robinson

• Handcuff+: Tyler Allgeier

Panthers

• Primary: Jonathon Brooks (after a few weeks into season)

• Handcuff: Chuba Hubbard (primary to start year)

Saints

• Primary: Alvin Kamara

• Handcuff+: Kendre Miller

Bucs

• Primary: Rachaad White

• Handcuff: Bucky Irving

AFC West

Broncos

• Primary: Javonte Williams

• Handcuff: Audric Estime

Chiefs

• Primary: Isiah Pacheco

• Handcuff: CEH

Raiders

• Primary: Zamir White

• Handcuff: Alexander Mattison

Chargers

• Primary: Gus Edwards

• Handcuff+: JK Dobbins

NFC West

Cardinals

• Primary: James Conner

• Handcuff: Trey Benson

Seahawks

• Primary: Kenneth Walker

• Handcuff: Zach Charbonnet

Rams

• Primary: Kyren Williams

• Handcuff: Blake Corum

49ers

• Primary: CMC

• Handcuff: Elijah Mitchell