Running Back Handcuff Strategy for 2024 Fantasy Football

Running back handcuffing is an essential strategy in fantasy football drafts given the nature of the position. Simply put, top running backs touch the ball a lot and take a pounding. As such, they’re more prone to injury than the other skill positions. Like opening an insurance policy, handcuffing is a way we can protect our top investments.

If we’re going to invest early-round picks at the position, then we want to make sure we have protection by rostering the backup who is most likely to take over the biggest role in the event of an injury. Of course, there are a few things to consider before we get into the best handcuffs for 2024 fantasy football drafts.

Perhaps the most important thing to note is that handcuffing is a commitment for the entire season. If you’re going to draft a handcuff only to turn around and cut that handcuff in Week 4 because you needed a drop, it really isn’t worth handcuffing in the first place. Injuries can happen at any point during the NFL season, so you need to hold that player until the end of the season. The first rule of handcuffing is simple: Commit to the ‘cuff.

The other key idea to take on board is that not every running back can or should be handcuffed. Of course, we’re going to want to handcuff our top running backs if we can. But if the running back is outside of the RB1s, he likely isn’t your top back. In handcuffing multiple backs, you really limit what you can do with your bench.

Instead, we only want to handcuff the running backs on the board. These are players who will go in the first or second rounds. Some years that could potentially spill into the third round. That’s hefty draft capital, so you really want to insure your investment. After you draft this player, I suggest moving his handcuff up two rounds on your board to ensure that you get him.

Let’s look at the top running backs and their most likely handcuff right now. Note that these are not handcuff rankings. As I said above, we want to handcuff the back we drafted. Sure, Elijah Mitchell is one of the top-ranked players in this group, but we really don’t need to worry about him if we don’t draft Christian McCaffrey.

Fantasy Football RB Handcuff Strategy for 2024

Anchor RB Handcuffs

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 02: Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier (25) during the NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons on October 02, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire) — ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 02: Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier (25) during the NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons on October 02, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire)

Christian McCaffrey – Elijah Mitchell (yes, Mitchell. He’s still ahead of Jordan Mason on the depth chart)
Bijan Robinson – Tyler Allgeier
Breece Hall – Braelon Allen
Jonathan Taylor – Trey Sermon
Kyren Williams – Blake Corum

Five of the top seven backs on the board are solidified in their roles and have very clear handcuffs. If you land any one of these anchor running backs, you can draft their handcuffs with confidence.

Anchor RBs With Handcuffs Who Could Change

Travis Etienne – Tank Bigsby
Rachaad White – Bucky Irving
Isiah Pacheco – Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Josh Jacobs – AJ Dillon

This group isn’t as easy as the first group. Yes, we do have names to target as the handcuff in each situation, but these names could very well change. In Jacksonville, we saw Bigsby lose ground to D’Ernest Johnson last season. In Tampa, Irving could already be ahead of Chase Edmonds, but things aren’t clear with Edmonds sidelined in camp. Deneric Prince has been a buzz player this offseason for the Chiefs, but Edwards-Helaire ran ahead of Prince in the first preseason game. As for the Packers, Dillon has a leg up on rookie MarShawn Lloyd right now, though the rookie could change that if he’s able to stay healthy

Anchor RBs Without Clear Handcuffs

Jahmyr Gibbs
Saquon Barkley
Derrick Henry

This trio of anchors doesn’t give us a clear handcuff to choose. Gibbs remains in a timeshare with David Montgomery, and it wouldn’t be wise to invest a middle-round pick in Montgomery if you went with Gibbs early. Doing so only creates a potential headache for you in-season, as you might be faced with a weekly start/sit conundrum. As for Barkley and Henry, their depth charts suggest a full-blown committee if either player goes down with injury.

Those are the top handcuffs on the board, but we also have several backfields that aren’t the most optimal to handcuff. This can be for a variety of reasons. In some instances, we’re creating a potential negative correlation on our rosters. In others we have backs who aren’t likely to be the top options on our teams. Let’s dive into each of these backfields.

Suboptimal Cuffs

LEXINGTON, KY - OCTOBER 14: Kentucky Wildcats running back Ray Davis (1) runs the ball in a game between the Missouri Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats on October 14, 2023, at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY. (Photo by Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire) — LEXINGTON, KY – OCTOBER 14: Kentucky Wildcats running back Ray Davis (1) runs the ball in a game between the Missouri Tigers and the Kentucky Wildcats on October 14, 2023, at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY. (Photo by Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire)

Kenneth Walker – Zach Charbonnet
Joe Mixon – Dameon Pierce
James Cook – Ray Davis
Aaron Jones – Ty Chandler
Alvin Kamara – Jamaal Williams/Kendre Miller
Rhamondre Stevenson – Antonio Gibson
D’Andre Swift – Khalil Herbert/Roschon Johnson
James Conner – Trey Benson
Zamir White – Alexander Mattison
Devin Singletary – Tyrone Tracey

As you can see, not all these handcuff situations are resolved. However, this isn’t the best group to handcuff since we won’t be spending high draft capital on the lead backs. We also have several backfields that really don’t have a true handcuff situation and instead are either timeshares or full-blown committees.

Backfield Committees

Miami Dolphins

De’Von Achane is going very early in drafts, but he’ll likely be second in the touch pecking order behind Raheem Mostert. Of course, Achane offers massive big-play upside and will have a lot of fantasy bang for your buck. But this backfield is potentially even more complicated if Jaylen Wright ends up getting mixed in as well.

Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s an Artie Smith party in Pittsburgh. The former Falcons head coach will get just what he loves in this backfield with a full-blown timeshare between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Harris will continue to be more of the early down back with Warren handling more of the passing down duties.

Tennessee Titans

Typically, backfield work is split up like what we expect to see in Pittsburgh. That doesn’t seem likely it’ll be the case for the Titans. Brian Callahan split worth almost dead evenly between Tony Pollard and Tajae Spears in the first preseason game and has given every indication that’s the plan for the regular season.

Cincinnati Bengals

With Joe Mixon out of the fold, it’s looking likely the Bengals deploy a two-man platoon between Zack Moss and Chase Brown. Moss profiles more as the early-down option with Brown handling more of the passing down work. Brown flash major big play juice last season, though a limited early-down role caps his fantasy upside.

Denver Broncos

Ah, Sean Payton. Good luck with this backfield, as we could see upwards of four running backs get work for the Broncos. Last year’s trio of Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine and Jaleel McLaughlin are still in the mix. Payton also added former Notre Dame back Audric Estimé in April’s draft. Fun.

Washington Commanders

Brian Robinson remains the lead ball carrier, but the Commanders brought in Austin Ekeler to serve in Antonio Gibson’s vacated role in the passing game. Ekeler showed signs of decline and could be in his last hurrah with the Commanders this season.

Los Angeles Chargers

Greg Roman poached both Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins from the Ravens this offseason. Edwards is up there in age and Dobbins can’t stay healthy, so there’s a chance we also see a dose of rookie Kimani Vidal or even the pint-sized Jaret Patterson, who has been running ahead of Vidal in camp.

Carolina Panthers

In theory, this one shouldn’t be a timeshare. Rookie Jonathon Brooks is the most talented back on the roster. Unfortunately, we have no indication on when he’ll be ready to return from the torn ACL he suffered last season at Texas. That leaves us with the incumbent duo of Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders.

Dallas Cowboys

Ezekiel Elliott is back in Big D, but the 2024 iteration of Elliott is very much that of a plodding veteran. Rico Dowdle also figures to be in the mix. Dowdle is a lightly used mystery entering the season. He could be good. He could also be passed on the depth chart by Royce Freeman.

Cleveland Browns

We still don’t have a clear timetable for Nick Chubb’s return. Reports out of Cleveland are favorable but ambiguous at the same time. That means we could see the Browns start the season out with a combination of Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman. It’s likely both players have a role even after Chubb returns.