Fantasy football owners hope that they never have to worry about running back handcuffs. Ideally, your first-round selections of Christian McCaffrey or Dalvin Cook or Saquon Barkley would healthy all season, but there will always be RB injuries, and in that case, a solid draft strategy is to select the backup to your top running backs. You've heard of some of them, like Latavius Murray, Alexander Mattison and Kareem Hunt. Others, like Joshua Kelley and Darrynton Evans, could be new to you (and could be must-have pickups and sleepers later in the year). Regardless, if you've invested a lot of your fantasy draft capital into RBs, there's merit to handcuffing them.
In a season that could also be marred by unexpected absences due to COVID-19, backup running backs could prove more important than ever. Any RB that gets pressed into duty is a waiver-wire priority, so if you have them rostered ahead of time, that can make all the difference between a playoff appearance and the consolation bracket.
This season, we've gone two backups deep (and sometimes three) on our handcuff chart, expecting that occasionally there will be more shakeup to depth charts on short notice than there has been in the past. As always, we'll update this page throughout the season, so it should remain a resource to you from draft day right through your fantasy football championship.
2020 Fantasy RB Handcuffs
| Team | Starter | Handcuff | Two-Deep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | Kenyan Drake | Chase Edmonds | Eno Benjamin |
| Atlanta Falcons | Ito Smith | Todd Gurley | Brian Hill |
| Baltimore Ravens | JK Dobbins | G. Edwards | Mark Ingram |
| Buffalo Bills | D. Singletary/Z. Moss | T.J. Yeldon | TBA |
| Carolina Panthers1 | Mike Davis | Rodney Smith | Trenton Cannon |
| Chicago Bears | David Montgomery | Cordarrelle Patterson | Ryan Nall |
| Cincinnati Bengals2 | Giovani Bernard | S. Perine/T. Williams | TBA |
| Cleveland Browns | Nick Chubb | Kareem Hunt | D'Ernest Johnson |
| Dallas Cowboys | Ezekiel Elliott | Tony Pollard | Rico Dowdle |
| Denver Broncos | Melvin Gordon | Phillip Lindsay | Royce Freeman |
| Detroit Lions | D'Andre Swift | Adrian Peterson | Kerryon Johnson |
| Green Bay Packers | Aaron Jones | Jamaal Williams | AJ Dillon |
| Houston Texans | David Johnson | Buddy Howell | TBA |
| Indianapolis Colts | Jonathan Taylor | Nyheim Hines | Jordan Wilkins |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | James Robinson | Devine Ozigbo | Dare Ogunbowale |
| Kansas City Chiefs3 | Le'Veon Bell | Darrell Williams | TBA |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Josh Jacobs | Devontae Booker | Jalen Richard |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Austin Ekeler | Kalen Ballage | Justin Jackson |
| Los Angeles Rams4 | Darrell Henderson | Malcolm Brown | TBA |
| Miami Dolphins | Myles Gaskin | Salvon Ahmed | Matt Breida |
| Minnesota Vikings | Dalvin Cook | Alexander Mattison | Mike Boone |
| New England Patriots5 | Sony Michel | James White | J.J. Taylor |
| New Orleans Saints | Alvin Kamara | Latavius Murray | Ty Montgomery |
| New York Giants6 | Wayne Gallman | Alfred Morris | Dion Lewis |
| New York Jets7 | Frank Gore | Ty Johnson | Josh Adams |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Miles Sanders | Boston Scott | Jordan Howard |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | James Conner | Benny Snell Jr. | Anthony McFarland Jr. |
| San Francisco 49ers | Jeff Wilson Jr. | Tevin Coleman | Jerick McKinnon |
| Seattle Seahawks | Chris Carson | Carlos Hyde | Rashaad Penny |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers8 | Leonard Fournette | LeSean McCoy | Ke'Shawn Vaughn |
| Tennessee Titans | Derrick Henry | Darrynton Evans | Jeremy McNichols |
| Washington Football Team9 | J.D. McKissic | Peyton Barber | TBA |
1 = Carolina's Christian McCaffrey (quad) is out until at least Week 17. He will be the starter when healthy.
2 = Cincinnati's Joe Mixon (foot) is out until at least Week 17. He will be the starter when healthy.
3 = Kansas City's Clyde Edwards-Helaire (hip/leg) is out until at least Week 17. He will split carries with Le'Veon Bell when healthy.
4 = The Rams' Cam Akers (ankle) is out until at least Week 17. He will be the starter when healthy.
5 = New England's Damien Harris (ankle) is out until at least Week 16. He will be the starter when healthy.
6 = The Giants' Devonta Freeman (COVID) is out until at least Week 16. He will likely be in a committee with Wayne Gallman when he returns.
7 = The Jets' La'Mical Perine (ankle) is out until at least Week 16. He will likely be in a committee with Frank Gore when he returns.
8 = Tampa Bay's Ronald Jones (finger, COVID) is out until at least Week 17. He will be the starter when healthy.
9 = Washington's Antonio Gibson (toe) is out until at least Week 16. He will be the starter when healthy.