The handcuff theory, which states that you want to have the backups of your starters on your roster in case of injury, despite its flaws, has been a persistent part of Fantasy Football strategy for years.

You want to look for players with talent more than players who seem to have opportunities. This is especially true in dynasty leagues format. Talent rises to the top and demands playing time, no matter how deeply they are buried on their NFL rosters.

Let me cite some examples from last season to illustrate my point:

Let’s say you owned St. Louis Rams' running back Steven Jackson last year. If so, you were hurting between Weeks Eight thru Twelve when Jackson was sitting out with injury.

If you rushed out and got his backup, Antonio Pittman, or had already drafted him as an insurance policy, you probably lost some games. In those five games, you would have only received points for his 306 yards, 15 receptions, and a whopping zero touchdowns.

On the other hand, if you had squirreled away Jets’ running back Leon Washington, you would have very much enjoyed using his 343 yards, 12 receptions, and five touchdowns in your box score.

Or if you had rushed to the waiver wire to scoop up Steelers’ Mewelde Moore, you got 380 yards, 20 receptions and three touchdowns. Granted, he had a couple of dud games during those five weeks, but overall you stood a better chance with Moore.

At the beginning of the season, pretty much all of us would have agreed that Washington and Moore were better running backs than Pittman. Those who acted on that belief with their draft picks and waiver wire moves did well. Those who kept Pittman simply because he got the start, while Jackson sat out, were left crying.

This example is from what happened to me last year: let’s say Tony Romo was your starting quarterback in 2008. That means you were scrambling to find another option when he was out from Weeks Seven thru Ten.

If you picked up Brad Johnson, I’ll bet you were mad enough to kick your dog. He threw for 427 yards and two touchdowns during that span, and you still needed another option for Week Ten anyway since, obviously, he and Romo had the same bye week.

Those of us who took a late round flyer or worked the waiver wire to acquire rookie Tyler Thigpen from the Chiefs were very pleasantly surprised to find themselves with the No. 1 Fantasy QB during those four weeks. Indeed, Thigpen was so productive that when Romo came back he still sat behind Thigpen on my team’s depth chart.

Those who insisted on using a roster spot on an experienced backup QB and took Gus Frerotte instead didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but were a whole lot more competitive that the Brad Johnson owner. Although you also had to cover Frerotte’s bye week, his three-game production during that time resulted in points for 631 yards and seven passing touchdowns.

Looking at this year’s Fantasy drafts, I would very strongly recommend third string RBs with proven talent such as Raiders’ Michael Bush or Cowboys’ Tashard Choice than just about any second string RB on another team. I’d much rather use a roster spot on Seahawks’ Seneca Wallace than most any other backup QB, although I don’t have Matt Hasselbeck on any of my teams.

Don’t be a fool and find yourself stuck with Colts’ Jim Sorgi just because you own Peyton Manning. Better to take a chance on Arizona’s Matt Leinart instead.

Don’t waste your time guessing who will back up Bengals’ Cedric Benson this year, when you can pick up a player like Choice in the last rounds of your draft.

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written by Sean Haugh, July 27, 2009

WAT, read more carefully please. I said both were waiver wire guys, although I did give a nod to Thigpen as a draft pick because somebody did draft him in one league I was in. If you recall, the KC QB situation was so weak to start last season that one could actually justify taking a last round flyer on the 3rd string rookie.

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Dumb
written by Wat, July 27, 2009

This is dumb. Nobody in their right mind drafted Tyler Thigpen or Mewelde Moore for their talent.

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Handcuffing
written by Derek Lofland , July 20, 2009

Great article. Like most ideas handcuffing is a useful strategy that can become a disaster when taken too far. All I know is that I am glad that I handcuffed Priest Holmes with Larry Johnson in every league I had Holmes back in 2005. Those 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns came in pretty nice that year. But I agree, handcuffing is something to be used in very limited situations.

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