Each season, fantasy football teams lose a vital player to injury, leaving the team manager frantically putting in a waiver request for the player who will assume the injured player’s role. There are several reasons bench spots should not consist solely of handcuffs. If a team rosters a handcuff but not the starter, the team manager is hoping and waiting for the handcuff to receive the call to assume the starting role. Too many handcuffs, with little to no playing time, hinder the team’s bench spots that productive players could roster. The top reason, and the one that takes the cake, to stay away from a bench consisting of all handcuffs is BYE weeks. If a team has the handcuffs for each of their starters, it will eventually lose multiple players to BYE, and no replacements are available to plug in. In the end, the team drops the handcuff for a player with a scheduled game, and more times than not, the team will not get the handcuff back. However, there are players deemed as must-draft handcuffs, especially if a team already drafted the assumed starter, and the following players are the must-haves during 2024 fantasy football drafts.
Elijah Mitchell enters 2024 drafts as the top handcuff in San Francisco. Christian McCaffrey is the unanimous top fantasy running back entering drafts, and teams that select McCaffrey must do everything in their power to be sure Mitchell is on their roster as fantasy drafts conclude. If you can’t get Mitchell, Jordan Mason is another option, and he could even be the preferred option behind CMC. Christian McCaffrey enters 2024 drafts as the top-ranked running back coming off a 2023 season that saw him finish first in fantasy points among running backs and second overall among non-QB players. McCaffrey’s monster 2023 season saw him rush for a career-high 1,459 yards and reach 16 games played for the first time since 2019. His 14 rushing touchdowns and 272 rushing attempts were both the second-highest totals of his career. Health has been a major concern for most of his career, and he is set to sit out all preseason games while he nurses a calf injury. At 28 years old and already dealing with an injury, fantasy football managers that draft McCaffrey must have a plan in place if he misses the start of the 2024 season, as well as any issues during the season.
Elijah Mitchell seems to be the favorite to enter the regular season as RB2 for San Francisco. Never a beacon of health in his own right, Mitchell joins McCaffrey on the injury report dealing with a hamstring injury. So again, it would be best if you considered taking a look at Jordan Mason because of CMC and Mitchell’s injury histories. The severity of the injuries is unknown right now, but the probability is high that both players will be dealing with their issues during the regular season. This is reminiscent of the hamstring issue Arian Foster dealt with prior to the 2011 season. Foster missed the first week of the season but made his season debut in Week 2. It is unnerving when the clear-cut handcuff to own enters the season with not only an injury history of their own but is currently dealing with an injury, and this is something fantasy teams rostering McCaffrey must plan for during drafts. Should both players enter the season “healthy,” it will be a sigh of relief. Still, fantasy managers need to monitor the situation leading up to week one and into the season because the door could open wide for Mason, as I mentioned.
Interestingly enough, Christian McCaffrey is the top-ranked running back, and his backup is the top must-draft handcuff, while Breece Hall, ranked as the second running back in 2024 drafts, see his backup as the second-ranked must-draft handcuff. Breece Hall finished the 2023 season with career-highs in carriers, yards, touchdowns, and games played after seeing his rookie 2022 season cut short due to an ACL injury. Hall’s ADP is 5.3, and he is the second or third running back selected in drafts, so fantasy managers should do everything they can to hedge Hall’s draft selection and draft his backup. The official depth chart is a few weeks away, and while New York used fourth (Braelon Allen) and fifth (Isaiah Davis) round picks on running backs, Allen looks to be the favorite to win the RB2 job for the Jets.
Through two preseason games, Allen has 14 carries compared to Davis’s eight. Allen has averaged 6.2 yards per carry compared to Davis’s 2.75, and the writing is just about on the wall as to who the favorite is to see their name penciled in as RB2. Similar to the situation in San Francisco, should the name change to RB2 during the regular season, that will be the handcuff to roster as the safety net behind Breece Hall.
The Packers moved on from Aaron Jones this offseason, signing long-time Raider Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million deal. Jacobs has been steady from 2020-2022, averaging shy of 16 games per season, but 2023 saw him feature in 13 games, which was his lowest total since his rookie season in 2019. The Packers roster still features veteran AJ Dillon, but his YPC has decreased each season since his 2020 rookie year, and he is coming off a career-worst 3.4 YPC. The Packers know what they have in Dillon, and despite his familiarity with their system, there is no guarantee that he will be the RB2 when the season begins. That leaves the rookie running backs Marshawn Lloyd (currently injured) and Jarveon Howard as the top choices as Green Bay’s RB2. While Lloyd was the Packer’s 2024 third-round pick, and Howard was an undrafted free agent signing, there is no question Lloyd is the front-runner to back up Jacobs once he is fully healthy.
Specifically in dynasty leagues, Lloyd is a no-brainer. The Packers have an out with Jacobs following the 2024 season. The cap hit would be a team-friendly $9.4 million. If this were the case, dynasty owners would be set up nicely for the 2025 season. Regardless of redraft or dynasty leagues, Lloyd is one of the top handcuffs to draft head into the 2024 season. Factor in Jacobs playing the upcoming winter months in cold cities (Green Bay, Chicago, & Seattle) with the potential for injury, AJ Dillon and Jarveon Howard the other running backs to beat out, and the potential for lack of production from Jacobs makes Lloyd high on every draft shortlist for upcoming drafts.
Corum falls under a similar path to carries as Green Bay’s rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd. The Rams depth chart sees Corum’s name below RB1 Kyren Williams. Even then, the Rams currently roster second-year running back Zach Evans and veteran Boston Scott. Kyren Williams sits atop of Los Angeles’s running back depth chart, and although he finished last season rushing for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns, an ankle forced Williams to miss four games following a Week 4 win versus Indianapolis.
Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have yet to take the field through two preseason games. Williams not seeing preseason action is understandable, but Corum’s absence could be a tell that Rams head coach Sean McVay has seen enough during Training Camp that warrants Corum entering the season as RB2. With running backs Zach Evans and Boston Scott spearheading Los Angeles’s ground game attack and Scott averaging 5 YPC through two preseason games, the lack of game-action touches could negatively impact Corum’s depth chart standing entering the season. Scott’s fared better than Evans, and his veteran experience could lead McVay to have more trust in Scott to back Williams out of the gate.
After finishing 24th (2021) and 25th (2022) in rushing attempts during Matthew Stafford’s first two seasons with Los Angeles, the Rams skyrocketed to 12th in 2023. The Rams shifted philosophy a season ago, and it led to the offense being more balanced. This can be attributed to a 2022 injury that limited Stafford to nine games. The 2023 running game emphasis proved successful, and with Stafford entering his age 36 season, the Rams will once again run the ball at a high rate compared to 2021 and 2022. Using a 2024 3rd-round pick to select Corum and the Rams first two preseason games not featuring the rookie should indicate Blake Corum will enter the 2024 season as RB2 behind Kyren Williams. The former Michigan Wolverine is a must-draft handcuff for teams that selected Williams in the early rounds of drafts.
