To Cuff, or Not to Cuff

From the days of Olandis Gary (yes, that's him in the picture ... I can't believe I found one) taking over for Terrell Davis to last season's Earnest Graham breakthrough following Cadillac Williams' injury, fantasy owners have long seen backup running backs rise to prominence via injury to a teammate. Conventional wisdom states that you grab the backup runner to your highly drafted starting running backs, and the term handcuff is used to describe this theory.

This isn't always the case, though, unless you have a very large league. Say you have a 10 owner league with only five bench spots. Simply put, DeShaun Foster should not be taking up room on that bench.

Let's take a look at whether or not to handcuff starting RBs around the league in four different categories.

Must Cuff
Ryan Grant -- Grant held out, and now has a slight injury in camp. Meanwhile Brandon Jackson -- supposed to be the starting back last season before injuries and inexperience derailed him -- has been receiving rave reviews from the Packers coaching staff. You can still draft Grant in the 2nd round, but it is imperative to grab Jackson as well.

Adrian Peterson -- The man-child himself. The problem is, he has missed games every year since he was a freshman at Oklahoma. The Vikings are going to play defense and run the football, so if Peterson's out, Chester Taylor is in. That's good news for Taylor owners, as he's always performed well behind that line. Make sure you are one of those owners if you took Peterson in the top five.

Willie Parker -- Rashard Mendenhall will cost a pretty penny, but it needs to be done if you take Fast Willie as your RB2.

LenDale White -- Just like above, you need Chris Johnson if you take LenDale as your RB2.

Ronnie Brown -- Now reports are showing Ricky Williams as the Dolphins #1 RB. Either way, you need to have them both if you spend a high pick on one of them.

Willis McGahee -- Still worth a higher round pick, but he's injured and may not be back for the start of the season. Enter Ray Rice. The diminutive rookie from Rutgers has been playing well in the pre-season, and the Ravens need to run in order to keep pressure off their subpar QBs.

Rudi Johnson -- Kenny Watson made the best of his time last year in replacing the injured Johnson ... and now Rudi's tweaked his hammy. Beware of a time-share here as well.

Julius Jones -- Maurice Morris is expected to share carries, yet is going four rounds later in drafts. It's really a no-brainer.

Selvin Young -- Yeah, I love him this year ... and I did write an extended rant on the myth that is "Mike Shanahan hates fantasy football." By the same token, the Broncos can still run the ball quite adeptly no matter who has the ball. Andre Hall had two big games last year (and one of them was with only seven carries).

Michael Turner -- One of the best handcuffs in recent memory, and he didn't really need an injury to announce his presence with authority. Now in the ATL, Jerious Norwood will seriously push him for time.

Laurence Maroney -- We should have learned a lesson after last season. While he was a stud in the last five games and I'm a huge fan this year, there's a reason they brought in Lamont Jordan. Bill Belichick always has reasons for signing guys.

Darren McFadden -- Justin Fargas had a career year last year in taking over mid-season. McFadden is still learning the ropes of the NFL. Even if you don't think you need Fargas, insurance is necessary.

Maybe Cuff (Smaller leagues, no; bigger leagues, yes)

Larry Johnson -- He'd be listed in the "must" section if there was a clear-cut backup. Instead you are left choosing between Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith. I'd go with Charles, but it hasn't been decided yet in Chiefs camp.

Marshawn Lynch -- Fred Jackson showed his abilities last year, but Marshawn is good enough that you shouldn't waste a spot in a small league.

Joseph Addai -- You're deciding between Dominic Rhodes and Mike Hart, but keep in mind that whomever plays RB in the Colts offense is a stud. In huge leagues you may as well take both.

Brandon Jacobs -- The Giants would go with a combo of Derrick Ward and Ahmed Bradshaw should BJakes go down again. Ward is the better option, but in smaller leagues don't bother.

Thomas Jones -- Leon Washington is a capable backup, but he's really little and his real value is outside the tackles. Plus, you've seen Brett Favre survive with a running game before ...

Matt Forte -- Kevin Jones is in the house, yes. The Bears are going to play ball control and hope the defense wins games for them -- as evidenced by the QB choice. Still, the line is absolutely brutal, and we don't know how healthy Jones is going to be.

Earnest Graham -- Hard to like Warrick Dunn at this point in his career, but it's conceivable if you have roster space. Cadillac is probably out until at least week nine, too.

Clinton Portis -- Ladell Betts was a stud two years ago, but useless last year because Portis stayed healthy.

Don't Cuff
LaDanian Tomlinson -- Darren Sproles and Jacob Hester would time-share if LDT gets hurt. Basically, your season is over anyway if he gets hurt for an extended time period, so you should spend your time finding a squad around him rather than choosing between the two.

Ahman Green -- He's here because you shouldn't draft him. Stephanie Stradley covered the Texans RB situation earlier today. I'm thinking gamble late on Steve Slaton or don't draft any of them at this point.

Steven Jackson -- Yeah, he's holding out. Big deal. None of the guys behind him are going to put up numbers good enough to start in fantasy anyway. You are better served to get an extra starting RB at this point as a buffer, and then you'd have trade bait when SJax returns.

Frank Gore -- Should he go down, you'd be looking at an inside-outside combo with DeShaun Foster and Michael Robinson. You don't want a piece of that.

Brian Westbrook -- I know everyone's gonna cry "injury-prone," but he's played 15 games in each of the last two years ... and the usefulness of Correll Buckhalter and Lorenzo Booker is yet to be determined with Booker joining the fray. Remember, the unknown is what we fear in fantasy.

Jamal Lewis -- The crap behind him isn't worth owning.

Kevin Smith -- It's Smith or bust, because Tatum Bell proved he wasn't startable last season.

Edgerrin James -- Tim Hightower is performing quite nicely in camp and pre-season games, but he's going to be sitting on the waiver wire should Edge go down.

Exempt (Straight two back systems where it's likely a waste to own both backs because they are both picked by different owners)

Jacksonville backfield -- Both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew are worth owning independently. There's no reason to draft a third Jax back, either.

Marion Barber -- Felix Jones is getting drafted too high to really count as a handcuff, in light of the fact that he's taking the Julius Jones role. If you do get both, though, it's not a bad thing by any stretch.

Saints backfield -- Reggie Bush has a tough-to-define role. Deuce McAllister is going so low you can't really call it a handcuff, and Pierre Thomas is a nice late-round, deep sleeper.

Panthers backfield -- Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams are both going nearly right next to each other in drafts, so you really can't have both. Williams appears to have the leg up at this point, for what it's worth.

Final Thought
Remember, some of the backups are backups for a reason ... they just aren't very good. Having a starting RB in the NFL on your fantasy squad guarantees nothing. If you want to handcuff a guy and keep that roster spot filled, make sure it's worth it.

If you have specific league questions, as always, hit us up. We'll help.