Why do so many people say to "handcuff your stud RB"

[mattb47]

I rarely ever handcuff a super stud (i.e. a top 10 RB) simply because it is almost a waste of time. Most of those guys don't have huge durability issues or they wouldn't be top 10. The guys I would worry about handcuffing are players like:

Corey Dillon/Laurence Maroney
DeShaun Foster/DeAngelo Williams
Fred Taylor/Toefield/Drew (not so much anymore since Jones went down)
Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson (moreso because of the potential Cedric has of taking over at some point)
Dominic Rhodes/Joseph Addai
Ahman Green/Samkon Gado
Julius Jones/Marion Barber
Chris Brown/Lendale White/Travis Henry

Basically the guys will either health issues or guys who could get the starting job at some point. I don't think I've ever (with the ultimate exception of Priest/LJ) handcuffed a stud RB.

[Kilroy]

I don't generally worry too much about handcuffing the top backs with the exception of Tomlinson/Turner. It's not that I'm concerned with LT2's durability so much as it's that if given the chance Turner will, IMO, go LJ on everyone. He'd probably start for at least 10 teams in the NFL. He just happens to play for the same team as the best back in the league.

[DGroundhog]

I rarely ever handcuff a super stud (i.e. a top 10 RB) simply because it is almost a waste of time. Most of those guys don't have huge durability issues or they wouldn't be top 10. The guys I would worry about handcuffing are players like:

Corey Dillon/Laurence Maroney
DeShaun Foster/DeAngelo Williams
Fred Taylor/Toefield/Drew (not so much anymore since Jones went down)
Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson (moreso because of the potential Cedric has of taking over at some point)
Dominic Rhodes/Joseph Addai
Ahman Green/Samkon Gado
Julius Jones/Marion Barber
Chris Brown/Lendale White/Travis Henry

Basically the guys will either health issues or guys who could get the starting job at some point. I don't think I've ever (with the ultimate exception of Priest/LJ) handcuffed a stud RB.

That's a pretty decent summary of logical handcuffs. Handcuffing the Bell's in Denver could probably also be added.

I'm not going to pick up Morris or Turner. If LT or SA goes down, yeah I'm gonna join the rush to the WW to grab Turner or Morris, but not many leagues I'm in are deep enough to carry 'dead weight' for any length of time.

I have a hard enough time deciding which scrub I'm going to cut to fill in a bye week for my K, D, and TE.

[moochman]

By taking the backup? If your stud gets hurt you should have better options than a backup RB, right?

Your answer is in your question. In competitive leagues there will be no startering RBs on the wire. But if your stud gets hurt there will be one new starter: his back-up and your handcuff. See his back-up now becomes the only starting RB available. Thus he has more value to you.

[xted30]

The reason is often the system. Look at the Chiefs' Oline in the past. They paved the way for Priest and LJ, and both have been studs. Maurice Morris has been pretty good (not great, like SA, but servicable) in the past in SEA's system. Sproles and Turner have also been good in the SD system. Saunders being in WAS brings his offensive system to the team, which helped turn LJ & Priest into absolute studs. I don't agree with it in every case, but those are a few that I do. Hope it helps.

I'm not sure I agree necessarily with the implication that the system is what made Priest and LJ into the studs they are. Yes, the system and the O-line definitely helped - but the KC backs between Holmes and Marcus Allen weren't exactly studly, and they had the same system and the same Oline to work with didn't they? Priest and LJ both play significant part in their own studliness IMO and it's unfair to imply that it's simply "the system".

Point well taken. If it seems that I'm saying it's strictly the system, that's not what I meant to imply. I'm saying that a good system can take an average back to an above average back. It can take a good back to a great back. And it can take a great back to an uberstud. That's all I meant. Granted, Priest and LJ are good in their own right, but I think the Oline and system helped them post even better numbers than they would have somewhere else. Priest was very average in BAL if I remember correctly. But once he was in KC, watch out! That's all I was getting at.

[houstonoilers]

I used my first round draft pick on Alexander and picked up Morris in the last round. My thinking was, I invested alot into this picked and if something were to happen to him then I would at least have a starting rb. I also think its the team and situation like before mentioned. Turner and Morris are the two top backups in the league if you ask me......because they can produce when the STAR is out. Bennett, the backup for LJ isnt worthy of a handcuff to me.

[chadlincoln]

Larry Johnson.

[calc27]

You should also include Tiki/Jacobs and Dunn/Norwood as arguably necessary handcuffs because of the age of the starter and the fact that the backup will get decent fantasy points throughout the year on given weeks.

[Matthias]

Why do all sky-divers jump with a second parachute?

If it's one of the late 1st rounders or 2nd round RBs, I probably wouldn't handcuff. But if I've invested a top-3 pick or significant $$ in the auction I don't want to lose my season on a loose piece of turf.

[skinsfan]

You want those high picks to be a solid and secure as possible. If this means drafting a reinforcement just in case of injury, it's worthwhile (as long as you aren't neglecting team needs like a solid bye-week RB, or a TE, etc).

Granted, I didn't handcuff Alexander but that's because he has yet to show any signs of brittleness (unlike Holmes last year with the hip). Instead, my other two RB (after Alexander and Parker) are Fragile Freddy and Mike Bell.