It seems that over the last few seasons, injuries have become an even bigger issue in fantasy football.  This is why handcuffing has become so important when drafting your fantasy teams.  Your fantasy football life becomes much easier when you are protecting your assets.  The question also becomes, what are we looking to handcuff?  We are looking to protect players in the systems that produce the biggest offensive numbers and have a proven track record in doing so.

It feels like over the last few seasons, some people seem to think it is not worth handcuffing.  I am not sure why that is the case, but it is a big mistake.  Ask anyone who drafted Le'Veon Bell last season and didn’t take DeAngelo Williams.  There are very few running backs in NFL history that are truly once-in-a-lifetime talent that will excel in any system.  Last year, even with Bell suspended the first two games, owners decided that Williams wasn’t worth a handcuff and paid an incredible price.  Williams is on the back-end of his career and just an average NFL running back at this point, yet he returned first-round value when Bell went done with an injury.  A perfect example of handcuffing that won people championships

We have seen this happen time and time again over the years.  We saw Jamaal Charles go down with an injury last year and yet the replacement back in Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware returned significant value.  If you are going to invest early-round draft picks in certain players, you need to protect them.

The Dallas Cowboys have used multiple running backs over the last two seasons and have one of the best running attacks in the league.  There were questions on who would be the main back in Atlanta but it wouldn’t have mattered if you handcuffed Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.  None of these are coincidence.  They all come from great running back friendly systems.  These are situations you want to invest in for both the starters and their backups.

If you have learned anything so far it is that the situation the players are in in fantasy football is even more important than the individual players themselves. By now you should have identified several situations across the NFL in which you would like to buy stock in this season. Once you realize it is the system that makes the player, and not the other way around, you understand the power of the handcuff. 

You can look at handcuffing QB’s and WR’s as well.  These are not as common as a situation depending on league sizes.  You generally aren’t going to handcuff a QB in your regular 12-team, 1-QB league but you better consider it in your 2-QB or super flex league.  There are not many quality backup QB’s but occasionally you find a system like Chip Kelly’s that doesn’t require a very skilled QB as the system provides the numbers.  The same thing for the New England offense as Tom Brady will probably be healthy, but we remember the year he went down when Matt Cassel stepped in.  He was able to be a solid player in that system even though he has failed everywhere else since then.

When it comes to the WR position, you can invest in WR’s on the same team that are in the best pass offenses as well.  We have seen teams like Green Bay, New Orleans and even New England have guys emerge when injuries happen.  Someone has to pick up the slack so that when the highly productive guys do go down, you will have someone to fill-in for them.

If you understand the importance of handcuffing it will make your teams that much better.  There are so many ways that it will improve your team.  It will save you a ton of free-agent money or your waiver positions, you will protect your high draft picks and you will protect your interests in the right systems.  The last thing I will also mention is that it stops you from having too many startable players who will inevitably lead you to choose the wrong ones to play each week.