Welcome to the Week 11 Fantasy Football Running Back Handcuff Report! As we head into this week’s game action, we’re likely to see at least one RB handcuff handle to majority of his team’s work out of the backfield, and another RB handcuff seems to have received a promotion and now appears to be his team’s lead RB. There’s a lot more that you need to know about NFL fantasy football RBs and their RB handcuffs ahead of Week 11’s kickoff. The following are a few NFL backfields that deserve your attention.

 

 

 

2025 Fanstasy Football NFL Week 11 Running Back Handcuff Report

Denver Broncos

There have been reports that Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins (foot) will be placed on IR, but as this article is being written, no decision has been made yet. Dobbins will almost certainly be out for Week 11 (and likely longer), and based on Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s comments, RJ Harvey, Dobbins’ handcuff, will have a significant role in the Broncos’ run game moving forward. Harvey will likely play most of the early downs, and Tyler Badie, probably the Broncos’ best pass blocking back, will split snaps with Harvey on third downs. Jaleel McLaughlin will also provide RB depth while Dobbins is sidelined. Being that he’s the team’s best pass blocking back, if I had to pick a Broncos back who’d be Harvey’s RB handcuff, I’d lean towards Badie.

Houston Texans

In last week’s article, we mentioned that Nick Chubb was dealing with a foot injury that forced him to miss practice time ahead of Week 10. He was able to play, but he only had five carries and played just 13.3% of the Texans’ offensive snaps. Woody Marks, who started the season as Chubb’s RB handcuff, played a whopping 80% of the Texans’ offensive snaps in Week 10. He was effective, rushing for 4.5 YPC, and he scored a TD as well. Offensive coordinator Nick Caley made it sound like he hadn’t planned on making Marks the focal point of the Texans’ run offense in Week 10, but instead claimed that since Marks had the hot hand, he stayed with him. Caley hasn’t openly committed to making Marks his RB1 (maybe he wants to keep the opposition guessing) but head coach DeMeco Ryans has confirmed that he wants Marks to get more touches moving forward. Whether it was due to Chubb’s underlying foot injury leading up to Week 10 or a hot hand approach, it’s taken a while, but it looks like Marks has finally leapfrogged and switched roles with Chubb.

 

 

 

Arizona Cardinals

Trey Benson was eligible to return from IR in Week 10, but he did not, and it’s looking like he’ll miss Week 11 as well. The Cardinals’ backfield is still a mess as Zonovan “Bam” Knight is now dealing with an ankle injury. If Knight is inactive in Week 11, Emari Demercado would likely be the Cardinals’ lead back, and Michael Carter would be his RB handcuff. The Cardinals’ backfield is still one to avoid in fantasy football, except for the deepest of leagues.

Philadelphia Eagles

Whether it’s an underlying injury (possibly his groin) or just the result of his having carried the ball 345 times last season, Saquon Barkley’s 2025 fantasy production isn’t what fantasy managers expected it would be. His YPC average is way down this season. Barkley’s averaging 3.9 YPC this season after averaging 5.8 last season. Even his playing time is down. In Barkley’s first seven games, he played 81.9% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps. In his last two games, that rate dropped to 64.8. If you roster Barkley, just in case he is dealing with an injury that will force him to miss time, it’s probably in your best interest to roster his RB handcuff. Lately, it’s been looking like Will Shipley is back to being Barkley’s RB handcuff, but if he or Tank Bigsby is available on your league’s waiver pick and you have a droppable player on your fantasy roster, I’d pick one of them up.