Breaking Down the R in Smart

I heard a host on the radio today say this: “I drafted Chris Ivory as my fourth RB so I had to draft Bilal Powell as his handcuff.”

REALLY? KILL ME FIRST!

WTF.  Do not draft Bilal Powell.  Again, Do NOT draft Bilal Powell.  He is just simply not that good.  So, think of this column as your police blotter. There is no way that I am getting myself handcuffed to anyone not named Jennifer Aniston. Like the classic 2010 movie Bounty Hunter where Gerard Butler has to capture his wife and "bring her to justice". Yeah, you would need to handcuff me to that...before I am...as a Jets' fan...drafting Bilal Powell. Not for this guy. There are however, players who you NEED to handcuff in a fantasy football draft.  I call them KILLERS (or if your prefer Hernandezes – allegedly ;-).  I will give you their accomplice that you need to have. There are players you would LIKE to handcuff in most leagues.  Don’t reach for these players, but if you can in late rounds grab them. Then there are tons of players that you simply do NOT need to handcuff.  Some reasons that you don’t have to handcuff are as follows:

1. The player is an RB3 or RB4 and you will be better off with filling the roster spot with another player
2. The Handcuff is not defined
3. The Handcuff is not better than other RBs you could get off the waiver wire (my Bilal Powell point above).
4. The Handcuff is not better than the starter so take the handcuff only (Giavanni Bernard, Eddie Lacy, Monte Ball)
5. The team system will not provide for good identification of the starter
6. The team system will not allow any RB to succeed in that system

So let’s light this candle.  Below is the chart that describes the Handcuffs and what to do in each situation.  There are only a Dirty Dozen situations that you should handcuff for drafting purposes.  Sometimes a RBBC situation makes you draft both players – that is all good too.

Every good fantasy football player will PAY ATTENTION to the injuries and pre-season battles at RB.

Top 5 KILLERS – Players who must be Hancuffed

Arian Foster with Ben Tate - TexansFoster is already hurt and the load on him the last three years is Earl Campbell-esque.  The Texans will need to protect their number one RB and will play him less.  Also, he has gone from 4.9 yds per carry to 4.1 yds per carry in just two years.  Tread lightly.LeSean McCoy with Bryce Brown - EaglesThis offense will be explosive and what can happen to a back that gets that much work.  UGH.  He can have all sorts of issues.  McCoy missed parts of games last year and Bryce Brown exploded on the scene with a fumble-ridden, but wildly talented 2-game performance.  Chip Kelly will use them both (and Chris Polk), but you need to have both stars in case he changes from Shady to Brown.CJ Spiller with Fred Jackson – BillsRookie Offensive Coordinator Nate Hackett said that the Bills will feed CJ Spiller the football until he throws up.  Well he hurt his knee already so you NEED to have Fred Jackson.Darren McFadden with Rashard Jennings – RaidersCrazy talk amongst analysts say that going back to the power blocking scheme will make McFadden not get hurt and perform like a Top 5 RB.  The latter is true.  It could help him be a Top 5 RB, but only if he can avoid injury which is counter to everything in the universe.Jamaal Charles with Knile Davis – ChiefsNow this may be a surprise to many of you, but Davis is good and Charles has been dinged up.  Charles is tough and rehabbed better than anyone not named Peterson.  He is tough enough, but this game takes a pounding on anyone.

Breaking down the league for Handcuff Situations

Rk	Tm	Starter	Backup	HC	Skinny
1	HOU	Arian Foster	Ben Tate	Y	With Foster's Injury MUST have Tate
2	PHI	LeSean McCoy	Bryce Brown	Y	Chip Kelly offense means a lot of running.Â
3	BUF	CJ Spiller	F Jackson	Y	Spiller never had big role
4	OAK	Darren McFadden	Rashard Jennings	Y	With Murray injury - Jennings is sure #2
5	KC	Jamaal Charles	Knile Davis	Y	Jamaal already dinged up.
6	IND	Ahmad Bradshaw	Vick Ballard	Y	RBBC - need both
7	BAL	Ray Rice	Bernard Pierce	Y	Need to handcuff in case Rice breaks down
8	NOR	Ingram/Sproles	Pierre Thomas	Y	Sproles in PPR. Ingram in TD
9	DAL	DeMarco Murray	Lance Dunbar	Y	Murray always hurt.  Dunbar back after week 1.Â
10	STL	Darryl Richardson	Isaiah Pead	Y	Richardson is < 200 lbs.  Pead suspended for 1 game only
11	WAS	Alfred Morris	Roy Helu	Y	Helu has been impressive and Shannahan is unpredictable.Â
12	NYG	David Wilson	Andre Brown	Y	Coughlin hates mistakes & Brown is GOOD!
13	CIN	Benjarvus Green Ellis	Giovani Bernard	N	RBBC until Bernard wins the job
14	DEN	Ronnie Hillman	Monte Ball	N	Backup will be the Starter
15	TEN	Cris Johnson	Shone Greene	N	Greene not great in this offense
16	DET	Reggie Bush	Joique Bell	N	Bell not good enough.
17	GB	Eddie Lacy	Jonathan Franklin	N	Franklin has been bad and DuJuan Harris is hurt
18	SDG	Ryan Matthews	Danny Woodhead	N	Phillip Rivers is not good enough to make Woodhead a threat.Â
19	CLE	Trent Richardson	Montario Hardesty	N	Handcuff not talented enough
20	NEW	S Ridley	Shane Vareen	N	Vareen Fumbling
21	ATL	Steven Jackson	Jaquizz Rodgers	N	Jackson never gets hurt and Quizz not that good.
22	CHI	Matt Forte	Michael Bush	N	Handcuff not talented enough
23	TAM	Doug Martin	Mike James	N	Mike James is unproven.Â
24	JAX	MJD	Jordan Todman/ Denard Robinson	N	Todman with 8.1 yds per carry in the preseason.
25	MIA	Lamar Miller	Daniel Thoms	N	Miller already hurt.  Both players will be a bust
26	MIN	AP	Toby Gerhat	N	Handcuff not talented enough
27	NYJ	Chris Ivory	Bilial Powel	N	Handcuff not talented enough
28	PIT	Jonathan Dwyer	Isaac Redan	N	RBBC and Bell out Six Weeks…so take no one
29	CAR	D'Angelo Williams	Jonathan Stewart	N	Stewart hurting and unsure of his future.
30	SEA	Marshawn Lynch	Christine Michael	N	Turbin there…stay away.
31	ARZ	Mendenhall	Ryan Williams	N	Stay away from all RBS here
32	SF	Frank Gore	Kendall Hunter / LeMichael James	N	Hunter injury (achilles) and James is a not ready

Moral of the storySo why do we go into all this crap?  Because it matters.  Everything matters when you are drafting.  Knowing when NOT to waste a Roster spot on a useless handcuff is as important as knowing when to take a good handcuff to protect your RB1 or RB2.  So game on.  Next time, I will break down the "T" for Talent!!Rick Wolf, Co-Host of Colton & The Wolfman - Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio Rick Wolf is a leader in the fantasy sports industry. Wolf is a founding Board Member and one of only fifteen FSTA Hall of Famers including Bill James and Matthew Berry. Wolf’s career accomplishments include starting the fantasy sports division at SportsLine USA that became CBS SportsLine, incubating Rotoworld to become the #1 fantasy sports news site, and spearheading the sale of Allstar Stats/Rotoworld to NBC Sports in 2006.  With college friend and fellow Hall of Famer, Glenn Colton, the team has won 7 expert titles in baseball and football.Twitter: RickWolf1