Running back handcuffs can win you your fantasy football league. That’s a loaded statement, but it’s true. However, it’s important to recognize that not all running back handcuffs are the same. Some are much closer to taking over their backfield from a shaky starter at a moment’s notice while others are simply an injury away from being relevant, if at all.
Just last season we saw Kyren Williams take over the Rams’ backfield almost immediately from Cam Akers, who was traded to the Vikings soon after. Meanwhile, Zamir White didn’t get his shot as the Raiders’ lead back until a late-season injury to Josh Jacobs. White averaged 15.9 fantasy points per game as the RB7 amongst running backs who played all three games during the fantasy football playoffs.
It’s important to note that not all NFL backfields have clear-cut starters and clear-cut handcuffs. The Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tennessee Titans all come to mind as backfields with expected timeshares amongst their personnel. For a more in-depth look at these and every backfield, check out Fantrax’s own Nick Skrip and his running back depth chart analysis.
Not every running back handcuff is going to help achieve the ultimate goal of a championship, but having a few on your bench can at least put you in a position to do so. Below are the running back handcuffs I’m prioritizing, in order, during 2024 fantasy football drafts whether or not I have the starter in front of them on my roster.
Top Running Back Handcuffs for the 2024 Season
Priority Running Back Handcuffs
Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons
Allgeier isn’t far removed from his 2022 rookie campaign of 226 touches that includes 38 rush attempts in the red zone, which ranks 10th amongst all players that season. Allgeier’s rookie workload also yields 1,035 rush yards while battling Cordarelle Patterson for carries of his own on a much worse off Falcons offense than we expect in 2024. While he did take a backseat in 2023 to Bijan Robinson, he did manage 24 total touches for 112 all-purpose yards in Week 7 during Robinson’s infamous “headache game.”
Having Allgeier as the top running back handcuff is by no means a knock to drafting Bijan Robinson as a top pick in fantasy football drafts. Rather, take this an urgent reminder that if you do draft Robinson, prioritize Allgeier a round or two earlier for your roster. Even if you don’t have Bijan Robinson, Allgeier is a high-upside stash for any manager’s bench this season if called upon.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
No, I don’t have Corum this high on my running back handcuff list because of the news this week that Kyren Williams is set to return punts. Corum is a priority, however, due to Williams’ injury history across his first two NFL seasons. Williams has played in just 22 of a possible 34 games since the start of 2022. That’s due to a foot fracture in June before his rookie season and a high ankle sprain that held him out the middle of last season. The concern for Williams remains moderate as he missed OTAs in May due to a “foot issue”, as well.
Blake Corum is roughly the same size as Kyren Williams. They are both approximately 5’9″ and just over 200 pounds. Corum just comes across as much more solid, especially in regards to his recent battle-tested workload of 532 total touches for 2,905 all-purpose yards and 47 total touches across 27 games in his final two seasons at the University of Michigan. I can’t forget the fact that the Rams spent a third round pick on Corum, either.
It’s not impossible he straight up steals the lead back role from Williams this season. The likelier scenario, however, is Corum taking over for Williams due to injury and never giving the job back. Blake Corum is a top running back handcuff due to his talent and workload in the event of a wide range of favorable outcomes.
Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers
Christian McCaffrey enters the 2024 season after a career-high 417 touches last season. That includes the playoffs in which he and the 49ers played lost the Super Bowl in mid-February. With about a week to go until the start of a new season, we know McCaffrey is returning from an early camp calf injury. That said, much of the focus of training camp has been on the running backs behind him on the depth chart.
We now know the running back handcuff behind McCaffrey is Jordan Mason. He capped off a strong preseason with eight carries for 42 yards and a score as well as a seven yard reception last weekend. Additionally, his biggest competition, Elijah Mitchell, is set to miss the entire season after getting placed on Injured Reserve. Mason needs to be drafted in every fantasy football format or picked up where he isn’t already. He is the running back handcuff on this list with the highest ceiling in regards to the combination of talent, system, and with a high probability of multiple starts this season.
Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks
Putting Zach Charbonnet on this list of running back handcuffs is bittersweet. Bitter because he is relegated to this role after a decent involvement as a rookie. Sweet because we might see a special season from Kenneth Walker who the new regime in Seattle view as a “three-tool guy” ahead of this season.
The Seahawks offense as a whole has nowhere to go but up. Way up. They rank dead last in offensive plays per game during the 2023 season. With new offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, who led the University of Washington to the College National Championship game last season, there’s no doubt in the Seahawks having more overall success on offense.
So, while Charbonnet may not have a significant role at any point this season with Kenneth Walker on the field, Charbonnet will still see some touches and has an RB1 ceiling if Walker were to miss time for any reason. As of now, it’s just Kenny McIntosh as the other running back on this roster.
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
James Conner has just one season of playing more than 13 games in his seven year career. Over the last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Conner has played exactly 13 in each of them. Trey Benson probably has the likeliest chance of any running back handcuff mentioned to start more than one game this season. I’m not here to predict an injury to James Conner, but history hasn’t been kind to him and he’s now 29-years old.
Benson is as consistent as you can be when it comes to his stats, specifically at Florida State University. He has back-to-back rushing lines of 154/990/9 and 156/906/14 in his last two seasons. The Cardinals used a third round pick on Benson who has the size to handle a large workload, though he doesn’t have a history of doing so. Pairing James Conner with Trey Benson is a cost effective backfield in 2024 fantasy football drafts. The lead back of the running back handcuffs mentioned before Benson are all first or second round picks while you can get Conner multiple rounds later with the intention of drafting Benson even a few rounds after that.
Running Back Handcuffs Worth Significant Consideration
Antonio Gibson, New England Patriots
You should see Antonio Gibson come off of most draft boards. If not, he’s a running back handcuff worth picking up to stash on your bench in 12-team and larger leagues. After paying Rhamondre Stevenson this off-season, the Patriots should be looking to use him in a feature role. However, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who held the same position with the Cleveland Browns from 2020 to 2023, has been known to deploy multiple backs, namely Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. New England’s offense will have it’s growing pains in 2024, but that could lend to a flex role for Gibson as a pass-catching option with room for more if Stevenson goes down.
Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
I’m avoiding the Dallas backfield like the plague. However, it’s possible that, while I’m mentioning Dowdle as a running back handcuff heading into Week 1, he is the lead back much sooner than later. Between Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn and practice squad back Dalvin Cook, the four players have a combined 4,343 career touches between them. Zeke and Cook account for 96.6% of those touches and are both 29 years old. It could be a matter of time before Rico Dowdle takes over by default on one of the highest-scoring offenses of the last few season.
Ray Davis, Buffalo Bills
There are going to be fantasy managers out there that knock Ray Davis for being a 24-year old rookie running back. He’s only two months younger than James Cook who is ahead of Davis on the depth chart. Davis is a power back, however, with at least 936 rushing yards in three different seasons for three different schools. That includes back-to-back 1,000+ yard seasons in 2022 and 2023. Even if he doesn’t command a lead back role in Buffalo, Ray Davis is going to carry the ball this season, perhaps just in the red zone. He should be on plenty of rosters for this reason, but with room to grow as the running back handcuff to James Cook.
Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears
It’s significant to me that the Bears are keeping four running backs on their roster in addition to Velus Jones Jr. who has run the ball this preseason. Herbert is just over a $1 million cap hit in the final year of his rookie deal. It’s possible he ends up elsewhere this season via trade. Until then, he is the running back handcuff to D’Andre Swift who has a history of nagging injuries throughout his career. It’s worth noting that in three games of 18 or more carries last season, Khalil Herbert rushed for 100+ yards in all of them with rushing touchdowns in two of them. He logged rushing yards on 18 total carries this preseason, as well.
MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay Packers
Lloyd is one of my top-ranked running backs from the 2024 Draft class. While there is a lot of emphasis on Jordan Love and the Packers receivers, Josh Jacobs and Lloyd are one of the best running back tandems in the league. Lloyd missed a lot of the preseason due to injury, but is the clear backup to Jacobs heading into Week 1. A.J. Dillon is going to miss the entire season due to injury. Josh Jacobs has no less than 262 touches per season in his career. He’s going to get fed, but we’ve seen head coach Matt LeFleur deploy a two-back system in Green Bay before.
Running Back Handcuff Honorable Mentions
- Braelon Allen is the 6’2″, 230-pound, 20-year old rookie behind Breece Hall on the Jets. He is the clear handcuff to Hall, but it’s unclear if he would see the same expected workload as Hall if called upon to do so.
- Jaleel McLaughlin is probably the biggest low-risk, high-reward player amongst this entire list of running back handcuffs. He logged 0.95 fantasy points per opportunity in 2023 and should see more opportunities in 2024 with the departure of Semaje Perine. Yet, the Broncos did draft Audric Estime and this is Javonte Williams’ backfield until further notice.
- Jaylen Wright fits the Miami Dolphins’ identity perfectly, specifically with his speed. Miami even traded next year’s third round pick to draft him in this year’s fourth round. That’s a notable investment. He currently sits behind 32-year old Raheem Morris and De’Von Achane. There’s volatility with both of those guys that makes Wright a worthwhile handcuff. My favorite of this entire list with consideration to cost and upside.
- Kimani Vidal is in a somewhat similar situation to Wright (above) with 29-year old Gus Edwards and bounce back candidate J.K. Dobbins ahead of him on the Chargers’ depth chart. Edwards figures to be the lead back, but he doesn’t even had a 900 yard season in his career. Dobbins is working his way back from an Achilles tear. Vidal could emerge at some point this season.
- Ty Chandler stepped up late last season for the Vikings, but they brought in Aaron Jones this off-season to be their lead back. Chandler could see more high-volume opportunities if Jones misses time, but there are better handcuffs on better offenses out there.
- Tank Bigsby hype is back for another season. As a rookie, he gained a lot of attention as a running back handcuff who could steal red zone/goal line work from Travis Etienne. That wasn’t the case. The same narrative has resurfaced ahead of this season so he’s worth mentioning here.
Deep Cut Running Back Handcuffs
- Will Shipley and Kenneth Gainwell will likely share the Eagles’ backfield if Saquon Barkley is unavailable at any point this season. Shipley has the speed and pass-catching upside that make him more interesting as a bench stash in deeper leagues.
- Tyrone Tracy Jr. is a former wide receiver playing running back for the New York Giants. There isn’t much of a competition for touches behind Devin Singletary.
- Carson Steele is a name not many people knew coming into the summer, but do know now. He averaged 7.4 yards per carry after contact this preseason. He runs hard like Isiah Pacheco ahead of him on the depth chart. There’s a scenario Steele leads the team in touches on the back-to-back Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs’ offense if Pacheco goes down.
- Trey Sermon sits behind Jonathan Taylor on the Indianapolis Colts’ depth chart. We saw Zack Moss thrive as a starter when called upon in Taylor’s absence last season. Unfortunately, Sermon just doesn’t have the body of work that inspires the confidence he can do the same. The Colts are his third team in four seasons and he’s never carried the ball more than 41 times anywhere he’s been.
Which running back handcuffs are you targeting? Drop some names in the comments below and then make sure to check out our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit for more great rankings and analysis.