Living the fantasy life isn't always all fun and games, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate the ups and downs that any given season presents along the way. Accordingly, we'll be chronicling some of the ebbs and flows of the fantasy calendar as we progress through the 2024 season. And just like that: We're on to Week 2 …
There are annual surprises at every position in fantasy football land. A late-round QB or two will boom, some young WRs will take a leap and prove to be legit ballers, and hell, maybe even an afterthought at TE winds up securing enough volume to shoot up the ranks.
That said: No position produces more random-ass producers than RB.
Anyone good enough to make an NFL roster is a great football player, but the reality that RBs are more dependent on their scoring environment and offensive line than any other position generally makes them more readily replaceable. This is why "zero-RB" is such a popular draft strategy, and why the franchise tag for the position (average of top-five highest-paid players) is lower than everyone except kickers.
The latest NPC to run away with a newfound lead job and produce gobbles of fantasy points: 49ers RB Jordan Mason. While the third-year talent wasn't exactly an unknown commodity this offseason-–Fantasy Life's Chris Allen and I actually shouted him out as a sleeper worth pursuing back in August–-Mason's overall PPR RB5 finish in Week 1 demonstrated the reality that it doesn't always take a true top-five real-life talent at the position to garner elite fantasy numbers.
Mason's fantasy managers are thrilled to have the handcuff to Christian McCaffrey (calf/Achilles) locked in–but remember, people: It's only Week 2. We have a LOT more football to be played, meaning RB depth charts around the league will inevitably go through plenty more highly fantasy-relevant turnover throughout the rest of the season.
This brings us to today's key question: What handcuff RBs should fantasy managers prioritize today in hopes that they could be tomorrow's Jordan Mason?
I tried to find backs that checked the following five boxes:
- Available in 70%-plus of ESPN/Yahoo leagues
- Theoretical three-down skill-set to handle a workhorse role should the opportunity present itself
- At least some evidence of not sucking at real-life football
- In an offense that doesn't absolutely blow
- Seemingly just one injury away from having the starting job
Fantasy Football Handcuffs to Target Ahead of Week 2
Bucky Irving - Buccaneers
- Yahoo: 29% rostered
- ESPN: 27.5%
Rachaad White is THE running back in Tampa Bay, y'all, although Irving sure looked like THE RB2 in Week 1.
It's always a bit risky to trust day-three rookies in fantasy land, but at this point, we have certifiable evidence that Irving is indeed the clear-cut No. 2 option inside the league's single-most willing offense to feature a true workhorse RB just one season ago.
And to the Oregon product's credit: He looked GOOD in Week 1.
Small-sample size be damned, Irving deserves credit for averaging a robust 6.9 yards per carry while White could only manage 2.1. Yes, a lot of this was due to one chunk 31-yard scamper through an objectively massive hole. Also yes, White has been among the NFL's least-efficient rushers to start his career and now suddenly has someone behind him who might just be poised to press the issue.
Will Irving displace White as the starter? Unlikely. However, the absence of Chase Edmonds (knee, IR) has cleared the way for Irving to assume a legit full-time role should White be forced to miss any amount of time this year.
Reminder: Irving scored more PPR points per game from purely receiving production (7) during the 2022-23 seasons than any other prominent RB in his draft class. His less-than-ideal size (5'9", 192 pounds) could limit the potential for a true workhorse role, but then again, that factor seemingly hasn't done anything to stop the coaches from featuring him as the next man up to this point.
Bottom line: Irving has the exact receiving-friendly archetype we look for at the position and also is seemingly locked in as the team's No. 2 rusher at the moment. The Bucs' history of leaning on one individual back and their status as most people's idea of an average to above-average overall offense makes the rookie a more than solid handcuff worth stashing on the bench.
Tank Bigsby - Jaguars
- Yahoo: 26% rostered
- ESPN: 13.4%
Last year was miserable for Bigsby. He averaged 2.6 yards per carry and wound up with three or fewer carries in all but three games despite plenty of offseason speculation that he'd help complement Travis Etienne. Bigsby's receiving work in particular was a f*cking horror movie.
And yet, the Jaguars didn't add any meaningful backfield competition this offseason, and more positive coach speak persisted every step of the way. While I was wary of expecting ETN's workload to decrease in a meaningful way, that was indeed the case in Week 1. Per Fantasy Life's Utilization Report hub:
Don't expect Bigsby to straight up yank away the starting job anytime soon, but the second-year back did indeed look good out there and is clearly the next man inside an offense that was happy to feed Etienne 325 touches last season.
Obviously, this Jaguars offense didn't exactly blow anyone away during their 20-17 loss to the Dolphins, although the offensive line deserves some credit for averaging a solid 1.7 yards before contact per carry (10th) – quite the improvement from last year's league-worst 0.7 mark.
Bottom line: Bigsby would instantly be in the mid-tier RB2 conversation with ETN sidelined, and he could rise into the top-10 conversation if the coaching staff refrains from having someone like D'Ernest Johnson overly involved on passing downs. God forbid T-Law and company decide to foster something close to a high-end scoring offense, and we could be looking at one of the better handcuffs in fantasy.
Braelon Allen - Jets
- Yahoo: 9% rostered
- ESPN: 7.3%
The Jets backfield is purely the Breece Hall show for the time being. And it should be. The man is really good at football and has the sort of explosive every-down skill set to warrant a legit workhorse role.
Overall, no RB had a higher Utilization Score than Hall in Week 1--we are seriously talking about THE most valuable role in fantasy football at the moment.
But what if something were to happen to Hall? I hate to ever speak of a potential injury, so let's say that he wins the lottery tomorrow and decides you know what, I'm taking the rest of the season off. What then?
Enter rookie Braelon Allen, who earned all sorts of positive reviews during training camp and was the only other Jets RB to touch the field on offense in Week 1.
While all but one of his eight snaps came alongside Tyrod Taylor late in the 4th quarter, it was perhaps telling that No. 3 RB Isaiah Davis didn't receive a single offensive snap in a two-minute setting. There's no doubt that Allen would be the favorite to lead the way in carries should Hall miss any game action, but we also shouldn't discount the potential for him to assume a legit workhorse role should disaster strike.
Bottom line: There are far worse bench stashes than someone one injury away from seeing 15-plus carries in an offense that isn't expected to completely suck, and the potential to work as the check-down option for a mobility-limited 40-year-old QB would have Allen gracing the cover of every waiver wire article in the industry should Hall ever be forced out of action.
Good luck to everyone this week and always remember: It's a great day to be great!
