Now that the fantasy football season is ready to begin as the Denver Broncos play the Baltimore Ravens in Colorado, fantasy owners are still drafting and looking for the best value for players and one way to do that is through handcuffs and three of the best this season include Kendall Hunter, Ben Tate and Bernard Pierce for Frank Gore, Arian Foster and Ray Rice.
The San Francisco 49ers were one of the most consistent teams in the NFL last season and Frank Gore was one of the main reasons why that happened and while he is an excellent running back, he has missed at least two games in three of the last five seasons. Gore rushed for nearly identical totals over the past two seasons with 1,214 yards last season and 1,211 yards in 2010 and he has rushed for over 1,000 yards in six of the last seven seasons, missing it in 2010 when he was injured for five games. Gore has been healthy for the past two seasons, but he has an injury plagued past and that makes Kendall Hunter a must draft for Gore owners.
Gore has scored 16 touchdowns over the past two seasons and while he still should put up good numbers, the fact that Jim Harbaugh will be committed to rushing the ball and LaMichael James' injury makes Hunter even more valuable. Hunter is the clear backup to Gore now after James suffered a knee injury and he comes into the season after rushing for 371 yards and two touchdowns. Gore was in the top 15 in rushing attempts last season and as he gets older the team may limit his carries a bit and that could be a huge boost for Hunter.
Arian Foster owners likely already know who Ben Tate is, but for those who don't, Tate is a must-draft for anyone with the Houston Texans running back, especially after he sat out the preseason. Tate rushed for just 279 yards last season, but he has the skills to be a starter and with Foster looking like he's breaking down a bit after getting tons of carries over the past two years, meaning Tate could get a boost in production. Two years ago he rushed for 942 yards in 15 games while Foster was dealing with an injury and he is a definite draft for players who have Foster as their primary running back.
Foster will be limited early anyway since he was out for the preseason and Tate could get those carries in the first couple games as Foster gets back to regular speed. Tate averaged over five yards per carry in the preseason and he has big play ability. Ray Rice is one of the best running backs in the league and coming into the season Bernard Pierce is a handcuff player since the team should be limiting his carries a bit early. Pierce showed that he could handle the ball last season and Jim Caldwell likes to put his running back in space and he ended up with over 400 yards through the postseason. Rice will be getting the bulk of the carries, but owners should snag Pierce as well in case of an injury.
Best handcuff: go with Hunter after the James injury, that is his job no doubt for at least a month.
