Fantasy Football Handcuffs are a great draft strategy for running backs and this season there are a ton of names to check out, as Bernard Pierce, Shonn Greene, Terrance West, Chris Ivory, Tre Mason, Knile Davis, Fred Jackson and Roy Helu all could make impacts this year as backups and some teams may use those players as starters if injuries go down at the RB position in 2014.
Ray Rice has Pierce as a fantasy handcuffs and after the way things went last season, he is a sure bet to put up some numbers. Rice will also miss two games this year to start the season and that makes Pierce a very solid option to start for those games. The Jets are planning to use Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory a great deal, while former Jet Shonn Greene could see some major action with rookie Bishop Sankey coming in for the Titans. West is a major sleeper after his great college career and he should be splitting time with Ben Tate.
Pierce is the top handcuff player to grab, as he will be a starter type player for at least two weeks and likely a little after that, as Ray Rice will have to find his footing again. Pierce comes in after having a very solid year and he had a career high 20 catches for 104 yards and he could add to that this season even with Rice in the lineup. Pierce has not missed a game in two seasons and he had 436 rushing yards last season and now the Ravens are looking to bounce back in a big way rushing the ball after the struggles last year.
Bishop Sankey and Shonn Greene are going to get split carries and while everyone is high on Sankey, he is still a rookie and that means Greene could have a strong early season. Greene was injured last season and played in 11 games for the Titans and had just 295 yards on the year, but before that he was healthy and had back to back 1000 yard seasons. Greene should be healthy this year and he can contribute more if he has stats like he did in NY, including the 49 catches he had over his last two seasons with the Jets.
Jackson and CJ Spiller are splitting the carries in Buffalo and Jackson could be a very solid handcuff option after staying healthy through 16 games last season. Jackson missed 12 games combined over the last two season, but his 896 yards were the most since 2011 for him and he also set career highs with 47 receptions and 387 yards last season. The Bills offense allows for the running backs to get in space and both Jackson and Spiller can catch the ball out of the backfield. Knile Davis is a good pickup for any Jamaal Charles owners, as he had an injury scare in the preseason and teams that draft him likely can't afford to lose him.
The Jets will be using Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson, while the Browns have Terrance West and Ben Tate as their RBs. Tate is expected to have a strong season, but West comes in after being very productive in college, rushing for over 4800 yards while at Towson and scoring 84 touchdowns. Yeah it was Towson, but he was amazing last season with 2500 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns and if he can bring that size and speed into the league, he could be very valuable.
