Tim Hightower, Darren McFadden, Mike Gillislee, Jerick McKinnon, Todd
Gurley, Jeremy Langford, Javorius Allen, Karlos Williams.
In Week 16 last season—fantasy championship week for most folks—eight
of the 13 leaders in rushing yards were not starting for their respective NFL team
Week 1. True, Gurley was expected to
take over for Tre Mason at some point, though his 5th-round ADP
suggested he was no shoo-in for fantasy dominance. And these eight players don’t include
DeAngelo Williams, who was the Week 1 starter, but whose overall 167 ADP was
far behind several defenses, kickers, and largely irrelevant players like Reggie
Bush.
This list also doesn’t include Week 16 stalwarts like David Johnson,
Charles Sims, and Travaris Cadet—guys who didn’t rush for a ton, but whose
receiving yards and TDs helped lead fantasy managers to titles.
Yesterday six starting RBs got hurt: Adrian Peterson, Doug Martin,
Ameer Abdullah, Jonathan Stewart, Arian Foster, and Thomas Rawls. If you took late-round fliers on Jerick
McKinnon, Charles Sims, Fozzy Whittaker, and/or Christine Michael—or grabbed Jay
Ajayi or Theo Riddick in the middle rounds—you took a small risk that now has
the potential to reap big rewards.
If you’ve been reading this page for a while, or subscribed to my
preseason rankings, you know this already: handcuff RBs typically offer more upside
than any other late-round pick. Jerick
McKinnon (RB-56 ADP) was my 34th ranked RB. Spencer Ware (RB-54 ADP) was #35 on my
list. And so on. I’d rather reach for a few handcuffs and see
if I strike gold than load up on high-end QB2s, high-end TE2s, and WR5s.
We don’t yet know the seriousness of these latest RB injuries. But it’s a reminder that whenever possible, bench
spots should be flush with RB handcuffs.