Week 1 is in the books, we are on the heel of the Thursday Night Football Bengals-Ravens game and I couldn’t be more happy. Is there any better time of the year? Before I clicked submit on this piece, we received a beautiful clip of Joe Mixon jogging in to the locker room early in the first quarter with a right knee injury. This will be the freshest handcuff report out on the inter-web. Mixon owners please pick up Giovani Bernard, he is looking fresh out there!
I will not go down a rabbit hole of why you should roster your RB handcuff because I know you are here to scroll straight to the names, that is what I am here to give you. Read my pre-season handcuff article if you are curious. I’ll sum it up for you, SCHEME!
- Giovani Bernard– Hot off the press, Mixon looks amazing but ran to the locker room to check his knee in the 1st quarter. He looks fine after coming back out but if you haven’t learned from the Le’Veon Bell/James Conner case study then please invite me to your fantasy league next season!
- T.J. Yeldon-Â Hamstring injuries always tend to linger and Leonard Fournette has a history of injury, this is why I avoided him in all of my leagues except one. Yeldon showed well in the pre-season and didn’t look bad after Fournette left the game. Beat reporters, coaches and Leonard himself point to him suiting up for Sunday but expect him to have a limited “pitch count.” Keep an eye out on the practie/injury report Friday to see if he participates in any capacity.
- Austin Ekeler-Â Ekeler should have been an honorable mention in my “Baby, I’m more than just a handcuff” piece. Ekeler posted 5 catches for 87 yards, 1 receiving TD, and average 7.8 yards per carry off 5 carries for 39 yards. It’s clear the Chargers are wanting to feature Ekeler more than just a backup. If you own Melvin Gordon, you need to own Ekeler and if someone else picked him up I would recommend trading one of your bench players to acquire him. He is worth a roster spot.
- Javorius Allen (aka Buck Allen)- Another one that is steaming off the press. I am one more week of game action away from admitting I overvalued and drafted Alex Collins. Still hangin’ on for one more week. Kenneth Dixon was placed on IR this week increasing Alex Collins’ value and Buck Allen. Allen has stand alone PPR value, in deeper leagues or on desperate teams, and was used at the goal line for a touchdown in the Thursday night game. The Ravens still showed commitment to the run game after going down a couple of scores. Â Be ahead of the curve this week and grab Allen before your friends do.
- Philip Lindsay- The one guy I’m already worn out on and I have yet to write about him. Devontae Booker is still in Denver and Royce Freeman’s usage will increase as the season progresses. Lindsay reminds me a little bit like Ekeler. I don’t think Lindsay will produce as consistently as Ekeler, yet. I’m still in wait and see mode on Lindsay so don’t drain your FAAB budget or waiver priority on him unless you have Freeman on your roster for handcuff purposes. I’ll write more on Lindsay after I see more.
My treat, here are two non-RB handcuffs:
- Geronimo Allison-Â Geronimoooooo, already posted 5 catches on 8 targets for 69 yards (did you hear that Gronk?…69 yards…) and on TD last Sunday Night. Owning a piece on a team that has arguably the best QB in league is worth the investment. Devante Adams has already shown up on the injury report with a shoulder issue. If he happens to miss any time Allison is an automatic WR3/Flex play with WR2 upside. Adams owners might have already placed a waiver request in but I recommend getting ahead of them if you can.
- Dallas Goedert-Â I wrote about him previously but in week 1 Dallas had 3 targets including one redzone target in his first NFL game, that was a low scoring game. If Zach Ertz misses any time, which he is known for missing a game here and there, Goedert will be a sure fire plugin. I still believe his value will continue to increase as the season progresses and the Eagles incorporate him more in to the gameplay. Teams will gamelan to shutdown Ertz leaving opportunities for Goedert to eat. Still a couple of weeks early on him but if you own Ertz I would recommend this inusurance policy.
Now you are all wondering who your RBs backup is…well I’m here to tell you that Razzball has a pretty sweet depth chart tool that’ll give you some guidance. Check it out!
Signing off for the week ladies and gents. Leave your comments and questions below. I love to interact on twitter so give me a follow @NicRomero_
Good Luck this week!
