Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 14

Welcome! Welcome! To an elite club, an exclusive group, of individuals whose fantasy football skills reign supreme over their peers. Now is the time to showcase your prowess and claim your seat on the pigskin throne. Let us put fear in the eyes of our enemies as we encounter our first foe in our championship quest.

Today I cover my take on the multiple running back handcuffs that will see starting duties this weekend. Unfortunately, as we enter the first round of the playoffs, we are down a few heavy hitters, that have carried us to this point. James Conner, Kareem Hunt, Melvin Gordon, and Matt Breida are a few of the studs that will be missed. If you have followed along all season then you have built your bench depth adequately to compete for a championship. Hopefully, some of these players below can come to our rescue.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 13

by: Nic Romero

If you are reading along this week then it means one of two things; A) you are still alive in your fantasy football league or B) you have really enjoyed following my pieces all season long. My brain says option A but my heart wants to believe option B. After a couple of quiet weeks, we have a lot of meat on the bone today. If you have not been following along all season, please pick up your studs handcuff heading in to the playoffs. Exhibit-A: Melvin Gordon. I am angry with the Chargers and how they handled their star RB but let’s have that conversation elsewhere. The main point here is to not get caught with your pants down.

I will jump straight in to the Bad Boyz of week 13, enjoy!

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Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 10

November 9, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 4 Comments

by: Nic Romero

Four more games left until most fantasy football playoffs begin. How are you looking? Playoff spot locked up or do you need to go on a run down the stretch?

Another quiet week, we avoided major injuries to our starting backs. Today, I’ll touch on a few handcuffs that are worth monitoring heading in to your playoffs.

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Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 9

November 2, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 6 Comments

by: Nic Romero

Would you believe me if I told you during the preseason that James Conner, Javorius Allen, Austin Ekeler, TJ Yeldon, Nyheim Hines, and Latavius Murray would be top 25 running backs in PPR leagues heading in to week 9? No, and I would love to see an expert that had any ranked that high. The overall state of the running back position in fantasy is one for its own article. Unless you went RB heavy during your draft, we should change our expectations for RB 2’s and flex RBs.

With the amount of teams deploying an RBBC (running back by committee) the value for the backup running back exceeds more than just a ‘handcuff.’ You will hear that rostering your handcuff is not worth it but the names above would say otherwise. Even though some of the players below are not sexy acquisitions don’t let that prevent you from insuring your team for the championship run. Keep this in mind as you question if you should roster a Giovani Bernard or Nyheim Hines. There is value in owning your handcuff even if they are the clear #2.

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Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 8

October 26, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 10 Comments

by: Nic Romero

As we mark the halfway point of the NFL season, many fantasy football outlets are performing mid-year reviews. While reflecting on early season analysis can be beneficial, I know you are more concerned about who to start this week for your starter that is on bye and what is going on with the multiple backfield injuries. This is what I am here to give you…

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Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 7

October 19, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 37 Comments

by: Nic Romero

The heart of bye season is upon us. Packers, Raiders, Seahawks and Steelers are all on bye this week. Chargers, Cowboys, Falcons, and Titans next week. Melvin Gordon owners, next week might be your opportunity to pick up your handcuff– Austin Ekeler. Your league-mates are scrambling to plug in holes and valuable assets are hitting the wire. I’ll keep my soap box brief this week since I wrote about this previously, just keep an eye on your leagues transaction report to see if you can find any loot.

I promised you names and we have plenty to give you for week 7. Enjoy!

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Too Much Ditka & Sausage Pod, Week 7: B_Don and the Baby Horses

October 16, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Podcast, Fantasy Football Podcast | 11 Comments

by: B_Don

Better Luck(y) than good may not apply to the NFL, or at least not for the Colts. The Colts got their star quarterback behind center this season, but has not resulted in much success, as the team is 1-5 with the sole win coming against the Redskins in a game that was brutal to watch. The Colts top WR has been banged up and the injury and time share among the RBs has left much to be desired. While the Colts offense is currently 11th in points scored, much of that has been achieved while playing from behind or in garbage time. For fantasy purposes, it doesn’t matter much when the points are accumulated, but what can you expect from the offense moving forward?

Well, B_Don, riding solo for this podcast, takes a look at the Colts offense and breaks down the player profiles for the Colts offensive weapons not named Andrew Luck or T.Y. Hilton. B_Don profiles the secondary pieces in the offense to see who you can trust rest of season. Chester Rogers, Ryan Grant, Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle, Nyheim Hines, Marlon Mack, and Jordan Wilkins are profiled to give you an idea of what they are from an ability standpoint. B_Don also looks at the offense as a whole to give you fantasy values for these players moving forward.

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Week 6 Fantasy Leftovers: The Nathan Peterman Experience

October 15, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football News & Notes | 9 Comments

by: Reid

Well that was one hell of a ride. My Bills had Houston right where we wanted them. And Nathan Peterman just… just… just did Nathan Peterman things and threw a pick-6. I really shouldn’t have been surprised when it happened. He has to have done that at least 2847 times by now in his 396 day career. Before I go on a long tirade about how bad Josh Allen looked before he got hurt, let’s just take care of this game in its’ entirety.

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Handcuff Report: Bad Boyz of Week 6

October 13, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 17 Comments

by: Nic Romero

My weekly goal is not only to inform you on critical RB pickups and injuries but to help equip you to win your league with my weekly strategy soap box. We are nearing the half way point of the fantasy football regular season and I have another nugget for you.

Stop gloating about your undefeated or one loss team, no one cares and it does not matter. Regular season win/loss records do not mean anything if you are chasing a championship. If your team is great now it does not gaurantee your team to be great come playoffs. Exhibit A: a league-mate of mine last season went 11-2 and did not win the championship. Mid-season, I suggested he should make a trade to help improve his team for the post season. He felt his team was too good and he did not need to make any changes. He exited the playoffs first round and we all got the last laugh.

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Handcuff Report, Week 5: Bad Boyz

October 5, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Football, 2018 Fantasy Football Roster Strategy | 18 Comments

by: Nic Romero

Would you believe me if I told you that bye weeks are a positive thing in Fantasy Football? Yes, managing our waiver acquisitions and benches while we fill in for our players on bye can be a headache but there is a silver lining here (I’m on a roll with these movie references).

I have no clue who @pahowdy is but he just got a plug in my weekly handcuff report, good for him. The only thing I would add to this tweet is it applies just as much to season long leagues.

While your opposing owners are desperately trying to cover players on bye, valuable fantasy assets are popping on waivers for us savvy owners to scoop up. Let me know if you’ve heard this one before….one man’s trash in another man’s treasure. Well, this is your opportunity to pick up that trash.

Remember when you, Melvin Gordon and Alex Collins owners, missed out on Austin Ekeler and Javorius Allen because they were the hottest waiver add week 1-2. Well, in a number of my leagues I’ve noticed these early season waiver adds are starting to get dumped as owners scramble to fill in their byes. Comb through your leagues transaction history after each waiver period moving forward to see if you can find any treasure. Your goal is to build for your playoff run and ultimately your championship. Savvy moves like this can push you over the top. The probability of starters getting injured only increases as the season wears on and player usage piles up.

Now on to this weeks’ Bad Boyz report…

Please, blog, may I have some more?