Best Ball Handcuff Strategy: Are Handcuffs Worth Drafting in Best Ball Formats?
In redraft fantasy, handcuffing a workhorse RB means owning his backup to protect yourself from injuries. If your starter gets hurt, the handcuff steps into a guaranteed workload. In best ball, the calculus is different — you cannot pivot to the handcuff in-season, but you do benefit from the injury upside automatically through the auto-lineup.
Best Ball Handcuff Quick Reference
| Handcuff situation | Best ball action | Why | Mistake to avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| You own the starter; handcuff has standalone value (pass-catcher) | Draft the handcuff — high priority if available in rounds 14–18 | A pass-catching handcuff contributes to your auto-lineup even in healthy weeks; the injury upside is a bonus on top of standalone production | Skipping a pass-catching handcuff to take a WR4 with no path to targets — the handcuff produces more total expected value |
| You own the starter; handcuff is a pure goal-line back | Draft only in final rounds (18–20) if no better option exists | Pure goal-line backs contribute 0 points in healthy weeks; you are betting entirely on injury happening | Spending a round 12 pick on a pure goal-line handcuff because “I want insurance” — the opportunity cost is too high |
| You do NOT own the starter; handcuff is available late | Skip unless the handcuff has standalone value | Without the starter, you get the injury upside in healthy weeks — which is nothing — while another team benefits from the starter’s production | Drafting a handcuff to “block” another team from owning it — this is not a relevant strategy in best ball |
| Handcuff’s ADP is very late (rounds 19–20) | Take him if you own the starter and no meaningful alternative exists | The opportunity cost of a round 19–20 pick is minimal; free injury insurance at near-zero cost | Overthinking the final rounds — if you own the starter and he is available this late, take him |
| Starter has a significant injury history | Prioritize the handcuff earlier (rounds 14–16 instead of 18–20) | Injury-prone starters produce the handcuff’s upside more often; the injury upside is more predictable | Treating injury-prone starters and durable starters identically when evaluating handcuff priority |
| Multiple handcuffs available for different starters you own | Take the one behind the more injury-prone or more valuable starter first | Not all handcuffs are equal; prioritize by starter value + injury risk + the handcuff’s own standalone upside | Taking handcuffs blindly for all your starters without evaluating which is actually worth the pick |
Why Handcuffs Work Differently in Best Ball
The auto-lineup handles the pivot. In redraft, you manually start the handcuff when the starter is injured. In best ball, the auto-lineup automatically starts the highest-scoring player at each position each week. If your RB1 goes down and you have his handcuff, the handcuff’s increased workload and production automatically gets picked up by your auto-lineup.
You cannot pick up handcuffs mid-season. In redraft, you can wait until your starter is injured before picking up his handcuff from the waiver wire. In best ball, there is no waiver wire — you must own the handcuff before the season starts or not at all.
Handcuffs have seasonal value, not just injury value. In best ball, a handcuff is only valuable in weeks where the starter is injured. For 17 games where the starter is healthy, the handcuff contributes little. You are drafting a player who will be actively valuable in roughly 0–4 games (depending on whether an injury happens at all).
When to Draft a Handcuff in Best Ball
When you own the starter AND the handcuff has standalone value. The ideal best ball handcuff is a player who has value even when the starter is healthy — a pass-catching back who gets targets regardless of the starter’s health. These handcuffs contribute weekly regardless of injury scenarios.
When the handcuff’s ADP is very late. If a handcuff is available in the final rounds (rounds 18–20 in a 20-round draft), the opportunity cost of drafting them is minimal. You are not sacrificing meaningful value.
When to Skip the Handcuff
When the handcuff has no standalone value. A pure change-of-pace back who only touches the ball in goal-line situations does not contribute to your auto-lineup in healthy weeks. Drafting this player in round 12 to “protect” a starter is a suboptimal use of a draft pick.
When the opportunity cost is high. In the middle rounds (6–15), there are usually WRs or RBs with better standalone value than a handcuff. In best ball, standalone value wins over conditional injury value in those rounds.
For how to build the overall best ball RB strategy, see: Best Ball Zero-RB Strategy: The Case for Punting on Running Back Early in Best Ball Drafts.