Why Drafting Your OWN Handcuffs is a Winning Move 

Every year, as we enter draft season, the smart people in Fantasy Football start debating all kinds of draft strategy ideas. Over the last few years, many have claimed that drafting your handcuffs is a bad idea and that it’s better to draft other managers’ handcuffs. While overpaying for any player in Fantasy Football is foolish, I will explain why drafting your own handcuffs is a winning move today. 

FFPC Format Explained

My strategy is designed explicitly for FFPC leagues, as that is where I invest the majority of my bankroll in redraft leagues. In regular 1QB leagues, we start with 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 2 Flex, 1 DEF, and 1 K. There are no trades allowed. You get a bankroll of $1000 in Free Agency money, and you must bid at least $1 any time you make a bid on a player. Scoring is 1-point PPR with a ½ point bonus for each TE reception. There is a 10-player bench. 

MVP Index Explained

Every week in Fantasy Football, there are three possible outcomes for a player’s statistics. They can help your team win by scoring a massive number of points in a single week. They can cause your team to lose by having a very low point total for the week. They can keep your team in contention by having a performance above the historic median of output expected. Combining these three outcomes into a single, easy-to-understand number was the goal of the MVP Index. While the landmark median for Fantasy Football points varies by position, using the same level of expected performance for RB, WR, and TE provides a consistent score to compare when making Flex starting decisions throughout the season. The MVP Index measures weekly upside consistency. 

Better Than Zero Strategy Revisited

My strategy is built on adaptability because you never know who the best pick will be until you see how your team managers react in each round. The only thing about a “Better Than Zero” drafted team that is similar from one league to the next is the number of RBs that are rostered. My strategy involves drafting an ordinary WR and rostering more RBs than any other position. This method enables me to maintain a strong team throughout the year, even when injuries occur. I usually exit a league draft with one backup quarterback and one backup tight end. I seldom roster more than 5 WRs, which allows me to have more roster space for RBs. 

Typical 20-player roster breakdown

2 QB, 1-2TE, 1DEF, 1K, 4-6WRs, 8-11 RBs

Logic Behind Prioritizing Drafting Your Handcuffs

When it comes to playing Fantasy Football, I prefer to have a strategy that allows me to win even if I am wrong about a player. Over the years of keeping my Fantasy Football Diary, I observed that if I was going to be wrong about expectations for a player before the season, I was most likely to miss on a player at RB than at any other position. There are also only 32 starting RBs to choose from versus 64 starting WRs. In a typical season, more games are lost to injury at RB than at WR, which makes it even more important to have a backup game plan. If I draft another team manager’s backup RB, it takes two injuries to make that player worthy of starting on any given week. If I handcuff my own starting RB, it only takes one injury to make that helpful player. But there is another factor that comes into play. What if I am wrong about expected volume in a shared backfield? 

Last year, Rachaad White was being drafted as the RB14 in 1QB redraft leagues at this time. White was coming off a season with an MVP Index of 100 (RB13 level) but had only posted a 50 (RB31 level) the previous season. The Bucs added Bucky Irving as a rookie in the 125th pick of the draft, and he was drafted as the RB52. I wasn’t sure if Irving was more talented than White, but I was confident that Irving was better than Sean Tucker, their 3rd RB on the depth chart. Drafting both RBs at or below their expected ADP not only gave me protection against injury but also protection against being wrong about which RB would get the most volume. If the backfield volume were split, I would also be rewarded with solid performance from both RBs by playing them both. This season, their ADPs have flipped with Irving at RB10 and White at RB43. Once again, drafting BOTH is likely to be a winning move. 

Conclusion

Beating the consensus is all you need to do to win Fantasy Football. Even the best Fantasy Football analyst will be wrong by up to 20% on their player predictions every season. If your strategy rewards you even when you get unlucky with injuries or are bad about a player’s ability, that gives you double the insurance to protect your investment. Your goal each week is to beat the median production at as many positions as possible. Owning your handcuff to a starting RB even gives you the option to “Play Them Both” if injuries force you to find a backup. 

In the example given above, playing both Bucky Irving and Rachaad White on any given week would have given you more than 25 points from your RB position in 8 of the 12 games where each player logged a complete game. If you can hit scoring more than median from your RB position 75% or more, you have given yourself a better chance of winning your weekly matchup. 

This reasoning is why rostering your own handcuffs is a winning move in Fantasy Football.