0:06>> Identifying handcuff running backs you
0:08need to make part of your draft strategy
0:10in 2026. I'm Theo Gremminger, lead
0:13fantasy analyst right here at RotoWire.
0:16And we're not talking about the
0:17expensive handcuffs. We're talking about
0:19handcuffs you can actually afford to
0:21draft in the later rounds in your draft
0:23that can end up paying off in a major
0:25way.
0:26You like Blake Corum. I like Blake
0:29Corum. You probably like Kenneth
0:30Gainwell. I like Kenneth Gainwell as
0:32well. But in a lot of drafts these
0:34players are costing a ton of draft
0:37capital. Blake Corum is going off the
0:39board at running back 32. In some
0:42leagues that's an eighth-round
0:43valuation. Kenneth Gainwell, eighth
0:46round as well. He's running back 33.
0:49You're also not going to get access to
0:51Rachaad White for cheap or Keaontay
0:54Ingram for cheap. Both of those guys are
0:55going inside of the eighth and ninth
0:56round. Then you've got Khalil Herbert
0:56who everybody likes in sort of a split
0:58backfield situation in Chicago.
1:05But again, running back 38 because of
1:08the overall RB market even with Khalil
1:11Herbert missing a little time in
1:12training camp, that's still costing you
1:15in some formats a ninth-round price tag.
1:18You're also not going to get access to
1:19Jordan Mason anymore. He's probably the
1:21starter in Minnesota. He's going inside
1:24of the ninth round. We're looking at
1:26players available in the double-digit
1:28rounds that you should be targeting that
1:30could potentially pay off big. And let's
1:33first start off with Chris Rodriguez.
1:35And I've talked about the a bull case
1:38for Basil Tuitan. Basil Tuitan can end
1:41up paying off in a major way. But Basil
1:43Tuitan and Chris Rodriguez when we
1:45started off drafting were way closer in
1:48terms of price tags than they are right
1:50now. Chris Rodriguez is running back 42
1:54overall in running back valuation.
1:56You're getting him in the double-digit
1:57rounds pretty much everywhere. And when
2:00you talk about some of the coach speak
2:03coming out of Jacksonville, Liam Cohen
2:05called Chris Rodriguez a glass eater,
2:08which is about as good of a compliment
2:11as you can give a tough running back
2:12like Rodriguez. Rodriguez is like 225
2:16lb. He's been praised for his toughness.
2:20He's a hard-nosed player who can earn
2:22that extra yard. He's got a ton of
2:24physicality at the position.
2:27We know that Chris Rodriguez played for
2:29Liam Cohen at the University of Kentucky
2:31as well. And the Jacksonville brought
2:34him in as a free agent
2:36kind of replacement for Travis Etienne.
2:39Obviously, the the goal is Etienne can
2:41take on a larger role. But Etienne has
2:43steamed up into the fourth round in some
2:45formats like FFPC and NFFC. He's even
2:49become more expensive on like Sleeper
2:51and Yahoo. You're not getting any sort
2:53of a discount with Etienne. But with
2:56Rodriguez, he's going off the board with
2:58a running back 44 price tag.
3:01He could end up turning this into an
3:03ugly split. And there's a scenario where
3:05Chris Rodriguez is getting the goal line
3:07touches in this offense. Now, Rodriguez
3:09doesn't catch a lot of passes, but at
3:11this sort of ADP price tag, you don't
3:14need him to be well-rounded. He could
3:16give you a 750-800 rushing yard season,
3:20but if he falls in the end zone eight to
3:2110 times, he could pay off in a major
3:24way. You also have a scenario where
3:26maybe Etienne cannot handle the workload
3:29and Rodriguez takes on even higher role.
3:31We want access to this Jaguars offense,
3:34and Rodriguez is a cheap way to do it.
3:37Right near Chris Rodriguez in terms of
3:39ADP is Keaton Mitchell. And we've been
3:42waiting for Keaton Mitchell for years.
3:44And in Baltimore, Keaton Mitchell had
3:46this electric rookie season followed up
3:49by an injury-plagued year two and year
3:52three. Now he signs as a free agent and
3:54as part of the Chargers offense under
3:57Mike McDaniel, we're getting access to a
4:00potentially lethal offense. And Keaton
4:03Mitchell, we're talking about a smaller
4:05back, but an explosive one with elite
4:07speed who's being featured in camp as a
4:10pass-catcher. And we're not talking
4:12about little dump-offs. We're talking
4:14about wheel routes. We're talking about
4:16getting downfield. We're talking about
4:18manufactured plays in the passing game
4:20to go along with the explosiveness that
4:22Keaton Mitchell offers as a runner.
4:24And let's remember
4:26Mike McDaniel is a head coach that
4:29features fast running backs for multiple
4:31seasons. I mean, Devon Achane, smaller
4:34running back who has thrived under Mike
4:36McDaniel. Achane had three seasons of 17
4:39and 1/2 points per game or more,
4:41including 20 last year. Then you look at
4:43another super fast running back, Raheem
4:45Mostert, who had 18 touchdowns for for
4:48uh Mike McDaniel a couple years back in
4:50Miami. So, can Keaton Mitchell get there
4:53and have those sort of seasons? Probably
4:55not. But at his price tag in the running
4:58back 40s range, we're going off the
5:00board right now, running back 42, a
5:02little bit more expensive than Chris
5:03Rodriguez,
5:05but Keaton Mitchell's not only a
5:06handcuff type running back, but he's
5:08also a handcuff plus running back where
5:11if you're looking to play catch-up at
5:13the flex position or running back two
5:15spot, maybe you went with a zero RB
5:17build, maybe you went with a hero RB
5:20build, he offers you that sort of upside
5:22as well. Very interesting player. And if
5:24you want to go even cheaper in LA,
5:27Camani Vidal is free right now. He has a
5:3017th round valuation in certain formats.
5:33He's going off the board as the running
5:35back 64. We know how effective Camani
5:38Vidal was last year, and he's earned
5:40some praise from Mike McDaniel as well.
5:42We want access to this LA backfield,
5:45preferred handcuff Keaton Mitchell, but
5:47if you want to wait till the final
5:49couple of rounds, Kenneth Gainwell
5:51showed last year he can be an effective
5:53player in the league. If Omari Hampton
5:55went down with an injury, both of these
5:57players could find their way into your
5:59starting lineup, especially in deeper
6:01formats. Staying at the running back
6:03position, let's talk about Tank Bigsby.
6:05And Bigsby's a player that we know had a
6:07very successful 2024 season in in
6:11Jacksonville, where he rushed for
6:13700-plus rushing yards. He had multiple
6:16very strong weeks, and he out-performed
6:19Tank Bigsby, or excuse me, out-performed
6:22Travis Etienne considerably in terms of
6:24like yards per carry. We know last year
6:27Philadelphia traded for Tank Bigsby, a
6:30trade that didn't necessarily make a lot
6:31of sense at the time, but it's become
6:33way more clear this year. Bigsby flashed
6:36a little bit last year in terms of how
6:38efficient he can be as a runner, and he
6:41has been a hype guy throughout
6:42Philadelphia training camp. He's going
6:44off the board as running back 47
6:46overall. This is a great price tag.
6:49You're getting access to Tank Bigsby
6:51inside of round 12. If you want to play
6:53it safe and you drafted Saquon Barkley,
6:56you've got the green light here to draft
6:58Tank Bigsby. Now, some people are going
7:00to tell you don't ever handcuff, it
7:01lowers your your your whole team like
7:04overall ceiling output, but we're
7:05talking about the 12th round here, and
7:07Saquon could be in store for a really
7:09strong season, but you're also talking
7:11about an older running back who's taken
7:13on considerable volume. If Saquon
7:15Barkley were to miss time, Tank's Tank
7:18Bigsby would offer you top-15 type
7:20running back weekly ranking, and he
7:23would be viewed as a near running back
7:26one in some weeks if Philadelphia had a
7:29strong matchup. Bigsby would have the
7:31advantage of playing next to Jalen
7:32Hurts, a mobile quarterback, and he
7:34would play behind a very strong
7:36offensive line in Philly. Bigsby has
7:38starter talent, but he's a backup, and
7:41he's also cheap. Again, 12th round
7:44valuation. Take a look at Tank Tank
7:46Bigsby if you're looking for upside in
7:48the double-digit rounds. A lot of it's
7:50contingent, but it's upside nonetheless.
7:53Talk about Jayden Blue, running back 53.
7:56And this is the fun one. Jayden Blue
7:58sub-43 40-yard dash time.
8:01If Javonte Williams were to miss time,
8:04year two, Jayden Blue would be a really,
8:06really fun player. And when you talk
8:08about Jayden Blue, there was a lot of
8:09enthusiasm for him last year. He was
8:11more expensive last year than he is this
8:14year. I and really disappointed. And I
8:17think drafters were angry about the fact
8:19that Jayden Blue potentially cost them
8:22Javonte Williams. This time last year,
8:24there were people sort of making the
8:25argument that Blue could cut into
8:27Williams or potentially take over the
8:29backfield. That ship sailed. Javonte
8:32Williams is your starting running back
8:33in Dallas. But we're talking about one
8:35of the best offenses in football,
8:38and Jayden Blue could potentially have a
8:40Keaton Mitchell-esque role in this
8:42offense where they're using him on
8:44manufactured touches even with a healthy
8:46Jayden Blue Javonte Williams. Because
8:49Jayden Blue has electric speed. You're
8:52talking about a player that ran a 438 40
8:55at the NFL Combine, and then at Texas
8:58Pro Day ran somewhere in the 425 to 428
9:01range. Absolutely electric speed. Then
9:05you look at his receiving acumen at
9:08Texas was a very very, very strong
9:11receiver there. He had seven receiving
9:13touchdowns during his time at Texas. He
9:16had 56 catches there, and he had 11
9:19rushing touchdowns as well. So, like
9:21Jayden Blue, you talk about the talent
9:23that was ahead of him at Texas. It was
9:25really one big year for him in terms of
9:28his production at Texas. But Texas has
9:31literally been churning out NFL running
9:33backs. Talk about Bijan Robinson,
9:35Roschon Johnson, you talk about Jonathan
9:38Brooks, then you get to Jayden Blue.
9:40Jayden Blue is very cheap right now. You
9:43can make him part of your late round
9:45draft strategy. And in a lot of formats
9:48like ESPN, Yahoo, and Sleeper, he is
9:51literally free right now. Now, would
9:53another back like Malik Davis or Phil
9:55Mafah mix in if Javonte Williams were to
9:58miss time? Absolutely. But Jayden Blue
10:00would give you that receiving upside and
10:03explosive big play ability. He would be
10:06the back that I would bet on to lead the
10:08Dallas Cowboys in fantasy points in any
10:11week that Javonte Williams missed.
10:13Feels
10:15and this one don't hold my feet to the
10:16fire. Feels a little bit like Tony
10:18Pollard when he was young in Dallas.
10:20Took a little while to ramp up, but that
10:22speed element shined. And I think we
10:25could see that at points this year with
10:27Jayden Blue. And if Javonte Williams
10:29missed time, I think Jayden Blue would
10:31go right into your lineup and he is
10:33free.
10:34The NFL season is right around the
10:36corner and that means survivor pools are
10:38back. RotoWire is partnering with Splash
10:41Sports and there's two awesome survivor
10:43pools here. 150,000 in guaranteed money.
10:47Go to splashsports.com/rotowire
10:51and they're giving us a 50% match. So if
10:54you deposit $50, you're going to get $25
10:57for free. You can enter the 50K
11:00touchdown survivor. That's a $25 entry.
11:03You can win $50,000. You have to
11:05identify a touchdown scorer each week or
11:09$15 entry for the $100,000 NFL survivor.
11:13Again, that's splashsports.com/rotowire.
11:17Compete against me, Ian Hartitz, and
11:19more. We'll see you over there.
11:22The running back that's steaming up in
11:23terms of ADP and moving up and up and
11:26up, we're talking about MarShawn Lloyd.
11:28And this has been a long time coming.
11:30MarShawn Lloyd in the 2024 draft class
11:33was arguably the best running back
11:36besides Jonathan Brooks and Blake Corum,
11:39but he's had an injury-plagued start to
11:41his NFL career. But, the optimism is
11:44there for MarShawn Lloyd to contribute
11:46in a major way even with Josh Jacobs
11:49this year in tow. J- uh MarShawn Lloyd
11:52looks like a player that they're going
11:53to mix in and make him somewhat of a
11:56handcuff plus type. I don't think you
11:57can view him as a stand-alone handcuff.
12:00MarShawn Lloyd, even with a healthy Josh
12:03Jacobs, is the type of athlete, the type
12:06of talent, and a player that has extreme
12:08familiarity with this coaching staff
12:11that I think the Green Bay Packers
12:12coaches would find touches for on a
12:15weekly basis to keep Josh Jacobs fresh.
12:19Got to remember Josh Jacobs, even
12:20without the off-the-field stuff, you're
12:22talking about an older back who's
12:24sustained considerable volume throughout
12:26his career. MarShawn Lloyd has the
12:28talent level to really mix in and help
12:31the offense. Now you've got Josh Jacobs
12:34dealing with a groin injury that's kept
12:35him out of multiple days of NFL training
12:38camp. The drumbeats are starting to get
12:40louder and louder for MarShawn Lloyd,
12:43and there's a lot of sharp money going
12:44in on MarShawn Lloyd. If you look at
12:46FFPC and NFFC drafts, there's a number
12:49of high-stakes managers really pushing
12:51MarShawn Lloyd up. I've seen him go as
12:53high as the 10th round. In your home
12:56league, you're not going to have to
12:57spend that high of a pick on him, but he
12:59could still help you a ton. Let's talk
13:02about Mike Washington. And we talk about
13:05this one as a how do I find a handcuff
13:07running back that's super, super cheap,
13:11but would have direct access if the
13:13starter went down with an injury? And
13:15when you look at Mike Washington, he's
13:17going off the board at running back of
13:1959. Now, Mike Washington was an
13:22exceptional talent uh exceptional
13:25athlete at the NFL Combine.
13:27And he sort of uh uh what had a lot of
13:30buzz and then very disappointing landing
13:33spot absolute landing with the Las Vegas
13:36Raiders after some people thought he
13:38could go as high as round two. He falls
13:41into the fourth round, but he lands in a
13:44Clint Kubiak scheme where
13:47this could end up working out for him,
13:49but it would probably take an Ashton
13:50Jeanty injury. But if we look at what
13:53Mike Washington was able to do last year
13:55at Arkansas in the SEC, he finally put
13:59things together and he had 1,000-plus
14:02rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns,
14:05but he averaged 6.5 yards per carry at
14:08the highest possible levels of college
14:10football in the SEC. He also added 28
14:13receptions for 225 yards and another
14:16touchdown for over eight yards per
14:18reception. But what really made Mike
14:21Washington start to stand out was how
14:24good he was at the Senior Bowl. He was
14:26arguably the best running back at the
14:28Senior Bowl and then he ended up having
14:30a tremendous NFL Combine where the
14:34results were just absolutely silly.
14:37You're talking about a 4.33 40 at 6'1
14:41223 lb. I mean, you're talking about
14:44elite speed for for that sort of level.
14:46Then you're talking about a 10-yard
14:49split of 1.51,
14:51which was the fastest of any running
14:53back who tested, a 10'8 broad jump, a
14:5539-in vertical. And I get it, Mike
14:57Washington a little bit of theoretical
14:59asset, but when you look at his his
15:00competition in in Vegas, he would be the
15:04next man in if Ashton Jeanty were to
15:06miss any time. And again, we're looking
15:08for lottery tickets at this range in the
15:10draft. Running back 59 for Mike
15:12Washington. Another running back to keep
15:14an eye on, Raheem Davis, running back
15:1657.
15:18Raheem Davis is an interesting one
15:20because we're all very comfortable with
15:22James Cook, but James Cook has had to
15:24sustain a ton of volume over the last
15:26couple years. Raheem Davis, an
15:28incredible player in college at multiple
15:31spots,
15:32a very, very productive player in
15:34college. Raheem Davis, you're talking
15:36about, was able to do it at multiple
15:38spots. And then Raheem Davis as a
15:40rookie, we saw Raheem Davis have some
15:42production. It's kind of waned, and
15:45there's been other running backs kind of
15:46mixing in. But Raheem Davis would be the
15:49next man in if
15:52James Cook were to miss time. So, Raheem
15:54Davis, if you're looking to get access
15:56to the Buffalo Bills offense, or if you
15:59drafted James Cook, and you're looking
16:01to handcuff him, Raheem Davis is the one
16:03that makes the most sense. Running back
16:0557 price tag, you're going to be able to
16:08get him in like the 15th round. So,
16:10Raheem Davis to me, an interesting one.
16:13One other player we want to talk about
16:14is Brian Robinson Jr. Bijan Robinson is
16:18set to have a phenomenal season just
16:20like he did last year, but Brian
16:22Robinson would be the next man in. And
16:25with Brian Robinson, we've seen him have
16:27some success as a starter in Washington.
16:31Now, he's bounced around, was in San
16:33Francisco last year, and landed in
16:36Atlanta this offseason. Sort of a a
16:38throwaway landing spot, but we're not
16:41talking about a catastrophic injury for
16:43Bijan Robinson. But if Bijan were to
16:46miss time, Brian Robinson would clearly
16:50be the next man in, and be a player that
16:52we would put into our starting lineups.
16:54And when we look at Brian Robinson was
16:56able to do as a pro, he had a 36 catch
16:59season in 2023, and he averaged 13.0
17:02points per game in 2023. Followed it up
17:05by 11.5 points per game in 2024. So,
17:08he's had multiple seasons of
17:10double-digit scoring. Last year,
17:12obviously, nothing behind Christian
17:14McCaffrey, and we're going to hope
17:16absolutely nothing this year be behind
17:19Bijan Robinson. I mean, if you're
17:21holding Bijan Robinson bags, you don't
17:23want to hear about his backup. But if
17:25you didn't draft Bijan Robinson and
17:27you're looking for a handcuff running
17:28back that could go right into your
17:30lineup, Brian Robinson would not see the
17:33same sort of role in the passing game,
17:35but we did see a 37 catch season for him
17:38in Washington. He would be an
17:40opportunistic pass-catcher and dominate
17:43the carries in Atlanta. We'd have to
17:46move the offense down a little bit, but
17:48he would still be a player who would
17:49instantly go into our lineups. One other
17:52running back to mention, Braelon Allen
17:55at running back 65. Isaiah Davis is
17:58dealing with a knee injury. So, if
18:00Breece Hall were to miss time, Braelon
18:02Allen would be a player that would see a
18:05considerable role, at least until we
18:07have clarity about what's going on with
18:09Isaiah Davis. And Braelon Allen, there's
18:12was hype for him years ago, but he's
18:15still only 22 years old, which is wild.
18:18Braelon Allen came out of the It came
18:20into the league in 2024, and he was 20
18:23years old. Now, he's only 22 years old,
18:26and he's a massive player. Probably 250
18:30lb, 6'1,
18:32and has just great athleticism for a
18:36player of his size. If Breece Hall were
18:39to miss time now with Isaiah Davis
18:40dealing with an injury of his own,
18:42Braelon Allen would be the next man in.
18:44So, when identifying handcuffs, we want
18:46to keep it cheap,
18:48and we want to find players who would be
18:50the clearly the next man in. I think we
18:53identified these ones. Consider these
18:55guys for your end-game strategy in your
18:58drafts. I'm Theo Gremminger. We're
19:00dropping videos like this every single
19:02day right here at RotoWire. We're going
19:04to help you crush your leagues this
19:06season.