Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups: Running Back Handcuff Targets (Week 2)

Welcome back to the “Handcuff Report.” This is my fourth season covering this for FantasyPros. If you’re new here, this article is a brief snapshot of every backfield from around the league with nuggets on snap rates, carries and my own thoughts from the week that was.

This is a forward-thinking article as well, so there will be times when I recommend getting out in front of a situation to pick up a player. Let’s dig in following Week 1 and identify the top running back handcuffs to target on your waiver wire.

Fantasy Football Running Back Handcuff Rankings (Week 2)

Handcuff Rankings

Jahmyr Gibbs (DET)
Samaje Perine (DEN)
Chuba Hubbard (CAR)
Zach Charbonnet (SEA)
Elijah Mitchell (SF)
Tyler Allgeier (ATL)
Jaylen Warren (PIT)
A.J. Dillon (GB) – Monitor Aaron Jones this week.
Tyjae Spears (TEN)
Joshua Kelley (LAC)

Atlanta

Starter: Bijan Robinson
Handcuff: Tyler Allgeier

Arthur Smith hates your fantasy team and doesn’t care if that bothers you. Tyler Allgeier out-touched Bijan Robinson 18-16 and scored two short-yardage touchdowns. Robinson had a highlight reel score of his own, putting a defender on skates and then breaking a tackle on his way to the end zone. As crazy as it sounds, this might end up being a committee, although the smart money would be on Robinson being the feature back at some point. He had a whopping 35% target share, and if he gets 25 touches in a bell-cow role, look out.

Pittsburgh

Starter: Najee Harris
Handcuff: Jaylen Warren

The Steelers were the biggest disappointment of Week 1, getting embarrassed at home by the 49ers. Neither Najee Harris nor Jaylen Warren did anything of note Sunday, evenly splitting 16 total touches. Harris is the starter here, but Warren is hot on his tail and would be a capable replacement, assuming you want a piece of the dumpster fire that is Matt Canada’s offense.

Tennessee

Starter: Derrick Henry
Handcuff: Tyjae Spears

If I told you Tyjae Spears would out-snap Derrick Henry on Sunday, you would probably not believe it. That is exactly what happened, and although Henry finished with 119 total yards on 17 touches, this isn’t the type of workload we’ve come to expect here. Tennessee has talked about trying to keep Henry fresh as he turns 30 in January, and this might be their last viable push with the current roster. If they stick with the plan there, Henry might not start getting 25+ touches until December. This is good for fantasy playoff plans but bad for teams who drafted him, hoping to get that volume from the start.

Los Angeles Chargers

Starter: Austin Ekeler
Handcuff: Joshua Kelley

It’s worth monitoring that Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley both received 16 carries on Sunday. Ekeler went over 100 yards and scored a touchdown, but Kelley had a strong game, finishing with 91 yards and a score of his own on a 45% snap share. Ekeler is probably the fantasy RB2 right now behind Christian McCaffrey, but I think Kelley’s usage is worth monitoring. The Chargers may want to keep Ekeler fresh as the season wears on, which could lead to increased touches for Kelley.

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Jason Kamlowsky is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @JasonKamlowsky.