Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on before a preseason game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026.
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There is nothing quite like the mad scramble on fantasy football waiver wires when a premier running back goes down with an injury.
FAAB (free agent auction bidding) budgets get busted. Sweat gets shed. Heart rates shoot up. Hopes and dreams of a fantasy gift fill heads, fighting for space with the nightmares of missing out.
There is one way to avoid this inevitable fantasy stress test. The cure is a running back handcuff.
Handcuffing is when you draft the real-world backup to one of your top-flight RBs. That way, if Top Flight gets dinged up, you have a plug-and-play option already on your roster.

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