In what scenarios and at what point are you holding handcuffs? Your handcuffs? Or are you always just looking for the most upside to have on the bench? If playoffs are secured, do you start planning for that as soon as you know? Curious to hear how everyone strategizes around their bench spots.
Posted Oct 2, 2019, 2:11 PM UTC
Early season constantly revolving door of fliers. Some seasons I hit on multiple lottery tickets, sometimes I miss on multiple lottery tickets. But constantly trying, this season there were plenty of early waiver pick ups that have panned out (so far).
Mid-season make sure I have coverage for bye weeks also have handcuffs.
Late season start setting up players - especially DST and kickers for playoff matchups - other space is for handcuffs. If I'm out of the playoff hunt I load up on keepers because thats my league setting.
Post draft: ive got some great pieces on my bench!
Week 1-2: okay that “great bench player” doesn’t look so great when injury makes you start them. WW is barren, oh boy.
Week 3+: PANIC!
I've held Brown and Penny to cuff Gurley and Carson the entire season (injury and fumble concerns). I usually won't hold the handcuff to someone else's player, although I did go heavy and draft Pollard and Darwin Thompson, but I got quick trade value and wouldn't have held either of them past the Zeke signing.
I never carry two kickers, and might very rarely carry two defenses if I want to secure plus matchups (example, I played Dallas D weeks 1-3, and in week 3 picked up the Chargers D to cover the Miami matchup). I never carry two TEs or QBs, as these are usually streamable with similar consistency and aren't worth the space.
The remaining 3-4 slots I cycle through RBs and WRs with high upside or guaranteed consistency to conserve depth. In one league I've held Gore and Singletary (got both without burning waiver priority) as the Bills backfield is showing a really solid floor for bye weeks, held AJG since the draft, and picked up Golden Tate in week 3. In another I have McLaurin, Robby Anderson, Gallman (only player I've burned waiver priority on this season), and I'm holding the Chargers D + added Panthers D from free agency (because my opponent only has the Redskins D and I'm not above making him play the Bengals D against me this week). I don't mind burning a bench slot week-to-week to mess my opponent up on byes or streaming positions, as long as my team is healthy and I have decent depth at WR/RB.
tl;dr: It's so variable based on your lineup, matchups, bye weeks, etc. General rules for me are don't double up on QB/TE/K/DST (unless for a very good reason), conserve WR/RB depth, cuff injury prone guys, and only burn waiver priority on big ticket guys (McLaurin, Gallman), and don't be too afraid to give your opponent any given week the middle finger if he's slow to pick up free agents.
My RB's are trash so right now my bench is an almost constant rotation of RB fliers
Lotto tickets / handcuffs early.
Emergency playable / handcuffs late.
Always be upgrading.
It’s easiest to upgrade bench pieces imo. If you’re set on your immediate depth, take chances on guys that may be in demand the following week, or the ones right under the most popular waiver picks for a given week. When they breakout or look primed for it, start making deals to build talent.
As the end of the season approaches, try to deal these with starters for clear upgrades and restock with handcuffs where you can.
Who can I get for Singletary and Boyd
Well this is a random response 41 days later. What kind of league, what’s your record?
I start massacring players that have had good weeks for me but maybe have been a little off lately to make room for waiver wire hype-train players that only disappoint me before I cut them as well. It gets messy.
Just dropped Ridley for Tate and feel like I'll be regretting that one but he was honestly my weakest player at this point in the season.
Once we get a little further into the season, I definitely try to do my best to handcuff my top RBs.
Made ALL the difference for me last year. Had Hunt and Conner. Kareem Hunt gets suspended, had Ware. Ware goes down, added Damien Williams. James Conner went down, had Jaylen Samuels. Rode Damien and Samuels to a championship.
I hold a billion running backs. At the end of the season I cut for d streamers
Week to week. Every week is a season. You do what you can that week to win the matchup. Might seem short sighted but whats how I play. 4-0 baby!
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Early in the season full of hopefuls. As they drop off I drop them for handcuffs. As the season progresses I pay more attention to kicker and defense as most of the rest of my line up is shoring up.
My progression: Lotto tickets-injured players-boom or busts-mosty busts
i am holding Ajayi until he dies or retires
Mostly just crying about how I don’t have a useable tight end every week of every year
I feel like the fist say 8 weeks of the season is all about talent acquisition. I try to get as many guys off of waivers that are going off that I can and hope some pan out. I don't really worry about handcuffs as guessing the right handcuff is pretty tough and it's so random on who gets injured. Can't recall any year where the handcuff I had ever panned out. If I'm a pretty serious playoff contender around week 8 I'll start trying to package my depth for upgrades in the starting lineup. Then when I make the playoffs, I get blown out by the guy who didn't touch his team all year and then I repeat this cycle every year.
Yup first place in our league has 2 transactions so far this season while I have 11
I have 33 but I'm in an IDP league and stream defensive players. Only like 5 of my moves have been offense. Picked up Waller/Dissly/McLaurin/Lambo/Darnold.
Oh I can absolutely see how that would involve tons of moves, I'd be interested to play in one of those leagues just for a change of pace
It's my second year in this league and I finished .500 last year not really grasping how to maximize my defense and bench space. We get 10 bench spots and they are all filled with offense on my roster.
This week, I dropped Gus Bus to add Weddle to my bench. There are some defensive players on my roster worth keeping year round, and through the byes. Shaq Thompson has 38 points for me. For comparison, I also have Sony, and he has 33.3. He's worth dropping a bench stash for someone when he goes on a bye. Same with a Harrison Smith.
I have 13 more moves than the next closest team, but I'm 4-0 and my defensive players have literally won me two games. I drafted 8th overall in a 12 team league, for reference.
The guy in 11th place had all his FAAB and has only made two moves. The guy in last has made 8 and spent 2% of his FAAB. This is a league with a $100 buy in, so I have no idea what they are doing.
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie.