There will never be a football season without injuries. We know that, and it's frustrating, but it's also why we even have the word "handcuff" in fantasy football.
To wit, Jamaal Charles went in the top few picks of basically every fantasy draft. He was my personal No. 2 in the preseason, and was in the top five of all of our rankers. Anyone losing him as a result of his Week 5 ACL tear is in a bad way, and that bad way is made even more complicated by the events surrounding the team's backup situation.
In Week 17 of 2013, Charles sat out, and Knile Davis filled in, running for 81 yards and two scores. Last year, with Charles hurt at various occasions, Davis put up numbers -- three touchdowns and 356 yards in Weeks 2-4. So it made sense, entering 2015, that if you owned Charles, you'd back him up with Davis.
Let me take a step back to discuss handcuffs. I didn't think I would need to, but I've increasingly heard in chat and such that some people don't believe in handcuffing their star running backs. And that's ... well, there are times when it's complicated (and frankly, this Charles situation is one of them), but for the occasions where it's not so complicated, disregarding a handcuff is, frankly, dumb.
Imagine you have Le'Veon Bell right now. When Bell was out the first two weeks, DeAngelo Williams filled in, and was very good. Now that Bell is back, Williams is doing nothing. If you have him in fantasy, you're looking at a guy who has put up two points the last three weeks. Maybe, you think, you should drop Bell for, I don't know, Chris Thompson. In a vacuum, sure, Thompson has more value than Williams.
But think about what would have to happen for you to use each guy. Say you have Bell and Latavius Murray as your starting running backs, with Isaiah Crowell, Ameer Abdullah and Roster Spot X. If X is filled by Thompson, in order for you to use him, at least two of those guys have to get hurt or be on bye. Probably three. Now, if X is filled by Williams, in order for you to use him, only Bell has to go down. That's it. He's out, Williams is in.
It doesn't guard you as well against injuries to Murray, Crowell and Abdullah, sure. But let's face it -- if three of your top four running backs go down, you're screwed anyway.
You can't handcuff all your running backs. If you have Bell, Murray and Crowell, you can't own Williams, Roy Helu Jr. and Duke Johnson Jr. But the top guys with clear backups? There's no reason not to handcuff. I shouldn't have had to explain it, but there we go.
Anyway, back to the Chiefs, which complicate everything I just said. That's because, despite all Davis did when he replaced Charles before, he had an undeniable fumbling problem. It's why he wasn't a viable starter anyway. The first couple weeks, Davis had 10 touches. Then in Weeks 3 and 4, he had zero. Meanwhile, Charcandrick West went touchless for the first three weeks. Then in Week 4, he had five carries and a reception. Coach Andy Reid came out and said the team was looking at West as its top backup. When Charles went down in Week 5, West had seven carries and a reception, while Davis had two carries for 2 yards.
In short, you might have handcuffed Charles with Davis. And unless you noticed the subtle Week 4 change and/or have the waiver priority to add West, you were screwed anyway.
Fantasy football is cruel. Charles owners were loving life the first few weeks of the season. Now, Charles is done for 2015, and if those owners had Davis, times are tough. Add West if you can. If not ... well, Chris Thompson is getting a fair amount of play. Good luck.
On to our Week 6 running back rankings for standard leagues.
Running backs for standard leagues, Week 6
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska. Dallas, Oakland, St. Louis and Tampa Bay are on bye)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | ARI | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | KC | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | @NO | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Matt Forte | CHI | @DET | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | Arian Foster | HOU | @JAC | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | Eddie Lacy | GB | SD | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 7 | Mark Ingram | NO | ATL | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| 8 | Dion Lewis | NE | @IND | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| 9 | Justin Forsett | BAL | @SF | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 10 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | WAS | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 11 | DeMarco Murray | PHI | NYG | 9 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 12 |
| 12 | Frank Gore | IND | NE | 15 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 11 |
| 13 | Chris Johnson | ARI | @PIT | 20 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 15 |
| 14 | Carlos Hyde | SF | BAL | 14 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 |
| 15 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | CAR | 17 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 22 |
| 16 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | HOU | 21 | 20 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 17 | Danny Woodhead | SD | @GB | 16 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 16 |
| 18 | Charcandrick West | KC | @MIN | 18 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 18 |
| 19 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | @IND | 12 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 20 |
| 20 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | @BUF | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 |
| 21 | Lamar Miller | MIA | @TEN | 30 | 18 | 20 | 12 | 19 |
| 22 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | @BUF | 22 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 21 |
| 23 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @GB | 27 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| 24 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | @CLE | 25 | 23 | 28 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | Duke Johnson Jr. | CLE | DEN | 32 | 29 | 35 | 25 | 25 |
| 26 | Andre Ellington | ARI | @PIT | 24 | 36 | 27 | 32 | 29 |
| 27 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | DEN | 33 | 28 | 24 | 33 | 30 |
| 28 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | @PHI | 23 | 27 | 41 | 30 | 28 |
| 29 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | @SEA | 26 | 32 | 36 | 29 | 33 |
| 30 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | @CLE | 40 | 40 | 25 | 27 | 27 |
| 31 | Antonio Andrews | TEN | MIA | 34 | 34 | 30 | 28 | 34 |
| 32 | Alfred Morris | WAS | @NYJ | 39 | 25 | 31 | 34 | 31 |
| 33 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | NYG | 37 | 37 | 32 | 42 | 32 |
| 34 | Theo Riddick | DET | CHI | 29 | 39 | 33 | 44 | 43 |
| 35 | Knile Davis | KC | @MIN | 36 | 42 | 34 | 35 | 42 |
| 36 | C.J. Spiller | NO | ATL | 47 | 33 | 38 | 37 | 36 |
| 37 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | CHI | 31 | -- | 29 | 31 | -- |
| 38 | Shane Vereen | NYG | @PHI | 45 | 35 | -- | 26 | 37 |
| 39 | David Johnson | ARI | @PIT | 28 | 50 | 37 | 36 | 44 |
| 40 | Matt Jones | WAS | @NYJ | 38 | 30 | -- | 41 | 39 |
| 41 | Karlos Williams | BUF | CIN | 11 | -- | -- | -- | 38 |
| 42 | Dan Herron | BUF | CIN | 48 | 31 | 40 | 38 | 47 |
| 43 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | CAR | 42 | 44 | 48 | 39 | 35 |
| 44 | Chris Thompson | WAS | @NYJ | 35 | 41 | 43 | 46 | 45 |
| 45 | Bishop Sankey | TEN | MIA | 41 | 49 | 39 | 45 | 46 |
| 46 | Darren Sproles | PHI | NYG | 46 | 38 | 46 | -- | 40 |
| 47 | James Starks | GB | SD | -- | 43 | 45 | 48 | 48 |
| 48 | Anthony Dixon | BUF | CIN | -- | -- | 44 | -- | 41 |
| 49 | Buck Allen | BAL | @SF | -- | 47 | 49 | 40 | -- |
| 50 | Zach Zenner | DET | CHI | -- | 45 | -- | 43 | 49 |
| -- | Khiry Robinson | NO | ATL | 43 | -- | 47 | 49 | -- |
| -- | Andre Williams | NYG | @PHI | -- | -- | 42 | 47 | 50 |
| -- | Tevin Coleman | ATL | @NO | 44 | 48 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | De'Anthony Thomas | KC | @MIN | -- | 46 | -- | 50 | -- |
| -- | Jonas Gray | MIA | @TEN | 49 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Alfred Blue | HOU | @JAC | -- | -- | 50 | -- | -- |
| -- | Bilal Powell | NYJ | WAS | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
* * *
SB Nation presents: NFL Week 6 start/sit fantasy advice