The 4 Best Running Back Handcuffs to Draft in 2026 Fantasy Football
What is a fantasy football running back handcuff? It is a player who is very likely to take over a large workload for an NFL team, gaining significant running back touches in the event of an injury. That does not qualify a by-committee player such as Kyle Monangai or RJ Harvey, but it will qualify players who are clearly in the minority of snaps. The best examples are listed below, as well as the best handcuffs, entering the 2026 fantasy football season.
Tank Bigsby — Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles traded for Bigsby after Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season. When fans thought that Will Shipley was the prime handcuff to Saquon Barkley, that thought was incorrect. In Bigsby's 12 games last season, he had 62 rushing attempts, 363 yards, and 2 touchdowns. He had the best yards per carry among any Eagles at 5.9.
In contrast, Shipley played 16 games and only had 14 rushing attempts for 49 yards. Bigsby will rumble as the Eagles' RB1 if Barkley ever goes down.
Tyler Allgeier — Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals have emphasized that Jeremiyah Love is their guy. He will carry the load, and Allgeier, who had originally signed to be the RB1, will now play in a minority role. Among Allgeier, James Conner, and Trey Benson, they will split up their 30-40% of the work. Allgeier qualifies as a handcuff in this scenario, and if Love went down, he would be the RB1 ahead of Connor. He is under the radar but elite, having fallen victim to playing behind Bijan Robinson in years past.
Blake Corum — Los Angeles Rams
As time has gone on, Corum has increasingly gained valuable work in the Rams' backfield. Yet Kyren Williams is still the RB1, especially after signing a new contract days before the 2025 NFL season began.
Williams had 303 rushing attempts to Corum's 173 in 2026. Corum is definitely a handcuff with little starting value in fantasy football when Williams is healthy. Nonetheless, Corum is a great player on the NFL's best offense. Despite a minority role, Corum ran for 6 touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry in 2025.
Isiah Pacheco — Detroit Lions
The Lions are supposed to be a top-5 NFL offense in 2026. While they stumbled out of form in 2025, that expectation remains. Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and beyond, the team is excellent when it comes to pure skill. Perhaps the best of all: their offensive line. Gibbs expects to be the RB1 in fantasy football this season.
As David Montgomery headed to the Texans, the Lions brought in Pacheco. While he may not be an elite talent, he is good enough to thrive behind great blocking. If Gibbs ever went down, Pacheco would be the RB1 in Detroit, and that alone commands RB1 value for anyone in such a role.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.