Now more than ever, handcuff your fantasy football running backs

As the fantasy football playoffs approach, protecting your roster is of the utmost importance. Handcuffing your running backs on draft day is always a hotly contested debate, but whether or not you believed in doing so back in August, doing it now is a must.

Luckily, we have avoided major injuries at the position this season, but after what we just witnessed this past week, the last thing you want to do heading into Week 14 is leave yourself open for potential disaster, especially with another week where six teams are on a bye.

It starts with another loss of Christian McCaffrey, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Sunday. Gone as quickly as he reentered.

And we were all set to pounce on Jordan Mason once again, but he suffered an ankle injury of his own and will also be placed on injured reserve.

That means your priority waiver add this week is Isaac Guerendo. It’s about being invested in the lead back of a Kyle Shanahan offense and we’ve seen Guerendo be just that with his limited opportunities.

Should you miss out on Guerendo, you can turn your attention to Kimani Vidal of the Chargers, who serves as the change-of-pace back behind Gus Edwards. He didn’t see a heavy workload Sunday against the Falcons as the Chargers ran just 46 plays, but given the run-first mentality of Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman, you can expect more in the coming weeks.

Edwards is, and will always be, an uninspiring plodder, so expect more out of Vidal, especially with J.K. Dobbins landing on IR and Hassan Haskins working on his fumbling issue.

Another great running back depth play, especially with another Byemageddon in Week 14, is Blake Corum of the Los Angeles Rams.

Whether or not you are a Kyren Williams owner, Corum needs to be rostered heading into the fantasy playoffs. He actually got the start this past week and carried the ball eight times to an eventual 15 for Williams, but Sean McVay has shown a penchant for lightening the workload for his starter as the season winds down.

Williams does have a lengthy injury history and the Rams are in a dogfight with Seattle and Arizona for the NFC West. With their next three opponents all having soft run defenses, we could see more touches for Corum.

This is one of the worst times for injuries, and your fantasy roster needs to be solidified for your run through the playoffs. Be smart about it. It is light years better to have your starting running back’s direct handcuff than it is to have a second or third tight end or some lame-duck wide receiver who will never crack your starting lineup.

Howard Bender is the head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football news and advice.