Handcuffing

For the last six weeks, most fantasy football owners have been picking up players mainly for replacing a player on a bye. Now that we're heading into the final bye week, owners need to change their approach.

At this point in the season, the available players are unlikely to be a factor in the remainder of your season. So if you're not looking for a starter, you should be looking for bench depth in the form of a handcuff, which refers to owning the backup to one of your top players.

Realize that not every backup is appropriate handcuff. As an owner of Cedric Benson, the No. 5 RB this season, I am not interested in Bernard Scott, who has a mere 16 carries this season. Scott is a rookie who has no track record of success. In thinking ahead to a worse-case scenario where Benson would get hurt, I accepted a trade for Rashard Mendenhall, whom I'd rather start than Scott if he was going to be the Bengals' starting RB.

But as an owner of Marion Barber, I am keeping Tashard Choice on my bench. Barber has had to deal with injuries to his quadriceps and thumb, and missed the Cowboys' Week 3 matchup against Carolina. Choice, who filled in well for an injured MB3 late last season, produced double-digit fantasy points from Weeks 3-5.

Another good handcuff is Matt Leinart. When I kept Kurt Warner from last year's roster, I was aware of his injury history. I decided to pick up Leinart in preseason -- an unusual move, but I thought a wise one given that we start two QBs in my 12-team league. If Leinart took over, he would be an automatic pickup and a likely above-average QB. However once I traded Warner, the need to own Leinart disappeared. I'd rather have a replacement for my own guy, rather someone else's.

A hot pickup this week is sure to be Ladell Betts. Given Clinton Portis's injury history and declining performance, Betts probably should have already been handcuffed. Granted, Portis is out next week due to a concussion and not due to his ankle and calf injuries, but Betts would have been more valuable to that Portis owner than a running-back-by-committee guy like Justin Fargas. Now I own Fargas, mostly because I think he could be a flex play, but the upside of Betts as the Redskins' No. 1 RB is higher than Fargas's, especially since Darren McFadden should return this week and split carries.

If a good handcuff is already on someone's roster, try to get that owner to throw him as an afterthought into a deal. Letting him know that you really want that player will deteriorate your negotiating and bargaining power.