Fantasy Football Week 9: Steelers' Antonio Brown Among 10 Handcuffs Worth Adding

If you lose a top-tier producer to an injury, your fantasy football season might quickly come unraveled. If this happens after the trade deadline, it can be even more devastating.

Players like Calvin Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Greg Jennings, Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson should be handcuffed with their replacements on their real teams.

But, handcuffing isn't all that easy.

Suppose you want to handcuff Jeremy Maclin of the Philadelphia Eagles. You might say, "Okay, let's handcuff him with DeSean Jackson."

But, Jackson is certainly already owned in your league. So, you might need to move down the depth chart to Jason Avant.

Sticking with the Eagles, if you wanted to handcuff LeSean McCoy, you might look down the depth chart and conclude that Ronnie Brown isn't worth adding to the roster.

Handcuffing is typically not used on the quarterback or tight end position. The backup you have on your fantasy team is likely to be better than your star's backup on his real team.

So, this list of handcuffs includes only running backs and wide receivers.

In constructing the list, I have restricted it to players who are available in at least 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues (I realize that the availability numbers are strange in some cases). 

This restricts the list, but makes it more useful to you.

Kendall Hunter

If you own Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers, then rookie Kendall Hunter is your handcuff.

Hunter is available in 86 percent of the leagues.

Keep in mind that Gore missed three games last year due to injury.

Donald Driver

If you own Greg Jennings of the Green Bay Packers, then Donald Driver is your handcuff.

Driver is available in 89 percent of the leagues.

Whoever plays wide receiver for the Packers will be productive. You can count on Driver as a good replacement.

Nate Burleson

If you own Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions, then Nate Burleson is your handcuff.

Burleson is available in 62 percent of the leagues.

An injury to Megatron would put a big hurt on your team, but the veteran Burleson might become a primary target for Matt Stafford.

I recently had Burelson on a list of five wide receivers that should be snatched off the waiver wire quickly.

Ben Tate

If you own Arian Foster of the Houston Texans, then Ben Tate is your handcuff.

Tate already has rushed for over 500 yards and filled in well during Foster's absence early in the season.

Surprisingly, he is available in 42 percent of the the leagues.

Jason Avant

If you own Jeremy Maclin or DeSean Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles, then Jason Avant is your handcuff.

Neither Maclin nor Jackson is a large receiver, so they can sometimes take some big hits from larger players. They both also run back punts, which adds to the risk. Jackson missed two games last year.

Avant has 31 receptions and is available in 91 percent of the leagues. 

Even with Maclin and Jackson in the lineup, Avant is capable of a big game. He had nine catches this season against the Buffalo Bills.

Javon Ringer

If you own Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans, then Javon Ringer is your handcuff.

Recently, it seems that Ringer is getting as much playing time as Johnson, whose production has fallen off drastically since last year.

After a contract holdout, Johnson has never really gotten on track and has cost managers dearly who made him their first draft pick.

Ringer is available in 88 percent of the leagues.

Toby Gerhart

If you own Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, then Toby Gerhart is your handcuff.

Replacing Peterson with Gerhart in your lineup would be a big loss. But, with rookie quarterback Christian Ponder still learning the ropes, Gerhart would get a lot of running opportunities.

Gerhart is available in 98 percent of the leagues.

Ricky Williams

If you own Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, then your handcuff is Ricky Williams.

The veteran Williams could provide some productivity in Rice's absence.

Williams is available in 91 percent of the leagues.

Jeremy Kerley

If you own Santonio Holmes or Plaxico Burress of the New York Jets, then your handcuff is rookie Jeremy Kerley.

Kerley has seen more playing time after the departure of Derrick Mason, and he's available in 99 percent of the leagues.

Antonio Brown

If you own Mike Wallace of the Pittsburgh Steelers, then your handcuff is Antonio Brown.

Brown has actually been targeted more times by Ben Roethlisberger than Wallace this year.

The Steelers play the St. Louis Rams in Week 16, fantasy's championship week. There might be a lot of passing yardage for the Steelers that week, so you want to be positioned to get your share of it.

Brown is available in 41 percent of the leagues.