Fantasy Football: Devontae Booker is an elite handcuff to roster

With Saquon Barkley possibly missing early time and having a recent history with injuries, Devontae Booker is a handcuff to target in fantasy football.

Fantasy football managers who are about to head into drafts have to be looking at Saquon Barkley with massive question marks hanging above their heads. As Giants training camp begins, he’s starting it on the PUP list and New York has remained adamant that they won’t rush him back. In fact, his status for Week 1 is very much in doubt as they want to make sure he’s 100 percent.

But whether or not you draft Barkley, there is another running back on the New York Giants you may want to consider in the later rounds: Devontae Booker.

With the departure of Wayne Gallman in the offseason, Booker is the clear-cut backup to Barkley for Big Blue. The five-year NFL veteran spent his first four seasons in Denver before landing in Las Vegas last year and now New York. And though he has just 129 carries over the last three seasons, he’s averaged 4.8 yards per carry while also amassing 61 receptions for 416 yards.

That is to say, Booker is far from untalented or incapable. But what makes him one of the most valuable fantasy football handcuffs for the 2021 season is the potential opportunity that awaits him if the stars were to align.

Devontae Booker may only be a backup but the fantasy football upside is very real.

Now, even if Barkley doesn’t play in Week 1, he should return early in the season and then Booker could become irrelevant. That’s definitely in play. However, Barkley missed all of last season with a torn ACL and was hampered by injuries for a good part of the 2019 season as well. His health is anything but a foregone conclusion at this point.

And that’s where Booker becomes incredibly enticing. Just last season, we saw Mike Davis take over for another highly drafted running back in fantasy, Christian McCaffrey, in the Panthers offense and finish as the RB12 in PPR for the season. A big reason for that was Carolina’s offense and their reliance on their running back.

While the Giants aren’t in the same vein as the Panthers with how much they like to give running backs touches, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is infamously fond of running the football. New York had only the 17th-highest run play percentage last year but it’s worth noting that the rate rose over five percent from the previous regime. With a full offseason and training camp with this coaching staff, it’s reasonable to think that rate could further increase.

The point is, the Giants are going to use their running backs a good amount even if Barkley isn’t healthy. Their current depth chart says that, if he’s not, then Booker is going to get the majority of the work out of the backfield. And that could yield solid dividends in fantasy football, something that could legitimately have Booker in the RB2 range but definitely as a usable FLEX option.

Drafting handcuffs in fantasy football is always a high-variance option. But when you look at Booker, it’s hard to ignore the obvious upside present with the veteran running back. He’s a player I’d rather draft late and have on the roster than be rushing to the waiver wire to try and grab.