Thursday, December 31, 2015

Year End Awards: All Waiver Wire Team/Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year

Waiver Wire Pickups are essential in fantasy football. Teams are constantly scouring free agents looking for the next gem to help ride their team to a fantasy championship. Every year a handful guys break out from fantasy irrelevance to fantasy superstardom. Here's the best of this year's crop. Drafted players who were cut and then picked back up do qualify for this team.

QB
Derek Carr (Shock The Monkey)
3793 Passing Yards, 31 Passing TD's, 12 INT's, 126 Rushing Yards, 1 2 PT, 3 Fumble Lost, 297.32 Fantasy Points
QB Rank: 13
Overall Rank: 21
Quarterback Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter against the San Diego Chargers at O.co Coliseum on December 24, 2015 in Oakland, California. 
A true 100% waiver wire pickup, Carr ended up supplanting Peyton Manning as Mark's starting QB around mid season. What could've been a disaster and possibly a season ending move, ended up being quite good. Carr was more than adequate as a fantasy starter and the fact that Mark placed 2nd overall more than proves it. I think this is just the beginning and Carr is only going to get better which means no more Waiver Wire teams for him.

WR
Allen Hurns (Sons Of The Harpy)
61 Receptions, 1014 Receiving Yards, 10 Receiving TD's, 1 Fumble Lost, 189.90 Fantasy Points
WR Rank: 12
Overall Rank: 43
Allen Hurns #88 of Jacksonville Jaguars scores the winning touchdown during the NFL game against the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium on October 25, 2015 in London, England. 
The "Hit Mang" finished as the 12th ranked wide receiver this season with over 1000 yards receiving and 10 TD's.  Not bad for a guy who wasn't drafted in our league. He filled in nicely for Leland when Keenan Allen suffered a season ending injury. Although in the long run it didn't hurt him, I was shocked that Leland straight dropped him when he suffered a concussion as he could've stashed him as he only ended up missing a week. Drew gladly picked him and he was good for Drew too, helping him reach the playoffs.

WR
Ted Ginn Jr (Shock The Monkey)
44 Receptions, 739 Receiving Yards, 10 Receiving TD's, 60 Rushing Yards, 161.90 Fantasy Points
WR Rank: 20
Overall Rank: 65
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. flies into the end zone for a touchdown following a pass reception from quarterback Cam Newton as New York Giants cornerback D. Rodgers-Cromartie, right, looks on during third-quarter action at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. The Panthers won, 38-35.
Even though Ginn came up as small as small can be in the Championship Game, there's no denying he was huge in Mark's playoff run. Who would've though Ted Ginn, who's been a mediocre journeyman receiver, would end up being a top 20 fantasy receiver this season? Obviously nobody as Ginn went undrafted. There he was though, better than T.Y. Hilton, Randall Cobb and others drafted way earlier. Don't know if it's repeatable, but at least for this season Ginn was definitely a reliable receiver more times than not.

WR
Kamar Aiken (Kumamon Express)
70 Receptions, 868 Receiving Yards,  5 Receiving TD's, 1 Fumble Lost, 149.80 Fantasy Points
WR Rank: 33
Overall Rank: 95
Kamar Aiken #11 of the Baltimore Ravens makes a catch during the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium on December 20, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Chiefs defeated the Ravens 34-14. 
All Aiken needed was an opportunity and that's exactly what he got when Steve Smith suffered a season ending injury. Aiken was a pretty consistent PPR producer as the only real receiving option in Baltimore. It didn't even matter who the QB was, Flacco, Schaub, Clausen, Mallett, he had double digit games with them all. Kenny dropped him to pick up Julian Edelman for whoever takes over his team next season. I jumped at the chance to pick him up and in the only  game I got to use him he had 20 points for me. Steve Smith coming back might eat away at his opportunities next season, but this year, he more than proved himself as a fantasy starter.

TE
Gary Barnidge (Shock The Monkey)
71 Receptions, 977 Receiving Yards, 9 Receiving TD's, 187.20 Fantasy Points
TE Rank: 3
Overall Rank: 36
Tight end Gary Barnidge #82 of the Cleveland Browns warms up prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 20, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. 
Who in the hell saw THIS happening?? Barnidge had been a irrelevant blocking tight end for years before all of a sudden becoming the Browns #1 receiving option. Mark took the gamble and picked him up off waivers and all Barnidge did was become the 3rd ranked TE in all of football. Nearly 1000 yards receiving, and 9 TD's, Barnidge helped Mark in his journey to the championship game. 

RB
David Johnson (No Soup For You)
556 Rushing Yards, 8 Rushing TD's, 33 Receptions, 423 Receiving Yards, 4 Receiving TD's, 1 Return TD, 1 Fumble Lost, 190.40 Fantasy Points
RB Rank: 7
Overall Rank: 34
Running back David Johnson #31 of the Arizona Cardinals scores a 14 yard rushing touchdown against free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix #21 of the Green Bay Packers during the third quarter of the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December 27, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. 
Johnson was a 14th round pick by Dad, and was actually used by Dad a couple times, but when he was basically relegated to 3rd down duties and kick returns, Dad dropped him and Johnson stayed on the waivers for weeks until Chris Johnson suffered a season ending injury. This was probably the biggest pickup of the season as Leland reaped the benefits of David Johnson taking over the starting job, including a key 40 point performance in the playoffs. He was basically this year's Odell Beckham. Next season, there's no doubt with a 14th round price tag, he'll be on Leland's roster.
 
RB
Thomas Rawls (BigBadBob)
830 Rushing Yards, 4 Rushing TD's, 76 Receiving Yards, 1 Receiving TD, 1 Fumble Lost, 123.10 Fantasy Points
RB Rank: 25
Overall Rank:90
Running back Thomas Rawls #34 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball past inside linebacker Daryl Smith #51 of the Baltimore Ravens in the first quarter at M&T Bank Stadium on December 13, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. 
Had Thomas Rawls not gotten hurt in Dad's 1st round playoff match, he probably would've been hands down the pickup of the year. Unfortunately he did, but it doesn't take away the impact he had on Dad's team after Dad lost Marshawn Lynch for the season. Rawls was way more effective than Marshawn and helped Dad survive and make the playoffs. If Marshawn hangs em up, no doubt Rawls is going to be the man and Dad will be lucky as he'll get to keep him in Round 14.
 
Flex
DeAngelo Williams (RB) (Hoosier Daddy)
899 Rushing Yards, 11 Rushing TD's, 38 Receptions, 354 Receiving Yards, 1 2 PT Conversion, 2 Fumbles Lost, 208.30 Fantasy Points
RB Rank: 3
Overall Rank: 26
DeAngelo Williams (34) of the Pittsburgh Steelers trucks Danny Trevathan (59) of the Denver Broncos during the first half of play at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Denver Broncos on Sunday, December 20, 2015.
 Wow...what a story. DeAngelo Williams was just supposed to be a veteran fill in until Le'Veon Bell came back. In fact, Williams was viewed as past his prime and done that no one even bothered to draft him. He had a great first game and then I picked him up and he basically won me week 2. I dropped him immediately afterwards though because Le'Veon Bell was back. Then Bell got hurt and Williams became the workhorse again Ryan got him and he DOMINATED all season. Almost 1000 yards rushing, 11 TD's and basically his best season of his career. Totally unexpected. Williams was the 3rd ranked RB this season. That's insane. If Ryan had made the playoffs, this would be have definitely been the pickup of the year.

Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year
David Johnson (No Soup For You)

David Johnson #31 of the Arizona Cardinals runs the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles in the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on December 20, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 Thought about Barnidge as Mark used him a lot throughout the season, but at the end of the day, Barnidge had a terrible championship game, and he didn't have near the impact that David Johnson did for Leland in the most important part of the season. David Johnson's performances in the playoffs basically made Leland unbeatable and he's a key cog in Leland's 2nd title.


 
 
 




 


 

 

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