2017 Season Recap: Part 2
Who got value on the waiver wire?
Ultimately, a fantasy season is remembered for one thing: who earned a plaque on our esteemed League Trophy. But before 2017 fades from our memory, let’s look back at some of the most interesting records, statistics, and pick-ups throughout the league in our second year of Dynasty Football.
Best Pickups of the Year
Once again, we’ll go through some of the most interesting, high-value pickups owners were able to snag through the waiver wire/free agency. Next to the players name is where they finished in scoring among their position. If a player was picked up by multiple owners, team listed is the last owner to snag him.
QB
Alex Smith (QB 5): Free Agent Add — Kurtis
Jimmy Garoppolo (QB 33): $71 Waiver Bid — Kevin
Kurtis picked up Alex Smith right after our rookie draft and reaped the benefits of a career best in yards, touchdowns, and QB rating for the veteran QB. Put that all together and Smith was the QB 5 overall on the season.
Last year Kevin got a shout out in this article for picking up Wentz heading into 2017, and was rewarded with an MVP caliber season from the sophomore prior to his injury. This year Kevin gets another shout out for a pick-up looking towards the future. Jimmy GQ looked like a star to close out 2017 and the $71 should be money well spent for Kev.
Honorable Mention:
Blake Bortles (QB 13): $7 Waiver Bid — Josh (later traded to Jeff)
Bortles continues to live up to his reputation as a terrible NFL QB yet decent fantasy QB. He even had a stretch at the end of the season where he scored over 22 fantasy points five straight weeks! He could also be out of a starting job as early as next year. Such is life for Sir Bortles. (Edit: Nevermind, Bortles is the proud owner of a new 3-year extension!)
RB
Alex Collins (RB 17): Free Agent Add — Binh
Javorius Allen (RB 25): $20 Waiver Bid — Jeff
Jamaal Williams (RB 29): $0 Waiver Bid — Jason
Kenyan Drake (RB 36): $32 Waiver Bid — Tani
Collins quietly finished as the RB 17 and put up a few big weeks along with solid consistency, scoring below 7 points only three times this season. Nothing mind-blowing, but considering how hard it can be to fill that 2nd RB spot week to week, that’s a nice find for Binh this season.
Javorius “Buck” Allen was another low-key contributor in 2017, finishing as RB 25 overall. Similar to Collins, Allen was a safe bet for 7–9 points a week, and only scored below 6.70 points three times on the season.
After Allen there weren’t any other RB adds that provided consistent production through the entire season, but Jamaal Williams averaged an impressive 12.77 fantasy points after the Packers Week 8 Bye. That average would’ve ranked him RB 12 on the season when multiplied out by 16 games.
Kenyan Drake also had a nice stretch to end the season, particularly in Weeks 13–15, where he averaged 21.73 points. Unfortunately for Tani, Drake finished that hot streak with a mediocre 7.70 points in the Championship week. Heading into 2018, Drake will have a chance to cement himself as the lead back in Miami.
Honorable Mention:
Rex Burkhead (RB 41): $34 Waiver Bid — Anton
Burkhead was picked up and cut by Binh a couple times before settling on Anton’s team, and he closed out the season strong before getting injured in Week 15. Starting in Week 10 and prior to the injury, Burkhead averaged 13.77 points.
WR
Robby Anderson (WR 21): $11 Waiver Bid — Lando
Nelson Agholor (WR 23): $20 Waiver Bid — Jason
Marquise Goodwin (WR 24): Free Agent Add — Anton (traded to Kevin)
Lando picked up Anderson right before Week 6 (Binh had previously dropped him), and was rewarded with a scoring average of 16.41 points from Week 6 to Week 13. Unfortunately for Lando, Josh McCown got injured in Week 14, and Robby’s production plummeted during the fantasy playoffs.
Jason snagged Agholor in Week 6 after, you guessed it, Binh previously added and dropped him. The former NFL 1st Round Pick went on to have a solid year in his 3rd season, and his 2018 arrow is pointing up in an Eagles offense led by Carson Wentz.
Marquise Goodwin was picked up by Anton and traded for a measly $10 FAAB to Kevin prior to the season. Goodwin proceeded to have a more productive season than the majority of Anton’s supposedly deep WR core (smh). Just like Agholor, Goodwin’s stock could be on the rise now that he’s tied to an ascending QB in Garoppolo.
Honorable Mention:
Chris Godwin (WR 68): $11 Waiver Bid — Anton
I’m including Godwin as an honorable mention just to continue this article’s trend of picking on Binh, who dropped the 2nd Round Pick (D|League Draft) mid-season. Godwin will still be in a crowded depth chart in 2018, but he showed a lot of promise in the 3 games he started: catching 15 passes for 277 yards and a TD. Hopefully his role continues to grow next season.
TE
Tight End was pretty much a wasteland in 2017, and I don’t just mean the waiver wire. There were barely 8 fantasy TEs worth starting. Don’t believe me? Jack Doyle and Jared Cook were overall TE 9 and 10, respectively. Ask Mikey and Binh if they felt confident starting those two last season.
Luckily there’s a growing group of young TEs that could revitalize the position: Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, OJ Howard, David Njoku, George Kittle, and of course Evan Engram — who was already the TE 4 in 2017. Obviously they won’t all become superstars, but beyond that list there’s a few other raw potential guys like Adam Shaheen, Gerald Everett, and Jake Butt that have a chance at breaking out over the next few years.
K/DEF
This year I’ll be highlighting some K/DEF pickups because not only were they top scoring performers at the position, they were also added in the offseason/early season so their owners actually reaped the benefits of their production all year.
Greg Zuerlein (K 1): Free Agent Add — Binh
Will Lutz (K 4): Free Agent Add — Lando
Greg the Leg, Young GZ, Legatron. Greg Zuerlein has more bad ass nicknames than most NFL stars, and Binh was able to snag the dominant 2017 kicker only a couple weeks into the season. In a surprising turn of events, Binh never dropped him.
Will Lutz is apparently called “Mr. Automatic” by Saints players… which is probably the millionth time a kicker has been given that nickname by his teammates. Generic nickname aside, Lutz was the 4th best kicker in 2017 and Lando picked him up all the way back in July of last year.
Jacksonville (DEF 1): Free Agent Add — Tani
Philadelphia (DEF 3): Free Agent Add — Lando
#Sacksonville dominated the NFL to the tune of 55 sacks, 21 INTs, and 7 TDs, and racked up tons of fantasy points along the way. Philly wasn’t too shabby either, and ultimately ended 2017 as the 3rd best fantasy DEF.
Alright alright, I’ll stop picking on Binh and end this article calling myself out — I added both JAX and PHI but dropped them a week later. What a big loser! Sad!
