Your fantasy football draft may be the most exciting and highly anticipated part of the fantasy football season, but it isn’t the most important. Of course a good draft is an integral part to your overall success, but your in-season management is what wins championships. Working the waiver wire is a key element in that management. Players get hurt, and players emerge throughout the season. Players that can help you win a week, get to the playoffs, and win you a championship. Here are some of the best waiver wire adds of 2017.
NOTE: When mentioning rankings, points, stats etc., we use PPR by default.
Alex Smith: It’s hard to argue that there was a bigger waiver wire add within the quarterback position, than Alex Smith. Smith was good enough to finish as the #2 overall fantasy quarterback. (weeks 1-16) It will be interesting to see how (and where) he backs up his 2017 performance.
Carson Wentz: Having seen the Eagles offense without Wentz in there, you could see why many people are saying that he should be the MVP of the league. He was most likely your fantasy MVP as well before his injury. He trailed only Russell Wilson for quarterback fantasy points at the time of his injury. Despite missing the last few weeks, Wentz was still able to finish in the top 5.
Jared Goff: What a difference a year makes huh? Goff was probably only drafted in very deep or best ball leagues. He proved a lot of people wrong this season and finished the 2017 regular season as the #8 fantasy quarterback.
Blake Bortles: What else does Bortles have to do? We know he’s not very good and his mechanics are terrible. But seriously? You have to go back to 2014 to find the last time Blake Bortles wasn’t a QB1. That’s right. For the 3rd straight season, Bortles has found his way into the top 12 of fantasy producers.
Caese Keenum: Keenum may have finished as the QB14, but he was top 10 from weeks 3 to 16. He was more than serviceable to someone that may have lost Aaron Rodgers or drafted Derek Carr, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota etc. He’s a free agent this off-season, so he picked a good time to play his best football. Unfortunately, many of the teams that need a quarterback are drafting towards the top of the draft.
Deshaun Watson: Man, if you picked him up after week one, you had the #1 fantasy quarterback for the next 6 games. Things couldn’t have been better. And then you find out that he tore his ACL in PRACTICE, heading into a great match-up against the Colts.
If you were in a league where Alvin Kamara and/or Kareem Hunt were not drafted, then obviously they would top this list.
- Jerick McKinnon: If you took our advice and picked up McKinnon over Murray when Dalvin Cook went down, then you were very happy with your decision. The week 5 pickup was a RB2 the rest of the season, but his production could’ve been a bit frustrating. McKinnon had some mediocre games, while other times he would go off and finish the week as a RB1.
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Chris Thompson: Thompson only gave us 10 games, but produced 15+ fantasy points (PPR) in 6 of those games. He was probably a weekly starter for you from the time you picked him up in week 2, but wasn’t there for us down the stretch and in the playoffs.
3. Alex Collins: Was probably hard to trust until the Ravens realized that he was their best option, and decided to make him their featured back. As the season went on, Collins became a bigger part of the passing game, and had his best performances in weeks 11-15, helping fantasy owners get to the playoffs/championship.
4. Kenyan Drake: We weren’t perfect, but we did tell you to pick up Drake (instead of Williams) when Ajayi was traded to Philadelphia. Drake gave us double-digit fantasy points in 6 of 8 weeks from weeks 9-16 (20+ points in weeks 13-15). He helped many get to the championship game, but unfortunately he let us down in week 16.
5. Dion Lewis: If you want to put Lewis ahead of some of the aforementioned players, I would have no problem with it. His overall performance based on points was better than some of theirs. The reason he’s behind the others for me, is because of trust. He was a monster from weeks 10-17, but at what point were we comfortable putting him in our lineup? Trusting and figuring out the New England backfield was probably easier than expected, but there was still some hesitancy as to who it was going to be.
6. Latavius Murray: Chances are he was picked up when Cook got hurt and then dropped again when it was clear that McKinnon was the preferred back to own. Then he had a great game on 18 carries in week 7 and was picked up again. Like McKinnon, the production wasn’t consistent, but he did reward those that needed and used him later in the season.
7. Rex Burkhead: As it turns out, we were able to use two of the Patriots running backs this season. Burkhead may have hurt some people in their week 15 playoff game by leaving early and not producing what was expected. However, he was a key part in your lineups from weeks 12-14, and scored 15 or more fantasy points in 5 of 6 games from week 8.
8. Orleans Darkwa/ Wayne Gallman: I’ll combine these two teammates since they both had an impact during the season. Darkwa did finish as the RB40, but it was Gallam that was there when it counts. In weeks 14-16, Gallman put up 17, 14, and 12 points respectively, and was a good flex option during those crucial weeks.
9. Tarik Cohen: I was conflicted about whether or not he should be included in this list, but then I realized that he finished as a top 30 running back in ppr leagues. That probably says more about the state of the position this season, than it does about the player. Weeks 1-3 were great for Cohen (though he wasn’t in any lineups for week 1), and then his usage and production was sporadic and he couldn’t be trusted in lineups. Those that went heavy and spent a lot of their FAAB on him after week 1, were hoping for a season long player. It just didn’t work out that way.
- Robbie Anderson: Depending on your league size, Anderson may have been drafted, but there’s also a good chance he was dropped after week 1 or 2. In the first 5 weeks of the season, Anderson only had one game with double-digit fantasy points (week 3 – 18.5 pts), which is probably a reason he was on the wire at some point. Those that stuck with him or picked him up, reaped the benefits of having the #18 fantasy wide receiver for the season. He would’ve been a staple in your lineups from weeks 6 through 13, but his production slipped when Bryce Petty took over for Josh McCown. Unfortunately, that was during the crucial weeks of 14 and 15.
- Devin Funchess: Even though Funchess was the #21 fantasy wide receiver for the season, his productivity wasn’t consistent and very often frustrating for his owners. The typical example of a player that goes off on your bench and does nothing in your lineup. He did have a nice stretch of games from week nine to 14, but his owner will clearly remember his weeks 15 and 16 performances, when he failed to reach 5 points in either week.
- Nelson Algholor: You could rank Algholor, Funchess, and our next player in any order you want and we would have no problem with it. Algholor was right behind Funchess in terms of overall points and rank (#22). Like Funchess, he may not have been as consistent as we would’ve liked, but he did have two stretches where he was very productive. Algholor was a top 10 fantasy producer from weeks 13-16.
- JuJu Smith-Schuster: Same story, different player. JuJu had some games where he would disappear on you. However, if you were fortunate enough to have him on your roster for the playoffs and championship weeks, he helped you win it all. All-in-all, a nice performance for 13 games.
- Cooper Kupp: Outside of the all important week 15, Kupp was a pretty consistent WR3/flex option for you from week seven on. Kupp finshed the season as a top 25 wide receiver. His role should only grow in 2018, as he and Goff continue to grow together.
- Robert Woods: Woods may have finished the regular season as the the WR32, but that has a lot to do with the fact that he only played in 12 regular season games. His 13.6 avg points was good enough for 19th overall. Like Kupp, Woods is going to get even better with more time with Jared Goff, and he will be targeted in 2018 drafts in the mid-rounds.
- Keelan Cole: His overall numbers and ranking (127.5 pts / WR47) may not stand out, but he deserves to be on this list for what he did down the stretch. Cole was the #3 wide receiver from weeks 13-16 and no doubt was on many championship teams.
The following players were good waiver wire adds, but not players that you would’ve been using as a weekly starter:
- Kenny Stills (WR28)- 174.7 points
- Mohamed Sanu (WR29)- 174.3 points
- Marquise Goodwin (WR31) 168.6 points
- Ted Ginn (WR34) -159.6 points
- Paul Richardson (WR39) 150.3 points
Playoff/Championship difference makers: (weeks 14-17)
- Keenan Cole – 72.6 pts
- JuJu Smith-Schuster- 66.2 pts
- Marquise Goodwin- 57.5 pts
- Chris Godwin- 51.5 pts
- Kendall Wright- 50.4 pts
Okay…This is going to be quick. The tight end position was pretty much a disaster on a weekly basis, except if you had Rob Gronkowski, Zach Ertz and Travis Kelce. You “sucked it up” every week with Delanie Walker, Evan Engram, Jimmy Graham, Jack Doyle and Kyle Rudolph, just because there wasn’t much else available. Sure, there were weekly guys that were picked up and dropped a week or two later, such as: Tyler Kroft, Vernon Davis, George Kittle, and Ed Dickson, just to name a few. However, for the sake of this article, I will touch on one or two players that aren’t exactly “top” waiver wire adds, but players that contributed because of the poor situation.
- Benjamin Watson: Watson actually finished as a TE1 for the season (you see my point), and that is with only having 6 games with double digit fantasy points (one of which was week 17). He tops this list because he wasn’t a drafted player. I really hope 2018 is a better year for TE’s because the 8.6 PPR points that the #11 overall at the position averaged, is something I would be happy with from my bye week fill-in, not weekly starter.
- Cameron Brate: We were saying all last off-season that Brate was going to be the TE to own in Tampa Bay, and not Howard. That proved to be true for most of the season. Brate might have been available on the wire in some leagues, and if you picked him up, you were loving life from weeks three to eight. After that, fantasy life wasn’t so enjoyable. That six week stretch where life was good, helped Brate finish as a top 10 TE for the season.
- Jacksonville Jaguars: Can you believe that Jacksonville wasn’t drafted in many leagues? That is a real shame because we had them ranked as the #3 overall defense for most of the off-season. We begrudgingly moved them to #6 in our final rankings. Shame on us. Shame on you if you didn’t follow our rankings to begin with.
2. Baltimore Ravens: Ravens finished the regular season as the #2 overall fantasy defense…Though if you saw that final play of week 17, you would think they were last. There’s a good chance the Ravens were left off your draft board in 10 team leagues. We definitely missed on them as well.
3. Philadelphia Eagles: So far, the top 3 defenses for fantasy, were not drafted across many leagues. We were a little higher on the Eagles than most, as we had them ranked inside the top 10 heading into the season.
4. Los Angeles Rams: Continuing the pattern. The Rams were being drafted as the 14th defense off the board in drafts.
5. Los Angels Chargers: Only drafted in round 18 of 12 team leagues.
6. Detroit Lions: Were not even a thought on draft night.
7. New Orleans Saints: Did you see them play in 2016? How would you consider them for 2017?
8. Chicago Bears: Up until this point, all the previous teams listed were in order of their 2017 finish. The only team that was drafted in the top 10 and had a top 10 ranking heading into the season, was the Seattle Seahawks.
