What can bring us excitement, hope, disappointment, stress, and anxiety all within a few months?! Fantasy Dynasty Football. Year after year, we invest SO MUCH of our time into researching for our fantasy drafts and waiver wire adds throughout the season, but we want to acknowledge specific players that have carried our teams this year. The following players either CASHED IN on their high ADP, pleasantly surprised despite being taken in the middle-late rounds, or were added from the waiver wire and helped vault our teams to the playoffs.
QB
Lamar Jackson: Jackson was a CHEAT code this year with all of his rushing yards (1,103 through 15 weeks). Jackson was consistently drafted in the 9th round making him an absolute STEAL and MONSTER for your fantasy squad.
Deshaun Watson: Watson lived up to his high ADP and cashed in QB2 numbers all season. He's going to be one of the Top 3 QBs taken in next year's fantasy drafts.
Dak Prescott: Dak was taken a few rounds after Lamar Jackson as a backup or potential lottery ticket. He started off the year ON FIRE but cooled down considerably. Still, he was able to produce consistent numbers and ended up as the QB4 on the year.
RB
Christian McCaffrey: McCaffrey was CONSISTENTLY taken with the 3rd pick behind Barkley and Kamara. Needless to say, the owners who were able to grab him with the 3rd pick (ME!) are ELATED that he fell to us. I assume most people heading into the fantasy championship matchup have McCaffrey as their workhorse RB.
Aaron Jones: There were a lot of questions surrounding Jones at the beginning of the year. We all knew he was a supreme talent but he couldn't stay healthy. Despite Jamaal Williams being a thorn on the side of Jones's owners this season, I believe the timeshare helped him stay healthy and produce RB4 numbers all year.
Austin Ekeler: Remember the Melvin Gordon saga at the beginning of the year? That contract dispute made Ekeler's ADP JUMP 100 spots in a matter of a few weeks. Even if you gambled and took him early in your draft, he provided consistent RB2/FLEX numbers EVEN WITH Gordon starting.
WR
Chris Godwin: Godwin was an absolute STUD this season. He was a popular sleeper pick due to the new Bruce Arians offense which highlights the slot receiver. This proved to be true! He fell to most of us in the 5th-6th round, which turned out to be a STEAL.
Michael Thomas: Before the season, Thomas was looked at as a consistent (albeit BORING) Wide Receiver. Most drafts had Hopkins and Adams taken before him due to potential upside BUT there's serious value in consistency. Thomas was so consistent that he winded up being the #2 WR in all of fantasy despite not having a super high ceiling. He could have been the WR1 if Godwin didn't have a CAREER YEAR.
Julian Edelman: I don't know about you, but I constantly doubt Edelman every year. I assume that there's no way he can duplicate the numbers from the year before. He keeps proving me wrong, and I can tell you I won't be sleeping on him next year (especially in PPR formats).
TE
Travis Kelce: Kelce proved his worth this season with those who took him early. The common consensus was that the TE value was down, which proved to be the correct call. Even though Kelce was the #1 TE in fantasy this year, his Preseason ADP versus his Overall Rank left a HUGE gap. Still, he provided great numbers for such a shallow position.
Mark Andrews: Another popular sleeper pick this year, Andrews proved a lot of experts right this year. Before the season started, the prediction was that Jackson couldn't throw very well and he would need to rely on Andrews. Jackson proved to be a capable passer and used Andrews in the passing game due to his overall talent. Jackson-to-Andrews is a match made in heaven.
Jared Cook: I know this won't be a popular pick, but Cook has been quietly putting together one of his best seasons as a pro. When he went from the Raiders to the Saints over the offseason, the hope was that he would BALL OUT due to joining a high-octane offense and a supremely accurate passer in Brees. He went under the radar this season and posted Top 7 numbers at the TE position.
DEF
New England Patriots: What is there to say? The Patriots Defense had an unforgettable year and left ALL OF US who didn't draft them in the later rounds kicking ourselves. I'm sure they will be overdrafted next year, but it could still pay off. #20 OVERALL in fantasy?! Crazy.
K
Waiver Wire Heroes
QB
Josh Allen: The second year pro out of Wyoming upped his accuracy this year and had himself a great year. He went mostly undrafted or drafted in the later rounds. He winded up posting Top 6 QB numbers due to his rushing ability and improved accuracy. Beasley and Brown turned out to be INCREDIBLE additions to Allen's WR corps, and I think he will take an even BIGGER step next year.
RB
Carlos Hyde: Going into the year, Hyde was looked at as the 1B for the Kansas City Chiefs behind Damien Williams. He was later traded to the Texans, where he would go on to produce RB17 numbers JUST behind Barkley and AHEAD of Le'Veon Bell. Not bad for a RB who was picked up off waivers.
WR
DeVante Parker: Parker came on to the SCENE once Fitzpatrick took the job away from Rosen. Parker was universally picked up from waivers and carried a lot of teams to the playoffs. He is fantasy football's #12 ranked WR despite the inconsistencies at QB.
TE
Darren Waller: There was a lot of hype surrounding Waller after he was premiered in HBO's Hard Knocks. He was a sleeper pick who mostly went undrafted or in the LATE rounds as a flier pick. The fantasy community were desperate for upside at the TE postition, and Waller paid owners handsomely being the #4 ranked TE on the season.
DEF
Steelers: The Steel Curtain is back! The Steelers proved to be almost matchup-proof and held their opponents to 11.9 points per game. WOW!
K
Matt Gay: Winston and the Buccaneers offense found a way to get into the end zone a lot this year, which created a lot of work for Gay. The Buccaneers FINALLY found their kicker and you can bet he'll be drafted as a Top 10 Kicker in fantasy drafts next year.
Agree or Disagree?
Do you agree with my list? Disagree? Let us know who you think deserves to be on this list! There are a lot of players that we could have mentioned, but we wanted to hear from you on players that we missed or personally helped you succeed.
We appreciate all of you guys reading our content throughout the season! It was a fun ride! We hope you give us a chance to help you next year, as well.
Also, we know the season isn't over yet, so if you need help streaming a specific position for your fantasy playoffs, please let us know! We would love to help. You can send us a message on the website or you can tweet at us any time.
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God bless you and I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season!
Jacob W. Dunne
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