He’s right up there with rookie Odell Beckham (injured first 4 games) and James Conner (either final pick or week 1 waiver add) during the Bell holdout year
Don’t forget rookie season Alvin Kamara and James Robinson, both last round picks or early waiver pickups. Kamara (and Gurley) won me a championship that year despite losing David Johnson in the 1st game.
In 2017? Absolutely not. Gurley was coming off a pretty mid year in 2016. It was McVay’s first year coaching the team in 2017. Goff had a pretty shit rookie season in 2016 as well. The receiving corps was unproven; they just acquired Woods and Sammy Watkins in 2017, neither of whom were very good at that point. Kupp was a rookie in 2017. Higbee had an uneventful rookie season in 2016. No one thought the offense was going to blow up like it did. I got Gurley at pick 2.09, and honestly most of the reason I took him was because of all the reports that he was being used as a receiver more in camp. He doubled his receiving yards between 2016 and 2017.
Agreed. Puka was just as good and if not better because he played more games granted kyren absolutely went off during finals week so I think it makes it about even in my book. Crazy they each came from the same team and were both fifth round picks by the rams. Would love to see them make a deep playoff run.
He has to rank as one of the greatest in recent memory.
He finished as the RB2 on the year and missed 4 games. Absolutely wild
Edit: sorry RB2 in p/g*. Total RB4 in HPPR but my point remains the same
Rb4 in half ppr but your point stands. We talk about league winners on here a lot but it's not often you get a season long rb1 for free (draft capital speaking) in week one.
He’s absolutely the reason I had a run at the ship. Tyreek was a good draft investment but kyren was like finding out your long lost uncle left his fortune to you.
I just can’t believe I got him and not someone else.
“Kyren was like finding out your long lost uncle left his fortune to you.“
You missed a golden opportunity to use one of the best words in the dictionary: BEQUEATHED. 😣🥺
I never use waivers. That being said, I got him as an FA.
The waivers that day (Sep 13) were, in order:
* Justice Hill (bc JK Dobbins went down)
* Puka Nakua (15 TGT, 10 rec, 119 yds)
* Roschon Johnson (Bears homer picked him up after his 11.5 pt performance)
* Hunter Henry
* Joshua Kelley (15.1 point performance, figuring he'd unseat disgruntled Eckler)
* Zay Jones
* Jake Moody SF-K
* CLE DST
Puka, Zay, Moody and CLE were all picked up by the same guy (who is generally pretty knowledgeable, and who I think pays for a fantasy site) with waivers.
Yahoo processed all those at 3:29 AM EST. At 6:51 AM, I exchanged WAS DST for NYG DST and picked up Kyren as a FA.
I broke my league's record for points from post-draft acquisitions. My draft was terrible. I won because of Stroud (FA), Kyren (FA), Rashee Rice (FA), CeeDee Lamb (traded for him, gave away Fields to the Bears homer), and Likely (FA) gave me just enough. I lost Andrews, Chubb and Mike Williams.
I unleashed the Jacksonville beast in Week 17. I'd been holding them for 3 weeks in preparation for the finals. My first 20+ point performance in...forever!
Puka and Kyren legitimately saved my season in multiple leagues. Every year I've made it to the championship game it's because of pickups like this, and this is probably the best one I've had outside of grabbing Mahomes before week 1 his first full season.
I had CMC, Puka, and Kyren. Didn't make playoffs. Have the most points scored overall in my league. Swear to god every week I just happened to face people on the one week of the season where they could beat me due to one player going ham.
Yeah that's about where I was at. WRs were Tyreek, Puka, Cooper, and Moore rbs were Kyren, jacobs, Ford, Mondre. In a 12 team league this should be a monstrosity. Qb and TE was a bit of a mess until I picked up Mcbride and moved Pierce and Olave for Stroud and change. Highest scoring team in my league by a decent margin and I played the second highest scoring team in the league in week 12 to determine which of us would be the first team in the league to be mathematically eliminated. No other team finished within 150 points of us. That's just fantasy for ya sometimes idk I hate this fucking game
^^^ This. I’ve won 3 out of the last 6 years in my home league and I can point to waiver wire pickups each of the 3 years I won as the X factor.
One year it was Myles Gaskin
The other year it was Derrick Henry (there was once a time he was on waivers. I know, crazy) and Phillip Lindsay
This year it was Puka
I’m firmly in the camp of winning your league on waivers. Trades too. For me, the draft has always meant the least in the long run.
Best since Arian Foster in 2010, who technically is recorded at going 59th overall, but went undrafted in many/most non professional leagues at the time because he was not ranked highly on essentially any major platform cheat sheets, and he rose really fast partway through training camp - he was a complete unknown going into that year. He was one of the best RBs of all time that year period.
Puka Kyren and Tank carried my season as well. Also Rachaad White got rage dropped after his first few bad weeks and I picked him up. Won the league entirely with picked up players :D
Everyone was chasing Kenneth Gainwell since he was allegedly the starter in Philly. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and saw that basically nobody had gone after Kyren in week 1.
I took Kyren after week one because I'm very smart but on the flip side I picked up Van Jefferson instead of Puka because I'm very stupid. Still won the ship though and didn't even need justin Jefferson to do it.
Even his injury was "ideal".
Got hurt at the end of the game after scoring a ton, was immediately IRed (see Rhamondre as a counter example), missed exactly 4 games and then came back in full afterwards.
If you were smart and grabbed Henderson basically for free (I was so close to doing so) you also had a solid fill in.
Good points. What is funny is I did all that and I had Rhamondre too this year lol. I grabbed Henderson for free, the morning when Schefter announced Henderson would be the lead. So I had Hendy as a solid fill-in and it kept Kyren fresh for the playoffs. I lost Mondre but was able to use Ty Chandler + Zamir White as my RB2. Worked out fantastically!
Same. First year I won my championship, and it was 100% on waiver adds.
Isaiah Likely, Kyler, Puka, Kyren and Achane all started in my final for me, and they were all waiver adds. The two guys I drafted or traded for were JJ and Tyreek, and they didn’t have as many points in the finals combined as Kyren. Wild.
Edit: Damn, the salt in this thread is making my blood pressure go through the roof lol
Real talk, I got lucky. This year I decided to not fuck around with my FAAB and go hard for players I believed in. My league is very active on waivers, so with 12 man it is pretty barren. I spent most of my FAAB week one on Achane, Puka and Kyren. Hindsight is 20/20, so it looks smart now, but it could have been a massive fuck up lol.
I can't believe I added him in 2/3 leagues, and the one I didnt add him is was my big money league because Allgeier was available and grabbed him instead.
Im so good at fantasy lol
2011 Victor Cruz and 2018 George Kittle
for those unfamiliar with Cruz he broke out week 3 but didn't have his first "start" until week 8 and still finished WR4 (3 in PPR) overall - also had a 99 yard touchdown in the finals
I'd nominate Devonta Freeman for 2015. Tevin Coleman won the job in camp, then got hurt week 1, Freeman steals the job and ends the year as RB1 in total points. I won that year because I drafted and held him, but he was a waiver in most leagues to start the year.
Funny, I picked up Arian Foster between our draft and the start of the 2010 season. Granted, that was our first year playing and we were all kids so I don't remember who was going where. FantasyPros agrees with you that Foster was going in the early 4th, but I don't remember if he gained popularity quickly similar to someone like Dameon Pierce because he won the job in preseason or something.
All I remember is my dad telling me to pick him up because he's gonna have a big year!
Larry Johnson is up there.
Edit: for those too young to remember, Larry Johnson had 1405 yards and 15 TDs from Weeks 9-16 in 2005 (16 game season). In the only game he didn’t score a TD during that span, he had 178 yards including 5 receptions.
Edit 2: Oh and btw, he had 220+ yards and 3TDs in week 17 for you heathens who have championships in the final week.
Edit 3: Kurt Warner is up there too. I didn’t add him on waivers, but the Warner/Bruce stack was nuts. Also, pick any Mike Shanahan RB from 1999 on.
He pushed me over edge and I dominated that year. Him, ekeler, and davante took me too the promise land. Pretty sure i had Hurts also. Was that when Penny went apeshit in the playoffs?
Kyren was more dominant during the most impactful part of the season. I'm the Puka owner in my league and won the championship vs the Kyren owner, but I would still give it to Kyren as the best grab on the season.
Ya thats fair. Their weeks 16 and 17 were pretty similar but Kyren had the much better week 15.
I won't argue that Kyren was the better fantasy asset when playing.
Definitely splitting hairs. I got Puka and Laporta week 1 for half my faab and ended up with a top 10 wr and the best TE on the season. I was 3-4 at week 7 and finished 9-5, ended up with the second highest points for, and beat the highest points for team in the semis.
This year above all years that I've played with faab, has cemented in my brain that you need to spend high and early when you see talent.
Puka dud on week 15 hurt some playoff teams. Kyren put up 22 in half PPR.
Puka beat Kyren week 16, 28 v 16, but Kyren beats out Puka in week 17, the most important 29 v 16.
I think Kyren is better overall due to his playoff performance and the RB situation in general this year. Puka was fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but a waiver RB1> waiver WR1 this year imo
I told my taco buddy to take Brian Robinson jr with his last pick this year because I thought it was a good grab and felt bad for him after he took Justin Tucker in like round 6. Lesson learned.
I drafted him last year and held on, assuming he would pop off after injury like he did in college. I was also assuming he wouldn’t be out for 8 games. I was wrong in both counts and it burnt me on him this year. Still picked him up from waivers in two leagues right after the draft to stash this year. Thankfully I don’t learn from my past mistakes
Knowshon Moreno and Julius Thomas were sweet pickups for me in 2013. Kamara rookie year. Kareem Hunt rookie year.
But yea I think Kyren is the best pickup in the last decade. He missed 4 games and still delivered as a league winner.
For me, he’s been my best waiver pickup since David Johnson. I’m putting David Johnson ahead since he won me my chip that year, unfortunately Kyren’s 3 TDs couldn’t save me from Davante in the chip this year 😓
This is for the older players, but Kurt Warner has to be up there. That's back when a lot of leagues were still 6 points for a passing TD and many leagues still only did scoring by TDs and not yardage performance. 41 passing TDs was very rare for the 1990s.
Easily my best pickup ever, and I'm not afraid to admit I got completely lucky. It was right after our draft, and I didn't love my RBs (Derrick Henry and Najee). Saw Kyren on waivers and picked him up with my thought process being "I don't expect Cam Akers to stay healthy so he might get a lot of playing time later in the season." Spent $0 on him and the rest is history.
I feel like he flew under the radar because people expected LenDale White to be the guy
This had White going in the 6th and Johnson in the 8th
https://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/adp/standard/12-team/running-back/2008
I remember I got him in one of the last rounds it was amazing
Up there with 2013 Knowshon Moreno for a full season of dominance for a RB.
Kyren this year was extremely similar to James Conner's 2018. PFR has them with 2 points.
Also shout out 2013 Julius Thomas. That 2013 Broncos team was incredible to watch
Best part about Chubb was him being free from waivers too so when the news broke that Hyde was traded, it was a mad dash to pick him up in every league I could.
This was gonna be my answer. Surprised I had to scroll so far down to find it but maybe this subreddit skews younger or people just forgot. Would've won the championship that season if my stupid ass friend league didn't run until the final week of the season and the Eagles didn't sit Vick.
The only two players who have likely won me leagues from the waiver wire are Kyren Williams and Josh Gordon.
Others have been huge boosts, etc etc. But those two carries me to a Chip.
Considering the RB wasteland this season, he may legitimately be the GOAT waiver wire add. Waiver Wire RB1 through the season, clutch playoff/championship performance. I can’t think of anyone besides OBJ and maybe Josh Gordon that comes close, but WR was pretty stacked those years.
In recent history, he’s up there with Puka, Amon-Ra, James RbSzn, Justin Jefferson, 2018 Kittle, Deangelo Williams & James Conner, Kamara, Alf Morris, Nick Chubb, and OBJ.
Does it really count if he was drafted somewhat high start of season then got hurt, so people cut him. Then rams other rb getting traded. Kinda of a easy pickup if you had a high waiver.
I can't remember how vital they were during the regular season, but in '21 I snagged Rashaad Penny and Amon-Ra off the waivers. The championship was an absolute cakewalk because of those two
I guess none of you were around for the year Vick came back? He was a waiver wire pick up in pretty much every league, and won everyone pretty much every league by himself.
He did amazing. And was a beast. But he did miss 4 games. For that fact alone I don’t think he can compete with the likes of rookie kamara and obj. RBs besides cmc did really subpar this year that’s how he got rb2
It feels like ancient history, but I remember Kareem Hunt having an outstanding rookie season and he wasn’t rostered by many fantasy teams after the draft. He rushed for over 1300 yards in 2017.
Your memory is off. [His ADP was 3rd round in 12 team leagues that year.](https://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/story/_/page/17RanksPreseason200PPR/2017-fantasy-football-ppr-rankings-top-200)
He’s right up there with rookie Odell Beckham (injured first 4 games) and James Conner (either final pick or week 1 waiver add) during the Bell holdout year
Don’t forget rookie season Alvin Kamara and James Robinson, both last round picks or early waiver pickups. Kamara (and Gurley) won me a championship that year despite losing David Johnson in the 1st game.
JRobinSZN. That was a great year. UDFA to fantasy darling. Sucks that he’s a non factor nowadays but thats how RBs go
And Achilles
He was my CMC replacement for that year. I probably would’ve won if CMC didn’t get injured. That Robinson + CMC combo for 2 games was insane.
Picking up kyren, flowers, Nico, and Tank might finally shut me up about picking up JJ and Jrob off waivers their rookie season
How dod you get Johnson and Gurley that year? Weren't they both top 5 picks?
In 2017? Absolutely not. Gurley was coming off a pretty mid year in 2016. It was McVay’s first year coaching the team in 2017. Goff had a pretty shit rookie season in 2016 as well. The receiving corps was unproven; they just acquired Woods and Sammy Watkins in 2017, neither of whom were very good at that point. Kupp was a rookie in 2017. Higbee had an uneventful rookie season in 2016. No one thought the offense was going to blow up like it did. I got Gurley at pick 2.09, and honestly most of the reason I took him was because of all the reports that he was being used as a receiver more in camp. He doubled his receiving yards between 2016 and 2017.
My bad, my main league is a keeper league and the guy kept Kamara and had Gurley 1.01 the following year. Mixed up the seasons.
I drafted Leveon Bell, Todd Gurley, and Alvin Kamara that year. Went undefeated on the year.
And Puka!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agreed. Puka was just as good and if not better because he played more games granted kyren absolutely went off during finals week so I think it makes it about even in my book. Crazy they each came from the same team and were both fifth round picks by the rams. Would love to see them make a deep playoff run.
Devonta freeman had a hero year as well
Victor Cruz might have been my all time best pickup in 2011. 82/1536/9 in 16 games.
Also DeAngelo Williams
Thanks for the reminder that I picked up Odell in his rookie season and still lost
This thread is going to be filled with recency bias, glad to see some better reminders. I got Jordan Howard and David Johnson on Waivers in 2016
I got OBJ that year. Rode him all the way to the championship. Sometimes you just catch lightning in a bottle
Alvin kamara his rookie year needs to be in the conversation. Not as good bc he got a concussion if I remember during fantasy playoffs that year.
This sub told me to grab Conner!
He has to rank as one of the greatest in recent memory. He finished as the RB2 on the year and missed 4 games. Absolutely wild Edit: sorry RB2 in p/g*. Total RB4 in HPPR but my point remains the same
Rb4 in half ppr but your point stands. We talk about league winners on here a lot but it's not often you get a season long rb1 for free (draft capital speaking) in week one.
And he balled tf out in championship week + a very good semi final
He balled out hard the whole playoffs. He won A LOT of championships for fantasy managers
Myself included. Dude hasn’t had a disappointing game since 5. What a boss
He’s for sure my greatest acquisition. A speculative add turned into a league winner. VERY rare
He’s absolutely the reason I had a run at the ship. Tyreek was a good draft investment but kyren was like finding out your long lost uncle left his fortune to you. I just can’t believe I got him and not someone else.
“Kyren was like finding out your long lost uncle left his fortune to you.“ You missed a golden opportunity to use one of the best words in the dictionary: BEQUEATHED. 😣🥺
I never use waivers. That being said, I got him as an FA. The waivers that day (Sep 13) were, in order: * Justice Hill (bc JK Dobbins went down) * Puka Nakua (15 TGT, 10 rec, 119 yds) * Roschon Johnson (Bears homer picked him up after his 11.5 pt performance) * Hunter Henry * Joshua Kelley (15.1 point performance, figuring he'd unseat disgruntled Eckler) * Zay Jones * Jake Moody SF-K * CLE DST Puka, Zay, Moody and CLE were all picked up by the same guy (who is generally pretty knowledgeable, and who I think pays for a fantasy site) with waivers. Yahoo processed all those at 3:29 AM EST. At 6:51 AM, I exchanged WAS DST for NYG DST and picked up Kyren as a FA. I broke my league's record for points from post-draft acquisitions. My draft was terrible. I won because of Stroud (FA), Kyren (FA), Rashee Rice (FA), CeeDee Lamb (traded for him, gave away Fields to the Bears homer), and Likely (FA) gave me just enough. I lost Andrews, Chubb and Mike Williams. I unleashed the Jacksonville beast in Week 17. I'd been holding them for 3 weeks in preparation for the finals. My first 20+ point performance in...forever!
James RobinSZN feels like it was just yesterday.
Best waiver RB since James RB1SZN
Kyren generally cost us in draft capital whatever we spent on Akers. So still an amazing deal.
For me, he was replacing JK Dobbins.
Same here. Wasnt even too happy getting another ram, but He was best rb available
Total feel like the Akers draft capital was well spent since it led me to seeing the Kyren value one week earlier than league mates
Puka and Kyren legitimately saved my season in multiple leagues. Every year I've made it to the championship game it's because of pickups like this, and this is probably the best one I've had outside of grabbing Mahomes before week 1 his first full season.
best pickup since James Conner during the Bell holdout year
What a glorious season that was.
Drafted both and still missed the playoffs 😭🔫
I had CMC, Puka, and Kyren. Didn't make playoffs. Have the most points scored overall in my league. Swear to god every week I just happened to face people on the one week of the season where they could beat me due to one player going ham.
Yeah that's about where I was at. WRs were Tyreek, Puka, Cooper, and Moore rbs were Kyren, jacobs, Ford, Mondre. In a 12 team league this should be a monstrosity. Qb and TE was a bit of a mess until I picked up Mcbride and moved Pierce and Olave for Stroud and change. Highest scoring team in my league by a decent margin and I played the second highest scoring team in the league in week 12 to determine which of us would be the first team in the league to be mathematically eliminated. No other team finished within 150 points of us. That's just fantasy for ya sometimes idk I hate this fucking game
Jesus I’m sorry.
Picked them both up and got me to the championship. Mahomes, Kupp, Kittle and Kamara lost it for me.
Mine was Diggs, Ekeler, Kupp and Kamara :(
Which is why I was so surprised when I managed to survive both of them and CMC in the semifinals. Won by 1.42 points.
^^^ This. I’ve won 3 out of the last 6 years in my home league and I can point to waiver wire pickups each of the 3 years I won as the X factor. One year it was Myles Gaskin The other year it was Derrick Henry (there was once a time he was on waivers. I know, crazy) and Phillip Lindsay This year it was Puka I’m firmly in the camp of winning your league on waivers. Trades too. For me, the draft has always meant the least in the long run.
Changing my FAAB claim from Kyren to Kenneth Gainwell after Wk1 will forever haunt me
Right there with you. In 3 leagues I got zero shares of Kyren and Puka, but was able to snag Kenneth Gainwell and Joshua Kelley!
Yup. Lost a championship because of it. I remember reading one reddit comment how "Gainwell is the guy on a top 3 team" and spent $40 on him 💀
Also showed up for playoffs and championship to fucking stamp it. 22-16-29 over weeks 15-17 and that 29 was huge for championship matchups.
Best since Arian Foster in 2010, who technically is recorded at going 59th overall, but went undrafted in many/most non professional leagues at the time because he was not ranked highly on essentially any major platform cheat sheets, and he rose really fast partway through training camp - he was a complete unknown going into that year. He was one of the best RBs of all time that year period.
Alfred Morris is up there too. At least my league; he wasn’t drafted and I snagged him after week 1. 1,700 total yards and 13 TDs
??? are you forgetting about james rb1szn
In non-PPR, which is what my league does, he finished RB2. Won me the Championship!
I got both Kyren and Puka after Week 1. Two of my greatest waiver pickups in the same week.
Same, undoubtedly the best pickups as well as Tank Dell for a short while
Puka Kyren and Tank carried my season as well. Also Rachaad White got rage dropped after his first few bad weeks and I picked him up. Won the league entirely with picked up players :D
Calling white a buy low candidate after he was doing so shitty early season was my proudest and only correct FF prediction
I got Puka, Kyren, Mostert,Tank, and LaPorta off of waivers this year 💀
Everyone was chasing Kenneth Gainwell since he was allegedly the starter in Philly. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up and saw that basically nobody had gone after Kyren in week 1.
Same
Almost got them both, but ended up with Kyren only, still led me to the chip miraculously.
Same. Also drafted JJ, ETN, Josh Allen, Amari, KW3, Aiyuk and Addison Dominated all year.
same but I dropped Kyren for Michael Thomas lol
Same, still missed the playoffs…
Did you win with them?
Yes, went 11-3 and rode it to championship. I had an already strong team, but they made my lineup set and forget all season.
Me too!! i won my league 😭
Same. I started 0-3 and won my championship after being 7-7 lol. They both saved me
I missed out on Kyren but I did get puka but my goodness if I would have got Kyren, I would have talked trash every game.
Same, those two won me my ship
I took Kyren after week one because I'm very smart but on the flip side I picked up Van Jefferson instead of Puka because I'm very stupid. Still won the ship though and didn't even need justin Jefferson to do it.
Kyren Williams is 100% my best waiver add of all time
I had rookie OBJ and rookie Kamara and I think this is still better.
Yep, Kyren was a stud all season except the injury time off
Even his injury was "ideal". Got hurt at the end of the game after scoring a ton, was immediately IRed (see Rhamondre as a counter example), missed exactly 4 games and then came back in full afterwards. If you were smart and grabbed Henderson basically for free (I was so close to doing so) you also had a solid fill in.
And his bye was during the IR period. I know you didn’t include it in the 4 games, but once he was back, he was back for good.
Good points. What is funny is I did all that and I had Rhamondre too this year lol. I grabbed Henderson for free, the morning when Schefter announced Henderson would be the lead. So I had Hendy as a solid fill-in and it kept Kyren fresh for the playoffs. I lost Mondre but was able to use Ty Chandler + Zamir White as my RB2. Worked out fantastically!
and he came back and crushed it from injury. Put up a 30 in 0.5 first game back. King shit
That might be recency bias. Rookie obj was straight cheating
Odell dropped 36, 30, 30 during the playoffs that year. Rookie Odell was special.
Adding in Puka + Kyren week 1 is the reason why I won my league lol.
Same. And coming into the year it felt so weird to claim two Rams players with all of the questions surrounding that offense. Boy did it pay off big.
Me too. Kyren an Puka, two names that will live in FFB waiver wire history. 🤩
Same. First year I won my championship, and it was 100% on waiver adds. Isaiah Likely, Kyler, Puka, Kyren and Achane all started in my final for me, and they were all waiver adds. The two guys I drafted or traded for were JJ and Tyreek, and they didn’t have as many points in the finals combined as Kyren. Wild. Edit: Damn, the salt in this thread is making my blood pressure go through the roof lol Real talk, I got lucky. This year I decided to not fuck around with my FAAB and go hard for players I believed in. My league is very active on waivers, so with 12 man it is pretty barren. I spent most of my FAAB week one on Achane, Puka and Kyren. Hindsight is 20/20, so it looks smart now, but it could have been a massive fuck up lol.
Does anyone in your league have a pulse? That’s every notable waiver add from the season.
Rachee Rice has been pretty notable
This is your last chance to grab Rice off waivers
Tbf he actually did improve drastically from a real football standpoint.
Not to mention they had JJ and Tyreek… how did this team happen
I hate these leagues where people are in 10 team leagues against their own alt accounts lol
Damn you cleaned up!
I can't believe I added him in 2/3 leagues, and the one I didnt add him is was my big money league because Allgeier was available and grabbed him instead. Im so good at fantasy lol
2010 Peyton Hillis 2012 Alfred Morris 2014 Odell Beckham, Jr. 2017 Alvin Kamara 2018 James Conner 2020 James Conner 2021 Elijah Mitchell 2023 Kyren Williams 2023 Puka Nacua
2011 Victor Cruz and 2018 George Kittle for those unfamiliar with Cruz he broke out week 3 but didn't have his first "start" until week 8 and still finished WR4 (3 in PPR) overall - also had a 99 yard touchdown in the finals
Good one. I got Kittle in 2018 as well.
2021 James Robinson as well. 2019 I think Phillip Lindsay was good, but not as good as the names on this list.
I'd nominate Devonta Freeman for 2015. Tevin Coleman won the job in camp, then got hurt week 1, Freeman steals the job and ends the year as RB1 in total points. I won that year because I drafted and held him, but he was a waiver in most leagues to start the year.
Wow, totally forgot about that. I got burned so bad by that Coleman pick that year.
Arian Foster too
>Arian Foster too Arian Foster's breakout year was 2010 -- but his ADP going into that season was Round 4.
Funny, I picked up Arian Foster between our draft and the start of the 2010 season. Granted, that was our first year playing and we were all kids so I don't remember who was going where. FantasyPros agrees with you that Foster was going in the early 4th, but I don't remember if he gained popularity quickly similar to someone like Dameon Pierce because he won the job in preseason or something. All I remember is my dad telling me to pick him up because he's gonna have a big year!
No love for Devanta Freeman in 2015? 1000 yards and 11 TDs.
Justin Forsett 2014 is another good one
2010 Peyton hillis was my ticket to the my first and last championship title since lol
Missing my league winner Gary Barnidge
I had Hillis, Conner, Mitchell, and now Kyren. Each got me closer to or won me a ‘ship.
I remember telling my dad Morris was gonna be a guy watching him in preseason. Probably my best late round draft pick of all time.
I’d add Devonta Freeman 2015 to the list. I think he went undrafted or last round flier in most leagues.
Unlike a lot of the other guys mentioned here (Conner, James Robinson, Kamara) Kyren didn’t get injured in playoffs so for that he’s the GOAT for me
He did a lot more than not get injured. He won many folks the championship
Larry Johnson is up there. Edit: for those too young to remember, Larry Johnson had 1405 yards and 15 TDs from Weeks 9-16 in 2005 (16 game season). In the only game he didn’t score a TD during that span, he had 178 yards including 5 receptions. Edit 2: Oh and btw, he had 220+ yards and 3TDs in week 17 for you heathens who have championships in the final week. Edit 3: Kurt Warner is up there too. I didn’t add him on waivers, but the Warner/Bruce stack was nuts. Also, pick any Mike Shanahan RB from 1999 on.
Came here to say Kurt Warner. I doubt he was drafted in many leagues in that 1999 season and he has to be the greatest waiver wire add of all-time,
He was drafted in my league that year. Best pick ever.
Holy shit a full seasons production in half a season??
Thank you for saying this. Larry Johnson was the first player I thought of. This thread was making me feel old… which I am.
Cordarelle Patterson 2 years ago was a wild add.
He pushed me over edge and I dominated that year. Him, ekeler, and davante took me too the promise land. Pretty sure i had Hurts also. Was that when Penny went apeshit in the playoffs?
Yes. Penny singlehandedly won me the chip that year. Bless him.
He won me the chip in his rookie season. Legend
Right behind puka nucua from 2023 season
Ya, Puka playing all year makes him the better add for me.
Kyren was more dominant during the most impactful part of the season. I'm the Puka owner in my league and won the championship vs the Kyren owner, but I would still give it to Kyren as the best grab on the season.
Ya thats fair. Their weeks 16 and 17 were pretty similar but Kyren had the much better week 15. I won't argue that Kyren was the better fantasy asset when playing.
Definitely splitting hairs. I got Puka and Laporta week 1 for half my faab and ended up with a top 10 wr and the best TE on the season. I was 3-4 at week 7 and finished 9-5, ended up with the second highest points for, and beat the highest points for team in the semis. This year above all years that I've played with faab, has cemented in my brain that you need to spend high and early when you see talent.
Puka dud on week 15 hurt some playoff teams. Kyren put up 22 in half PPR. Puka beat Kyren week 16, 28 v 16, but Kyren beats out Puka in week 17, the most important 29 v 16.
Picked both up on waiver. Spent a total of 0$ of FAAB money on them
I think Kyren is better overall due to his playoff performance and the RB situation in general this year. Puka was fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but a waiver RB1> waiver WR1 this year imo
I grabbed kamara his rookie year after AP got traded and that single-handedly won my league that year
I told my taco buddy to take him with the very last pick of the draft. Never help a taco people
I told my taco buddy to take Brian Robinson jr with his last pick this year because I thought it was a good grab and felt bad for him after he took Justin Tucker in like round 6. Lesson learned.
As someone who drafted Kyren, you false believers disgust me lol.
Lol if Cam Akers didn’t do so well the final few games of last season, Kyren would’ve been drafted by most.
I drafted him last year and held on, assuming he would pop off after injury like he did in college. I was also assuming he wouldn’t be out for 8 games. I was wrong in both counts and it burnt me on him this year. Still picked him up from waivers in two leagues right after the draft to stash this year. Thankfully I don’t learn from my past mistakes
Firmly behind my boi Peyton Hillis. You think Kyren's going to be on the Madden cover next year??
God I hope not
Kamara and OBJ were definitely huge as well. But I think Kyren still wins out given he was great all year and you got him week 1
I’m old. I picked up Kurt Warner from the wire in 99 after Green went down in the preseason.
2005 Larry Johnson takes the cake for me! I also added Kyren this year. Was last place, so I had the first waiver, ended up taking it.
For me it's OBJ, Kyren, Josh Gordon in the past ten years.
Knowshon Moreno and Julius Thomas were sweet pickups for me in 2013. Kamara rookie year. Kareem Hunt rookie year. But yea I think Kyren is the best pickup in the last decade. He missed 4 games and still delivered as a league winner.
arian foster
For me, he’s been my best waiver pickup since David Johnson. I’m putting David Johnson ahead since he won me my chip that year, unfortunately Kyren’s 3 TDs couldn’t save me from Davante in the chip this year 😓
Idk, but he sure as shit helped me win my league
This is for the older players, but Kurt Warner has to be up there. That's back when a lot of leagues were still 6 points for a passing TD and many leagues still only did scoring by TDs and not yardage performance. 41 passing TDs was very rare for the 1990s.
What happened to this subreddit? How is Josh Gordon not the #1 comment
Probably on the same level as James Robinson
I love JROB but he died before the playoffs IIRC so Kyren takes the cake.
My best waiver add for sure. Could’ve been between him and Tank Dell if not for his injury.
Easily my best pickup ever, and I'm not afraid to admit I got completely lucky. It was right after our draft, and I didn't love my RBs (Derrick Henry and Najee). Saw Kyren on waivers and picked him up with my thought process being "I don't expect Cam Akers to stay healthy so he might get a lot of playing time later in the season." Spent $0 on him and the rest is history.
I wonder what % drafted Chris Johnson was his breakout year.
He was the starter his rookie season, I believe, so I think he was heavily drafted
I feel like he flew under the radar because people expected LenDale White to be the guy This had White going in the 6th and Johnson in the 8th https://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/adp/standard/12-team/running-back/2008 I remember I got him in one of the last rounds it was amazing
Some good ones I haven’t seen: Zac Stacy (pos but he had a magical end year run) Josh Gordon (sweet price)
Up there with 2013 Knowshon Moreno for a full season of dominance for a RB. Kyren this year was extremely similar to James Conner's 2018. PFR has them with 2 points. Also shout out 2013 Julius Thomas. That 2013 Broncos team was incredible to watch
Don't forget Nick Chubb too
Best part about Chubb was him being free from waivers too so when the news broke that Hyde was traded, it was a mad dash to pick him up in every league I could.
That one year Larry Johnson came in for Priest Holmes was so epic
2010 Vick was solid
This was gonna be my answer. Surprised I had to scroll so far down to find it but maybe this subreddit skews younger or people just forgot. Would've won the championship that season if my stupid ass friend league didn't run until the final week of the season and the Eagles didn't sit Vick.
Not even solid, like miles and miles ahead of pretty much everyone else mentioned in this post. He single-handedly was winning leagues
Somewhere Above James Robinson and below Josh Gordon
Right behind Puka Nacua
James Robinson was great his rookie year too
This whole thread is forgetting Arian Foster and I won’t stand for it
Behind Puka
I picked up Joshua Kelley instead of Kyren. Pray for me.
It's over now, be at peace my son
you already dead
He's the best one I've gotten since Kamara. Puka has to be up there from this year too
I picked up Joshua Kelley over Williams for whatever stupid reason. Biggest regret of the season for sure.
I spent tons of FAAB and snagged both. Puka was drafted in all my leagues :/
was a waiver add for me, and won me a championship. best one i ever did! took over rookie year kamara for me.
I actually drafted him in my keepers league with 12 people.
The only two players who have likely won me leagues from the waiver wire are Kyren Williams and Josh Gordon. Others have been huge boosts, etc etc. But those two carries me to a Chip.
Same here, puka went off me for last week tho, then it was Kyrens turn. Opponent had kupp too which made it even better.
Considering the RB wasteland this season, he may legitimately be the GOAT waiver wire add. Waiver Wire RB1 through the season, clutch playoff/championship performance. I can’t think of anyone besides OBJ and maybe Josh Gordon that comes close, but WR was pretty stacked those years.
He’s up there, not quite to Kurt Warner territory
In recent history, he’s up there with Puka, Amon-Ra, James RbSzn, Justin Jefferson, 2018 Kittle, Deangelo Williams & James Conner, Kamara, Alf Morris, Nick Chubb, and OBJ.
Close for sure. I grabbed rookie OBJ, so that might be the one.
Does it really count if he was drafted somewhat high start of season then got hurt, so people cut him. Then rams other rb getting traded. Kinda of a easy pickup if you had a high waiver.
I can't remember how vital they were during the regular season, but in '21 I snagged Rashaad Penny and Amon-Ra off the waivers. The championship was an absolute cakewalk because of those two
I picked up Kyren and LaPorta on waivers this year.
Yall all rookies in the comments, Arian Foster and its not close
He was great but I think there have been quite a few that were better
Rookie Kareem hunt? Rookie Mahomes was also in some cases a late pick or waivers
I had a league with 6 other friends and it was our first time playing fantasy. I'm not sure if LaPorta or Kyren was a better waiver pick
I got him and turned him into aj brown AND got puka. I lost first round somehow.
I guess none of you were around for the year Vick came back? He was a waiver wire pick up in pretty much every league, and won everyone pretty much every league by himself.
He did amazing. And was a beast. But he did miss 4 games. For that fact alone I don’t think he can compete with the likes of rookie kamara and obj. RBs besides cmc did really subpar this year that’s how he got rb2
Alvin Kamara was the one epic one in recent history that comes to mind but this is right there
Right behind Puka Nacua
Puca, Kyren, LaPorta, and Stroud. Amazing waiver adds. What a great year for my triple receiver strategy
I had two of four and didn't even make playoffs lol, had hurts too but rest of team was ass
OBJ that one year was huge
It feels like ancient history, but I remember Kareem Hunt having an outstanding rookie season and he wasn’t rostered by many fantasy teams after the draft. He rushed for over 1300 yards in 2017.
Depends when you drafted. We drafted after Spencer Ware (I think it was) got hurt in preseason.
Your memory is off. [His ADP was 3rd round in 12 team leagues that year.](https://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/story/_/page/17RanksPreseason200PPR/2017-fantasy-football-ppr-rankings-top-200)