Fantasy Football: Top 5 waiver wire picks this season
Finally, after enduring 16 weeks of an emotional rollercoaster, managers around the world breath a sigh of relief as the 2020 fantasy football season finally comes to an end.
The 2020 football season was a weird and testing one in its own way, managers had to navigate through rescheduling of games, player injuries and many more just to get to the end of the season.
Hence the waiver wire had a much bigger role this season due to the problems mentioned above. Majority of the managers who won their fantasy leagues were able to find diamonds in the rough while scavenging on the waivers who catapulted them to fantasy glory.
Here are the 5 best waiver wire pickups of this season:
5. Tim Patrick (WR, Denver Broncos)
Starting the season as the WR3 on the Broncos depth chart, fourth year wide receiver Tim Patrick ascended to the WR2 spot after fellow wide out Courtland Sutton suffered an Achilles injury early on in the season.
Playing alongside Broncos 2020 first round pick Jerry Jeudy, Patrick went toe-to-toe with the young wide receiver eventually topping him in receptions and touchdowns.
Patrick finished the 'fantasy' season with 49 receptions and 6 receiving touchdowns, leading his team in both categories. His 6 receiving TD's land him inside the top-20 at his position in fantasy football.
Patrick accumulated 154.6 fantasy points in total in standard PPR formats, a points total better than the likes of TY Hilton, Darius Slayton and Mike Williams.
4. Robert Tonyan (TE, Green Bay Packers)
An undrafted free agent, Tonyan was signed by the Green Bay Packers in 2017 and in his two seasons as a Packer, the tight end had caught a grand total of only two touchdowns catches but it all became a moot point on October 5, 2020, when Tonyan caught six passes for 98 yards, including three touchdown passes, to lead the Packers over the Atlanta Falcons 30–16.
By the end of the 'fantasy' season, the former Indiana State player had caught 10 touchdown passes(2nd among TE's), 50 receptions (12th among TE's) and had 568 receiving yards (11th among TE's) in total.
Tonyan finished with 166.8 fantasy points in standard PPR leagues and was the 4th best TE this season beating the likes of Mark Andrews, Hunter Henry and Rob Gronkowski to name a few.
3. J.D. McKissic (RB, Washington Football Team)
Washington Football Team running back J.D. McKissic alongside fellow teammate Antonio Gibson formed one of the best running back combos in the league this season. While Gibson took on the role of a bell cow, McKissic feasted as the receiving back for his team.
He finished with 75 receptions (2nd among RB's), 559 receiving yards (2nd among RB's) and 2 touchdown catches (T-10th among RB's). McKissic also amassed 365 rushing yards alongside one rushing score.
His fantasy points total of 184.4 was 15th highest among running backs in standard PPR leagues.
2. Mike Davis (RB, Carolina Panthers)
'Next man up' was one of the most frequently used terms in the NFL this season as numerous first-choice players sustained injuries prompting backup players to step-up for their teams. One such player who stepped up was Carolina Panthers back-up running back Mike Davis who took over the job of the lead rusher for his team after star running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a foot injury early on in the season.
Davis was a dual-threat all season reeling in 59 catches (3rd among RB's) for 343 receiving yards (6th among RB's) and 2 receiving TD's (T-10th among RB's) while also accumulating 642 rushing yards (26th among RB's) and scoring 6 rushing TD's (T-16th among RB's).
Davis finished with 207.5 points in standard PPR fantasy leagues, besting the likes of Todd Gurley and Devin Singletary to name a few.
1. James Robinson (RB, Jacksonville Jaguars)
Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back James Robinson turned out to be this year's Philip Lindsay. An undrafted free agent who goes on to rack up 1000+ yards in his first season as his team's lead running back.
After the Jaguars released Leonard Fournette, Robinson claimed the lead back role after impressing the coaching staff during the team's training sessions. He became only the fourth undrafted rookie running back to start week one since 1970.
Robinson finished the 'fantasy' season with 1070 rushing yards (3rd among RB's) and 7 rushing TD's (T-12th among RB's). He also reeled in 44 receptions (T-6th among RB's) for 344 receiving yards (T-10th among RB's) and 3 TD's (T-7th among RB's).
Robinson's total of 251.4 fantasy points was the 4th best among RB's in standard PPR leagues. His points tally beat the likes of Ezekiel Elliot, Josh Jacobs and Kareem Hunt among others.