When I first started playing fantasy football one of my opponents was fond of saying that fantasy football drafts were important but that fantasy football championships were won with waiver wire claims. At first I didn't know what he meant but it didn't take me long to figure it out. How many times do you draft players who just don't work out? For whatever reason, including injuries, they will have bad years and not live up to your expectations.
This season the list of such players is as long as any other year. Larry Johnson was one of the first three players taken in just about every non-keeper fantasy football league draft this season but is currently just the 16th ranked back in my leagues. Frank Gore was probably a first round pick in most leagues and is currently just the 23rd ranked RB. Steven Jackson was taken high in most drafts and has done little so far this season.
This past weekend four RB's who were almost certainly available on the waiver wire's in your leagues after your drafts were over posted great stats. Jesse Chatman of the Miami Dolphins ran for 124 yards against the Buffalo Bills, Ryan Grant of the surprising Green Bay Packers ran for 119 yards including a 30 yard TD run against the Minnesota Vikings, Selvin Young of the Denver Broncos went for 109 yards and a TD score against the Kansas City Chiefs and Ernest Graham of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went for 124 yards and a TD against the Arizona Cardinals.
If you had and played any of the four RB's you have to be ecstatic over the production they gave you. In one of my fantasy leagues I'm having a down year but did pick up both Chatman and Grant over the last few weeks on waivers and played them both Sunday. They powered me to the high score, worth $36, for the week as I try to salvage something from the season in that league. For other owners lucky enough to have claimed any of the four they could be powering them into the playoffs and possibly a championship this year.
At the QB position Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns is having a great year and it is highly unlikely he was drafted in any fantasy leagues this year. So far this season he has produced more fantasy points than Peyton Manning. It's very likely he will lead a decent number of fantasy owners to a championship this year if he does not get injured. I grabbed him in another league I'm in and he has me in prime playoff territory (luckily I also drafted Braylon Edwards in that league and have gotten double scores nearly every week from the duo).
At WR, Wes Welker of the New England Patriots was probably not drafted in your leagues yet he currently has put up a lot more fantasy points than Chad Johnson, Roy Williams, Hines Ward and Andre Johnson. He's been a great waiver wire pickup for whoever got him, having already posted 651 receiving yards and 7 TD scores. If the Patriots keep putting up points in their games Welker is going to help some owners to a championship this year.
A few years ago in one of my leagues my team was struggling especially at the QB and WR positions. I was 3-5 and in danger of not making the playoffs. In desperation I claimed both Kerry Collins and Jerry Porter of the Oakland Raiders and plugged them into my lineup. Collins went on a tear and started putting up 300 yard games with lots of TD's and many of them were to Porter. I never lost another game that season and won that league's Super Bowl Championship.
Fantasy football drafts are important but paying attention to the waiver wires and making great waiver wire pickups during the season is arguably just as important. Just as they do every fantasy football season, waiver wire pickups are going to lead some fantasy owners right to Super Bowl Championships in their fantasy football leagues this season
