Fantasy Football: Top 5 Waiver-Wire Acquisitions of the 2016 Season

Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears

An ankle injury to Jeremy Langford in Week 3 opened the door for rookie running back Jordan Howard, and he never looked back. With his first big workload in Week 4, he ran for 111 yards on 23 carries while also catching 3 passes for 21 yards in the Chicago Bears' 17-14 win over the Detroit Lions.

It made sense as to why fantasy players were hesitant to pick him up right away: he was the 150th overall draft pick last spring, he was joining a bad offense and Langford was still in the mix. However, the ones who took a chance got themselves a workhorse.

In his next 12 games, Howard rushed for at least 77 yards or scored a touchdown 11 times. He finished second in rushing with 1,313 yards and he finished as a top-10 fantasy back in both standard and point-per-reception (PPR) leagues despite getting only 12 combined carries in his first three games.

With Dallas' Ezekiel Elliott winning the rushing title, it marked the first time in NFL history that rookies finished in the top two spots. Howard actually had a better yards-per-carry average (5.2, fourth in the league) than Elliott (5.1).

While he didn't have the touchdown total other elite backs produced in 2016, he still found the end zone seven times. Don't forget what he was up against, though -- the Bears' offense ranked 28th in scoring, used three quarterbacks and star wide receiver Alshon Jeffery missed time due to injury and a four-game PED suspension.