Now that both the 2008 NFL regular season and, more importantly for the sake of this blog, the 2008 fantasy football regular season are in the books, it is time to pass out some hardware.

Every season, players come out of nowhere to make a name of themselves in both league circles and fantasy circles. Fantasy waiver wires are scoured for hours upon hours every week as fantasy owners search from the next diamond in the rough.

The 2008 Wonders will be given out by The Hazean to the one player at each of the fantasy skill positions who found his way from the bottom of the wire to the top of fantasy rosters. This week’s award goes out to the wide receiver of the NFL who went undrafted in most fantasy leagues, only to become the hottest of commodities during the 2008 regular season.

The nominees

Eddie Royal, Broncos: Royal stepped into a starting role thanks in large part to the suspension levied on Brandon Marshall at the beginning of 2009. He put up huge numbers against a normally stout Raiders’ secondary in his very first game and never looked back, instantly becoming one of the top waiver wire adds after the first week of 2008. While he battled injury throughout parts of the season, Royal was a pleasant surprise — especially as a rookie — for fantasy owners at the wide receiver position.

Steve Breaston, Cardinals: Breaston’s stock shot through the roof after Anquan Boldin took a vicious hit that sidelined him for several weeks during the regular season. While he was a solid starter in spots, his numbers never stayed as consistent as most fantasy owners would have liked from the No. 2/3 wide receiver on the pass-happy Cardinals. If Boldin does not return to Arizona next season, expect Breaston’s pre-draft stock to shoot through the roof after a promising breakthrough year.

Kevin Walter, Texans: Walter played the complement to Andre Johnson very well through much of the season. But he faltered near the end of the season, which could stick with fantasy owners through the long offseason. Regardless, he has proven to be a decent WR3 in most fantasy leagues and should retain his role as the Texans’ No. 2 receiver next season barring any significant offseason changes.

Ted Ginn, Dolphins: Look, wide receiver may be the most inconsistent position in all of fantasy football. That is no secret at this point. And while Ginn perfectly fits the mold, he did show some streaks of rosterability in 2008. Ginn got hot during the middle of the season and at the very end, breathing some life into his once lifeless fantasy value. His name will be tossed around quite a bit this offseason by fantasy pundits, but he should retain some sleeperish late-round value for fantasy owners next August.

DeSean Jackson, Eagles: Jackson joins Royal as the other rookie wide receiver to have an immediate fantasy impact in his first season in the NFL. He did it in more ways than just receiving, however, which made him a hot commodity in leagues that count return yardage and/or return touchdowns. Jackson developed into the big-play threat in the passing game that the Eagles missed at the beginning of the season and stayed in that capacity even upon Kevin Curtis’ return to the lineup. Had it not been for one bone-headed rookie mistake early on against the Cowboys, Jackson could have added another touchdown to his 2008 resume.

Lance Moore, Saints: When Marques Colston went down after week 1, no one knew who would step up to fill his void in the Saints’ prolific passing attack. Reggie Bush, Devery Henderson, David Patten, Robert Meachem and Jeremy Shockey were considered the team’s top options. Little did anyone know that Moore would become Drew Brees’ go-to guy this season, which is exactly what happened. Nothing worse could happen to Moore’s offseason fantasy value than to leave New Orleans as a free agent this spring, which is why this Saints’ fan fantasy owner wants him to stay in the Big Easy.

Antonio Bryant, Buccaneers: Bryant quietly assumed the No. 1 wide receiver role in the Tampa Bay offense, which has been a pretty productive spot the last few seasons for former No. 1 Joey Galloway. His rise to fantasy prominence started as a whisper but grew into an all-out screaming match during the most crucial point on the season for fantasy owners — the fantasy playoffs. Bryant posted double-digit totals in each of the Bucs games between weeks 13 and 16, including a Heculean effort against Carolina with nine grabs for 200 yards and two scores.

Isaac Bruce, 49ers: This nomination came down between Bruce and Panthers’ receiver Muhsin Muhammad, with Bruce getting the nod due to his greater amount of double-digit fantasy performances. He threw down six of those in total over the course of the season, which is six more than anyone expected from the aged wideout. Unfortunately for Bruce, he likely will carry little to no value in standard fantasy drafts heading into next year because of the age factor. But he could end up surprising a few owners once again in 2009, if he can stay relevant.

Mark Clayton, Ravens: One gigantic week amongst a sprinkling of decent weeks and a dash of pretty bad ones made Clayton a pretty inconsistent fantasy option in 2008. Labeled as a break-out candidate just about every season, Clayton did enough this year to warrant that title once again next summer. Fantasy owners who took a gamble on him at the right times this season were generally happy with the results, but Clayton will have to become more consistent in the future to win over the vast majority of owners.

And the winner is …

Antonio Bryant.

Lance Moore looked to have this thing locked up through most of the season, but that was before Bryant absolutely exploded down the stretch. And that clutchness not only kept Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes alive — albeit briefly — it also thrusted fantasy owners deeper into their respective fantasy playoffs. Couple that with Moore faltering upon the return of Marques Colston to the lineup, and the table was set for Bryant to take home this award.

Bryant has wrestled away the WR1 job from Joey Galloway in Tampa barring any significant changes to the Bucs’ offensive gameplan this offseason. But with the quarterback position up in the air, his fantasy value may not be determined until training camps commence next July despite the great taste he left in owners’ mouths at the end of 2008.

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