Something I don't understand

There are many champions who are popular even when they aren't dominating the metagame or even when they aren't even viable choices at all. Such champs are generally champions that can do flashy plays and therefore are considered to be fun to play. Examples include

However, there are some champs which, despite not being flashy at all, are still popular. One of them is - Although he is understandable, since there is the "League of Draven" meme, and the fact that he is essentially the League of Legends's "trademark".

But there is a champion I can't understand why he is always popular even when he isn't even that strong: - He is currently strong due to Runic Echoes, but he was still popular before this item was introduced. (He was strong with Devourer, but everyone was, and still is, strong with Devourer, so that does not count). It seems like Udyr is always a popular choice even when he isn't all that strong, and as far as I know he is not nearly as flashy as the aforementioned champions, nor he is capable of making @LC$BIGPLAYS. I wonder why he is always popular.