ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Which coaching hire will have the greatest fantasy impact in 2015?
DAVID DOREY
Gary Kubiak was the only new head coach who comes from the offensive side of the ball. He’ll keep the offense moving in Denver and should help keep Peyton Manning around since he employs a similar vertical attack that Manning has always used. As one of the most powerful offenses in the league, Kubiak actually gets to play with more weapons than he has ever had previously.
Dorey is the co-founder and lead NFL analyst for The Huddle and author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. He has projected and predicted every NFL game and player performance since 1997 and has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, radio and television.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I have two that stand out to me so far on fantasy impact. The first is Rex Ryan going to Buffalo and his comments that he will be even more committed to "ground and pound." It should be a good thing for whomever starts next year for Buffalo at running back -- but Sammy Watkins sounds less attractive for sure despite his talent. Offensive coordinator changes are also important. Marc Trestman seemed a little over his skis as a head coach but I do believe in his offensive coordinator abilities. Strange as it may sound, but Joe Flacco could be a sleeper to some extent next year. Flacco is a coachable player which is a plus and he is a plenty competent pro. In fact, I would be surprised if Flacco did not have a career-best season which should mean 4,000-plus yards (he almost cracked 4K last year) and perhaps 30 TDs if things play out right. Flacco could be an option for a stacked team as part of a "wait-on-QB" strategy next year.
Satterlee is Co-Owner and Chief Editor/COO of FantasyFootballWarehouse.com. FFW features comprehensive profiles for all the major 2013 skill-position rookies, its Trading Spaces series, the team Deep Dives, the Speed Bump competition plus draft strategies, rankings, projections and more. FFW runs in tandem with its dynasty site DynastyFootballWarehouse.com.
SAM HENDRICKS
Rex Ryan at Buffalo. Call me crazy but the Bills have some talent and just need someone to channel that energy into a playoff run. Rex will shape the defense and new OC Greg Roman will mold the offense with Sammy Watkins and perhaps C.J Spiller. They really need a good QB. Much will depend on that search. The others already have a good stable to work with (OAK is the exception) and should be productive but not note worthy.
Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 20-plus year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 competitors) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
JAMES SELTZER
Assuming Dan Quinn gets the Atlanta job, then five of the six head coaching vacancies have been filled by defensive coaches. As a result, Gary Kubiak has to be the choice here. With reports that Peyton will indeed return in 2015, Kubiak's ability to install his offense will be an interesting preseason/early season story-line. If anything, you would figure that Kubiak should be a boon for C.J. Anderson, as Kubiak's offenses have been able to run the ball at every stop he's made in his career. Outside of Anderson, the Manning-Kubiak relationship will be an intriguing one to watch heading into the 2015 season, and will certainly have a major impact of the 2015 fantasy football season as well.
Seltzer is a writer of NFL content for Rotowire.com. Since 1997, RotoWire.com has been one of the leading fantasy sports resources on the web. Seltzer can be found on Twitter @JamesSeltzer975.
ANDY RICHARDSON
What a depressingly uninspired group of coaching hires. John Fox, Rex Ryan and Jack Del Rio? No Chip Kellys in there. Gary Kubiak did some nice work with Baltimore's offense, but wasn't exactly operating a juggernaut in Houston (and Denver is going to run whatever plays Peyton Manning says to run anyway, if he returns). I will give the nod to Fox largely because he's brought Adam Gase over from Denver. Gase knows something about working with a high-powered offense, and he's got the personnel in Chicago as long as he is able to get Jake -- I mean Jay -- Cutler's head on straight. I have some interest in Baltimore's passing game with Marc Trestman running things, as well. Bottom line, though, it's a less than stellar group of coaching moves.
Richardson has been a contributor and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.