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: Who has impressed you most this preseason?
ALAN SATTERLEE
I think Brandin Cooks is a bit of an obvious one as he leads the league in receiving yards through two weeks of the pre-season. I was very high on Cooks anyway but I have moved him up to the 2nd round on my list. Carlos Hyde looks very solid. I just landed Hyde in the 5th round as a RB2 and that feels like amazing value -- why can't Hyde be a stud running back? This talk of San Francisco falling apart has taken on a life of its own. A weakened defense will only mean good things fantasy-wise for Hyde and the Niners' skill position players. It's silly to think Reggie Bush is a legitimate threat to Hyde.
Satterlee is a co-owner and senior writer for Dynasty Football Warehouse. DFW is comprehensive site covering dynasty, redraft, IDP and Daily formats. DFW has a large writing crew with many people from the DFW community contributing to the insights and discussion. Alan is also the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast.
SAM HENDRICKS
Doug Martin has impressed. This preseason he has run 11-78 (one nice rush for 30 yards last week) and added a catch for nine yards. He is in the last year of his rookie contract so he should be motivated. He has a new QB in Jameis Winston who will benefit from check downs and screen passes-thus setting Martin up to catch more passes. He is healthy (some say slimmer and quicker) unlike his past two years when he suffered ankle and shoulder injuries. He looks like his 2012 rookie form when he had, wait for it, 1900 combined yards and 12 TDs. Add in the fact he is just 26 yet almost a forgotten player due to his disappointing past two years and you have a potential sleeper success. Take the chance on him; you will not regret it.
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 in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I see Chris Ivory as a solid RB2 in fantasy leagues this year, and a tremendous value for where he's available. Ryan Fitzpatrick is no star quarterback, but he's a more reliable option than Geno Smith. New York has a capable offensive line and good receivers. Chan Gailey is a respected OC who has worked with Fitzpatrick before. I guess I'd like to call this entire offense underrated, but start with Ivory.
Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 20 years and writing about it for 17. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.
IAN ALLAN
I really like Josh Robinson, the bowling ball running back the Colts selected in the sixth round. He hasn’t even played in the first half of a game yet. The Colts have used four other tailbacks ahead of him in the batting order — Gore, Herron, Ballard and Tipton. But Robinson sure looks good when he’s out there. Nice vision and cutting ability, and he consistently picks up yards after contact. To me, he looks like a guy who will start NFL games. Not sure when they’ll actually start using him in a live-ammo game. He doesn’t know the offense like Gore or Herron, I suppose. But if I were walking into a dynasty draft, I think Robinson is the first Indianapolis running back I would select. Other than Ameer Abdullah (who’s a different kind of back) he’s been the most impressive rookie running back I have seen.
Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index. He's been in that role since 1987, generating most of the player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine, and also at www.fantasyindex.com.
SCOTT SACHS
Pretty hard not to like the preseason performance of Teddy Bridgewater. He looks like a phenomenal QB3, and even a pretty good QB2. He is accurate with the ball resulting in high completion percentage, plus runs a balanced offense with AP back at RB, a healthy Kyle Rudolph, an emerging Chas Johnson at WR--all bode well for fantasy owners looking for later round QB depth.
With two perfect seasons to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Consulting & Advice. He was the 2011 winner of Fantasy Index's Experts Auction league, as well as the winner of the 2012 Experts Poll. In 2013, he finished 2nd in the Auction and 3rd in the Draft league; in 2014, 3rd in the Auction league.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Doug Martin showed surprising burst in Monday night's game against the Bengals. Perhaps all the hype surrounding a possible rebound isn't just hype...
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
DAVID DOREY
It is hard to evaluate players realistically given that so many of those on the field are going to be out of work in a week or two. I have liked the undrafted RB Gus Johnson with the Cowboys if only because injuries are almost a lock for that backfield this year. Bishop Sankey has also looked good this week and he will get the #1 role at least to start with in Tennessee.
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.
JOSHUA SIMMONS
I like what I've seen from Tyrod Taylor. Virginia Tech and Baltimore Ravens fans are undoubtedly familiar with Tyrod's plus arm and athleticism. He may be inexperienced from the standpoint of live NFL action, but the 5th year quarterback is making plays for Buffalo and deserves the opportunity to open 2015 as their starter. If the Bills preseason games have revealed anything useful -- other than how ridiculous their defense is going to be, of course -- it would have to start with Taylor's accuracy on intermediate throws, improvisation as a threat to scramble, conversions on third down, and nuanced ability such as looking defensive backs off or sometimes throwing the ball away rather than taking a sack. Perhaps most impressive is that he's shown so well despite so many teammates missing snaps due to injury. Not too shabby a late round option or waiver add, folks.
Simmons has been a contributor for FantasySharks.com since 2007. His responsibilities include dynasty rankings, weekly projections-driven content and staff representation in various leagues.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Teddy Bridgewater, for one. I did not think a ton of him coming out of college, but he looks poised and comfortable beyond his years out there, a feeling I never had with the other young quarterbacks the Vikings have cycled through over the last decade plus. I think the Vikings will win some games this year and contend for a playoff spot, and Bridgewater is a large part of the reason why. He's a late-round quarterback I'll be considering in drafts.
Richardson has been a contributing writer 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.