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Ask the Experts

Who impressed you most in Preseason Week 1?

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Which player impressed you most in Week 1 of the preseason?

SAM HENDRICKS

The Tennessee running backs. Both DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry impressed me. Both had quality time, Murray started and Henry followed in the second quarter, but both looked like workhorses. Henry was especially impressive fighting for the extra yards. It looked like every call for the Titans was Henry up the middle. DeMarco had a 71 yard TD run and praised a couple of WRs for their blocks. These two will be fantasy gold this year.

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 25 year fantasy football veteran who 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 is drafting live in the FFPC in Vegas this year. He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.

L.A. HALE

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was impressive starting in place of Tony Romo in the first preseason game. The 4th round pick out of Mississippi State out-shined fellow rookie Jared Goff and showed great command of the offense with 139 passing yards and 2 touchdowns against the Rams starters. While it is hard to take too much away from limited action in one preseason game, Prescott may have eased concerns about backup QB position in Dallas after Kellen Moore broke his ankle last week.

Hale is the Founder and President of www.Fantasy Gives, a 501c3 charitable organization that provides financial support to non-profit groups through fantasy sports.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

Titans running back Derrick Henry looked very studly with his big night and a score against the Chargers. I'm excited about how he will develop in the NFL as a true power back.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I’ll go with Christine Michael. At this point, I think we can ink him in as Seattle’s No. 2 tailback. A week ago at this time, I saw that job going to either Michael or Alex Collins, with an outside chance of somebody else coming up against making a play for it — C.J. Prosise, for example. But I sure liked the way Michael slammed it between the tackles against Kansas City, banging out 44 yards on 7 carries. I think he had 8-plus yards on four of his carries. That makes him a valuable commodity. To me, Thomas Rawls doesn’t look like a tailback who’s likely to start 16 games. So at some point this year, Michael will be starting. Pete Carroll says he expects the Seahawks may even use a one-two punch this year, with Michael spelling Rawls off the bench. As I’m working with my draft board, I like to be aggressive. That is, I would much rather declare a winner for a job, rather than work in the contingency that somebody else could still emerge. If you go down that road (factoring that that Collins has perhaps a 30 percent chance of being the backup in Seattle) then it deflates the value of where Michael appears. I would rather aggressively just call what I see, getting Michael up where he’ll be on everyone’s draft board in late August and early September. Michael will be the No. 2 tailback on that roster, and he’s one of the better handcuff options in the league in my opinion.

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.

DAVID DOREY

Overvaluing anything from Week 1 is not only easy, but hard not to do. But the Titans rushing offense looked undeniably better with DeMarco Murray ripping off a 71-yard TD. And more than that, Derrick Henry looked great as well. The two are not going to throw up two touchdowns and 167 rushing yards in most games. But I have to watch them both more closely and in particular, Henry who appears much more than merely a short-yardage, change-of-pace back.. It is worth watching. I am not buying yet but I have my hand on my wallet.

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

Rams' tight end Tyler Higbee stood out for me as we saw in NFL game (preseason) action for the first time. A small-school prospect out of Western Kentucky, Higbee was a dynasty sleeper for me in leagues this year. Normally rookie tight ends don't make much noise, but Higbee could buck conventional wisdom. Higbee has drawn rave reviews in camp (including the "Little Baby Gronk" label) and he continued that this week against Dallas with five receptions on six targets for 49 yards. Higbee should blow past Lance Kendricks for playing time. Another was the play of Terrelle Pryor who seems to be successfully making the transition from quarterback to wide receiver. Pryor looked great on the Browns opening play hauling in a 49-yard reception.

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.

JODY SMITH

Hard not to be impressed with how rookie running back Derrick Henry looked in the debut of Mike Mularkey's "exotic smashmouth" offense. Granted, most of those runs were against San Diego's second-team defense, but Henry's footwork looked better than advertised and he showcased plenty of speed running off-tackle. DeMarco Murray obviously looked good in his limited action as well, but if Henry can continue to provide better-than-expected all-around ability, the Titans offense could produce not one, but two fantasy-relevant running backs in 2016.

Smith the co-owner of Gridironexperts and a member of the FSWA. Jody was named the Most Accurate Fantasy Football Expert by Fantasypros in 2012 and is currently attending Houston Texans training camp.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I realize we already knew he was great, but Allen Robinson sure was impressive in Jacksonville's opener. Three catches for 80 yards, and on each one he was well-covered. One he came back for an underthrown ball, the other two he twisted his body around to make spectacular grabs, on the sideline and on a downfield bomb. Robinson moved ahead of a couple of other wideouts for me based on that performance.

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.

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