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 are you most looking forward to watching in the preseason games?
MICHAEL NAZAREK
I want to see how Charger wide receiver Keenan Allen looks coming off his torn ACL. Reports are that he's looked great in practice, but games are a different matter. If he's truly healthy, then he could be a steal in the third or fourth round of fantasy drafts this summer as a true No. 1 wide receiver.
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 newly re-designed 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. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
IAN ALLAN
Every team has players that I want to see, really. And no doubt there will be a dozen players that I’m not even thinking about that will change my thinking about that position on their team. But you asked for just one, and I will go with Jonathan Williams of the Bills. He didn’t make much of an impact as a rookie. He was just a guy, averaging only 3.5 yards per attempt. But Mike Gillislee is gone, so the Bills are looking for Williams to ascend into that No. 2 tailback role. I expect he’ll get plenty of carries in the preseason, and it shouldn’t be long before we have some idea if he’s ready to handle that role. Maybe they even use him as their short-yardage guy. LeSean McCoy is 29, and I’m figuring he’ll miss a couple of games along the way, maybe making Williams one of the better No. 2 backs.
Allan is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. A co-founder of Fantasy Football Index in 1987, he generates most of the writing, player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine and also at www.fantasyindex.com.
ALAN SATTERLEE
So many it's truly hard to just limit it to one player. However one I am really looking forward to see play is the Panthers' Christian McCaffrey. It's always fun to see the rookies with your own eyes in NFL uniforms for starters. For McCaffrey though it's particularly interesting to see how the Panthers' playbook is changing and what the offense looks like to incorporate these speedier assets (both McCaffrey and eventually Curtis Samuel when he gets cleared to play). If I had an honorable mention though it's all these veteran running backs on new teams -- seeing Adrian Peterson as a Saint, getting a look at Marshawn Lynch with the Raiders and seeing how slimmed-down Eddie Lacy looks on the Seahawks.
Satterlee is the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast. Satterlee first started playing fantasy football in 1990.
SAM HENDRICKS
Chargers and Seahawks play in the Week 1 Sunday Night Football preseason game this week. I am watching Eddie Lacy. The 2015 Pro Bowler is around RB25 or lower on most boards but I am high on the former Packer. He has hit the weight clauses in his contract and has received praise from head coach Pete Carroll. But I need to see him run. I need to see how Seattle uses him. And see how the team does with him versus Thomas Rawls or C. J. Prosise. He needs to meet my “eye” test. But if he does, he will be a bargain (or has been -- I have drafted this guy every time I get the chance).
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 won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
DAVID DOREY
Christian McCaffrey needs to show he will be thrown passes and that the Carolina offense can actually change. The Panthers have a great schedule and I want to see how they plan on using their offense in what should be a productive year.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I'm intrigued by the rookie running backs, of course, and it's hard to pick just one. But I'll say Leonard Fournette, given his elite draft status and arrival into a situation where he should start and dominate carries right away (I'm not really buying the committee-with-Ivory-Yeldon idea). If he in any way looks hesitant or slow, though, my rookie year outlook for him could change quickly. Hope we get to see him out there for a decent amount in Jacksonville's first couple of games. For veterans, I want to see the Saints backfield -- find out if Adrian Peterson looks so good that I won't want any part of Mark Ingram, or if (as I am thinking) Peterson is a poor fit for the offense and Ingram will be a serious value.
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.