Ask the Experts

August 17, 2017

Who will be the comeback player of the year?

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: Who will be the comeback player of the year?

SCOTT SACHS

At this early stage, I would take a shot at Eric Decker. The fantasy stars seem to align for him for a few reasons. First, with the continued maturity of Marcus Mariota, the Titans are poised to take that next step in a very winnable division. Second point is that the Titan wide reeivers have been a weak spot, so Tennessee drafted 2 guys to help, but they are rookies and their No. 1 pick, Corey Davis, already has a hamstring injury. They have some other guys, too, but they are young and largely unproven. Enter Decker; he's healthy, he's proven, he has a history of high production, plus he is returning to his family home in Nashville and is thrilled about it. Bottom line is that Decker gives Mariota a 2nd veteran receiving option in addition to Delanie Walker.

With two perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He won the 2011 and 2016 Experts Auction League and also the 2012 Fantasy Index Experts Poll.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

Keenan Allen will not only make it through the season unscathed, but catch more than 100 passes and 10-plus scores to earn Comeback Player of the Year honors.

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.

L.A. HALE

You have to be rooting for Keenan Allen after suffering major injuries each of the last two seasons. The former Cal star is a great route runner with sure hands, and IF he stays on the field, could be a top-10 wideout and a great value at his current No. 41 ADP. My gut feeling is (more accurately hoping) Allen shines in the L.A. spotlight and puts up WR1 numbers on his way to Comeback Player of the Year.

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

IAN ALLAN

Martavis Bryant could be pretty special. He was suspended for all of last year, but when he’s on the field, he can be awfully productive. They don’t use him extensively, but with his height and speed, he tends to hit on a lot of big plays — averages 17.3 yards per catch as a pro. Since the Steelers drafted him in 2014, he’s averaged 63 yards, with 14 TDs in 21 games. If the Steelers can keep him on the field, they should have a very productive weapon on their hands.

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

Ultimately, my money would be on J.J. Watt as he's simply a wrecking ball of a beast on defense. After missing 13 games last year, Watt should be back to dominance where he collects 17-20 sacks per year (like he did in 2012, 2014 and 2015). But if we look at just skill-position / fantasy players, I could see Keenan Allen taking that award. Allen has been "injury prone" but arguably there have been some more flukey type of injuries like his lacerated kidney in 2015. Last year Allen tore his ACL, but by all accounts he is ready to roll. Allen is still just 25 years old and Philip Rivers likes him -- Allen's past nine games is a full-season pace of 130 receptions, 1,401 receiving yards and 7 TDs (hopefully the TD total goes up some, and Allen had 8 TDs on 71 receptions as a rookie so there's no reason why he can't hit double-digit scores). Do the PPR math -- Allen's past nine games is a full-season pace for 312.1 fantasy points (and he would have been WR1 last year with those point totals).

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

If Adrian Peterson can stay healthy and return to form (4.5 PYC in 2015), he will get his chances with the high-powered Saints offense. Even if he is not the workhorse, he can still carve out a good season (1000+ combined yards and 10 TDs). Add in the ever-present possibility of an injury to Mark Ingram or a trade (Alvin Kamara is the heir apparent) and you may find yourself with a RB1 with an 7th- or 8th-round pick.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I'm looking at some guys who underperformed last year but I think will be better this year. One that stands out for me is DeAndre Hopkins, who had a big season in 2015 and lesser one last year. He is too talented not to bounce back, and the quarterbacking should be better once they slide Deshaun Watson into the lineup. I'm also intrigued by Brandon Marshall, working with one of the better quarterbacks he's ever enjoyed. As far as guys coming off injury, Ameer Abdullah intrigues me (but Detroit's committee will probably prevent him from putting up really big numbers).

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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Aaron Jones has run for 1,046 yards for the 13-2 Vikings, positioning himself to join the small fraternity of players who’ve run for 1,000 yards for two different playoff teams in the same division. (He went over 1,000 yards for two Green Bay teams that went 13-3.) In the 32-team era (that is, since 2002) who is the only other running back who’s done this? (Need not just multiple 1,000-yard seasons, but for playoff teams in the same division.)

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A little feedback from a long time customer.

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The payoff in the league is not bad, six hundred dollars to be exact, but it is those all important bragging rights that really make it fun!

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