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 nobody will be somebody in Week 17?
ALAN SATTERLEE
I wouldn’t want my head-to-head league to be decided in Week 17, though my favorite league is a total-points league off old-school Miller Lite Handbook scoring now 29 years ago and we are down to the wire (and playing through Week 17 there makes sense). I am trying to find answers to this question. It’s possible Dwyane Washington gets the job this week for the Saints with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram likely rested. Pending the status of Tevin Coleman, Brian Hill could be a solid start. At receiver, in terms of waiver-wire guys Jamison Crowder could be used against the leaky Philadelphia pass defense.
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.
IAN ALLAN
When you get an offense matched up against a team looking to rest players for the playoffs, that can be a good thing. There are a couple of those matchups this week. Definitely the Giants playing at home against the Cowboys. I haven’t graded all of the players for Week 17 yet, but Eli Manning might be among my top 10 quarterbacks, and there could be some value with those pass catchers. Similarly, I expect Denver to win comfortably against the Chargers, so could make some sense to pluck the waiver wire for some seemingly lesser options there. (The rookie running backs on those teams, of course, will project to be the best options on those teams, but everyone has them penciled in for top-5 and top-10 numbers.)
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He and fellow journalism student Bruce Taylor launched the first newsstand fantasy football magazine as a class project at the University of Washington. For more than three decades, Allan has written and edited most of the content published in the magazines, newsletters and at www.fantasyindex.com. An exhaustive researcher, he may be the only person in the country who has watched at least some of every preseason football game played since in the early 1990s. Allan is a member of the FSTA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
SCOTT SACHS
Not hard to go with C.J. Anderson of the Rams. What a tremendous effort Week 16! Signed off the street, thrust into the starting lineup, and exploded. The Rams don't have to rush Gurley back this week, plus are playing a meaningful game, so he looks like a nice play once again.
With two perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring live talk and text advice. Sachs won the 2011 and 2016 Fantasy Index Experts Auction league, plus he was the winner of the 2012 Fantasy Index Experts Poll.
MATT SCHAUF
The good thing is we only have two teams locked into their playoff seeds this time around. The bad thing: You’re gonna need to swap out Zeke Elliott for Rod Smith. And we’ll all need to figure out whether Teddy Bridgewater is taking all the snaps or sharing with Taysom Hill.
Schauf is a senior analyst with DraftSharks.com. He has been covering fantasy football since 2002, producing content for outlets such as Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon and Football Diehards before landing with DS. Draft Sharks has been online since 1999 and is a 4-time winner in the FSTA’s annual fantasy football projections accuracy contests.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
If the Panthers choose to sit Christian McCaffrey, Cameron Artis-Payne could make an impact this week against the Saints.
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.
MICHAEL NEASE
With many of the stud players on playoff-bound teams slated to rest in Week 17, your fantasy hero could very well be a relative unknown. DaeSean Hamilton of the Broncos has averaged 15 points over the last three games. He has been very consistent, which is a fundamental trait that I look for in players. He was a 4th-round draft choice but was lost most of the season, buried on the depth chart behind Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton. Over the last three games he has been the Broncos' best scoring wideout. Next season, people will know his name. For now though, he may very well be a hero for fantasy owners.
Nease is a member of the FSWA and has been playing the game since 1985, while also writing about it since 2001. He is a writer for Big Guy Fantasy Sports. Over the years he has sampled about all the playing scenarios that fantasy football offers, including re-drafter, keeper, dynasty, auction, IDP and salary cap leagues. You can contact Mike at mnease23@yahoo.com anytime and during the football season follow him @mike-insights.
SAM HENDRICKS
In the spirit of gift giving I will pony up several names. First, Cameron Artis-Payne is in line for a ton of touches against New Orleans as Ron Rivera evaluates younger talent and deals without Cam Newton. Another candidate is Brian Hill for the Falcons. With Tevin Coleman banged-up Hill will get another crack at the top running back job against Tampa Bay. Even if Coleman plays... groin injuries have a way of lingering. Both are nobodies who could play a key role in a week 17 Championship game. Dwayne Washington is a third nobody, who might be on waivers, possibly starting while the big Saints names get a rest before the NFL playoffs.
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
If Sean Payton puts Alvin Kamara on the field or gives Mark Ingram more than a series or two this week, he's an idiot. Payton is not an idiot, so I expect Dwayne Washington to get most of the running back snaps for New Orleans this week against a Carolina defense that has already checked out. Same game, it sounds like Christian McCaffrey won't play, so maybe Cameron Artis-Payne gets some run. Sticking with NFC South running backs, Brian Hill stands to have a decent game for Atlanta.
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.