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 Week 1 dud will turn things around the rest of the way?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I'm going to stay patient with Dameon Pierce. It was frustrating to see him out-touched by Rex Burkhead, but neither player was extremely efficient; it's not like Burkhead took the job and ran with it. Pierce is more talented than Burkhead and he's significantly younger; expanded opportunities are likely to come soon as rather than later. Perhaps the Texans just wanted to defer to the veteran for a little bit as they slowly onboard their rookie. You probably can't use Pierce as a fantasy starter right now, but I bet that changes soon.
Pianowski has been with Yahoo Sports since 2008, covering a variety of sports. On the rare occasions when the computer is turned off, he enjoys word games, poker, music, film, game theory, and a variety of condiments. He lives in suburban Detroit. Pianowski was inducted into the FSWA Hall of Fame in 2021.
DAVID DOREY
It happens every year. And even more so for this Week 1 when so many teams played flat and looked rusty. I blame the shortened preseason that no longer prepares a team to play at the highest level, it is solely to determine which players end up on the 53-man roster and avoid getting anyone injured. So Week 1 always contains a lot of players that start slowly, and this year is even worse. The list is long with players like Mike Williams, Allen Robinson, Robert Woods, Matt Stafford, Tom Brady, Rhamondre Stevenson, and so many more. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with Ezekiel Elliott. The loss of Dak Prescott for 6 to 8 weeks leaves the Cowboys offense reeling and they'll need to stabilize and play to their strengths. Elliott ran for 5.0 yards per carry versus a very tough Buccaneers defense. There's a question about volume since the Cowboys are likely to be trailing in many and maybe most games, but Elliott was far more effective than Tony Pollard.
Dorey co-founded The Huddle.com in 1997. He's ranked every player and projected every game for the last 23 years and is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. David has appeared on numerous radio, television, newspaper and magazines over the last two decades.
MIKE NAZAREK
Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams will rebound with Keenan Allen (hamstring) injured and produce fine numbers the rest of the 2022 season as the new No. 1 wideout. He is simply needed too much in this passing game to fail moving forward.
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 25 years online! His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site, www.ffmastermind.com. 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 nearly $30K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
JASON WOOD
Mark Andrews wasn’t heroic in Week 1, but his role as the most important tight end outside of Travis Kelce is intact. Andrews led the Ravens in snaps, routes run, and targets.
Wood is Senior Editor at Footballguys.com and has been with the company since its start in 2000. For more than 20 years, Footballguys has provided rankings, projections, and analysis to help fantasy managers dominate their leagues.
IAN ALLAN
Aaron Jones wasn’t much of a factor in Week 1. He carried the ball only 5 times. But I don’t think my opinion of him has changed much. He’s going to be a good back (the better half of the Dillon-Jones tandem, I think) and he’s going to be a big part of that offense, both as a runner and catching passes. With the Packers trying to figure out things at wide receiver, in fact, I think Jones will be more involved in the passing game than in previous years. To me, still looks like a good candidate for top-10 running back production in a lot of weeks.
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 the early 1990s. Allan is a member of the FSTA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
SAM HENDRICKS
Aaron Rodgers had a disappointing Week 1, but do not despair. The same thing happened last year at New Orleans. Rodgers does not do well on the road in Week 1 these days. Perhaps it was the fact that his two tackles were absent. Both should be back on the field soon to help with the pass protection. Or maybe it was just a lack of chemistry with the new wide receivers. They do play one less preseason game now. That will come with time, probably sooner rather than later so expect a big bounce back. Allen Lazard returns soon and Robert Tonyan displayed flashes of a TE1 so I expect great numbers from Rodgers. Plus he has Chicago at home this week to bounce back on and upcoming games versus the Giants and Jets. What's not to like?
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 30-year fantasy football veteran who participated 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 and 2018.
SCOTT SACHS
Rumors on the imminent demise of Aaron Rodgers are greatly exaggerated. Deja Vu, Aaron and the Pack got waxed Week 1 last season, 38-3, by New Orleans. What happened next? A collapse? A losing streak? No, just a 7-game win streak on their way to a 13-3 record and yet another NFC North title. Fast-forward to present day, and here we are again. While it appears to many that the sky in Wisconsin is falling, there's 16 more games to go, plus they play the offensively challenged Bears in Green Bay this week, so let's pump the brakes just a bit.
With 2 perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He is a 3-time Winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Auction League, as well as a previous Winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll.
ANDY RICHARDSON
If anyone in my leagues wants to bail on Kyle Pitts (2 catches for 19 yards), I'm here for it. Although it didn't happen for him against New Orleans, he still shared the team lead with 7 targets. Olamide Zaccheaus and KhaDarel Hodge combing to catch 7 balls...that's not happening again, I don't think. They'll get Pitts dialed in and Marcus Mariota will be looking for him. Starting this week.
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.