Ask the Experts

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them:

Who was the fantasy MVP?

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

I can't see anyone that is more of a Fantasy MVP than DeAngelo Williams. Teams paid little more than a 6th round draft choice for him, and he was good all season. Then erupted in the fantasy playoffs. The ultimate "buy low" draft pick that panned out nicely.

Louis Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about giving advice to players from a player. Lou's been a highly successful owner in many high stakes contests. BFD is giving away 50 fantasy football teams in 2008.

SAM HENDRICKS

I nominate Matt Forte and Tony Gonzalez as Fantasy Co-MVPs. Both far exceeded their ADP and provided their owners with a great chance at a championship. Tony G finished the last 10 games of the season with a 7.5/90/1 average per game (on his way to 96/1058/10 TDs). Take a good look because he was Mr. Consistency (only 1 multiple TD game, instead he produced 9 games with TDs)-talk about money in the bank! Matt Forte delivered consistently as well. 13.5 fantasy points in PPR leagues was his lowest score this season. For the year, the rookie had 1238 yards rushing and 8 TDs, but more importantly he caught 63 passes for 477 yards and 4 TDs. Neither were drafted higher than the 4th round in most leagues yet they performed like first round studs.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook and the recently released Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 which are both available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is an 18-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) and participated this year in the inaugural season of the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

IAN ALLAN

To me, the "Most Valuable Player" is the same guy who generates the most overall value. So for 2008, there was no clear-cut MVP -- there was no player who was so much better than everyone else that he outperformed everyone in all of the various scoring systems and league formats. DeAngelo Williams had a great year -- scoring 20 TDs -- but he didn't catch many passes. In a PPR format, there were two wide receivers that outproduced him (Andre Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald). Even if you look at what we might consider a standard, usual format (12 teams, 6 points for TDs and 1 for every 10 yards), the MVP answer isn't crystal clear. If we assume that each team is starting two running backs and two receivers, then DeAngelo Williams (followed by Michael Turner and Thomas Jones) would be the most valuable players. But if you re-work the numbers to include each team starting three wide receivers, then Larry Fitzgerald actually (from a purely numerical sense) comes in slightly ahead. The other 35 projected starting receivers came in a combined 1812 fantasy points behind Fitzgerald, while the other 23 starting running backs finished 1673 points behind Williams. (If you go down to two starting receivers, than Fitzgerald's number decreases to 850 -- way behind Williams and the other top running backs). Using this system of grading, by the way, Tony Gonzalez was more valuable than the top quarterbacks (Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rogers). Bottom line? When you start comparing players from different positions and in different fantasy scoring systems, things get complicated in a hurry. That's why at our website, we have an interfaced database with exact projected numbers for each player. Users spend a couple of minute inputting the parameters of their league -- size, rules -- and then the computer punches out a more accurate overall listing.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index magazine. He’s also one of the main content contributors for that company’s website, www.fantasyindex.com. His IAN ALLAN’S MAILBAG column is posted on Fridays.

JEFFREY KAMYS

Tough call this year, but I would probably give a slight nod to Michael Turner because he was undervalued at the start of the season and finished as the No. 1 performing RB in most leagues. A huge bargain in 2008, he will probably be over-valued in 2009.

Kamys is president of Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports. His company, via the web, offers player news, injury reports, cheat sheets, projections, weekly matchups, statistics, and a customized team tracker. Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports also e-mails preseason newsletters and reports throughout the season. For more info visit www.docstats.com or send email to webmaster@docstats.com.

MIKE NAZAREK

RB DeAngelo Williams. His run of multiple TD games late in the season surely helped thousands of fantasy players win titles, including myself in the SOFA IDP Experts league.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, fantasy auction & regular drafting programs, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He is the reigning four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at 702-568-7118 or miken@ffmastermind.com.

GREGG ROSENTHAL

Is there any other choice but DeAngelo Williams? Matt Forte was in the mix until late, but no one came close to Williams' finish, consistency, and draft value. I am probably not the only one who ranked Jonathan Stewart ahead of Williams before the season; one of the worst evaluations possible. John Fox loves his veterans and no offensive line improved more with Ryan Kalil healthy and Jeff Otah on board.

Rosenthal is the managing editor of Rotoworld.com, the highest trafficked fantasy news website on the web. He also writes a blog, contributes to NBCSports.com's NFL coverage and appears in the NBC Fantasy Fix three times a week, including a live show every Sunday morning at 11AM.

CHRIS LISS

DeAngelo Williams -- no question.

RotoWire.com is a leading independent provider of fantasy sports news on the web, covering all the news as it breaks, combining innovative analysis with an easy-to-use format. The site’s content has won numerous awards and has earned partnerships with ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, FoxSports, XM Satellite Radio, NFL.com, NBA.com and many other sites and networks. To sample site content, take advantage of their free 10-day trial.

ANDY RICHARDSON

Drew Brees. How many players do you never even have to consider benching? How many players deliver guaranteed yardage and in Brees' case, 2 or more TDs on ten occasions? Brees was one of four quarterbacks drafted early this year, and the only one of those players who delivered. Other players I'd consider include Maurice Jones-Drew and Larry Fitzgerald, guys who were productive and scoring for their teams week after week after week.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past seven years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections, as well as various site features. He has run the magazine's annual draft and auction leagues since their inception. His A DAY OF FOOTBALL wrap-up column appears Mondays during the NFL season. For more information go to www.fantasyindex.com.

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