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:

Which oft-hyped team and/or players is headed for a letdown this season?

IAN MILLMAN

The Vikings could suffer more than people think without Sidney Rice. You are talking about 80+ catches and over 1300 yards in the passing game. The next closest receiving yard total was Percy Harvin's 790 yards. Some of these guys could step up but with Favre a little gimpy and Harvin having his headache problems, I think you need to look at the risk reward here.

Fantasy Football Champs, FFChamps.com, founders the Millmans are the No. 1 ranked experts In the history of the Fantasy Football Index Experts Poll. FFChamps.com gets there every year by following our Football Bible, The FFCPI, our weekly rankings telling you who to play. FFChamps.com has the most state of the industry Mock Draft tool, proprietary algorithms and systems for player rankings/who to draft/who to play/who to trade in the industry, and one-to-one Expert Advice. In the last 7 years FF Champs has competed against the top Fantasy Football Experts in all of the major magazines' Experts Polls and has finished lower than 3rd only twice.

JEFFREY KAMYS

No question one of the most over-hyped teams is the Jets. Sanchez played well in the playoffs, but during the regular season he was mediocre at best. Now that the Jets are coming off a winning year, their schedule will be tougher as well, and their division continues to get better. While their defense is a great fantasy selection, their offensive fantasy players will be mostly offensive in a not great way. Shonn Greene has a ton of potential, but if Sanchez doesn't perform he is going to see 8 guys trying to stop the run every down.

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.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Chris Beanie Wells, I will march front and center as a early hype guy. I still believe by the end of the 2010 season he'll have the better stats for the Cardinals but...there is simply no denying the offensive line is a mess situation. One of the key elements I look for in the pre season is a teams offensive line situation, the Cards have not impressed and even worse they look down right bad. Beanie and Tim Hightower will be struggling for a while as the line gets its act together.

Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about delivering the information players want, not fluff, just opinions that matter to fantasy football players. Lou has worked with NFL players and gives a unique perspective because of it.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Arizona is the cushy, convenient answer -- they're making their second QB change since Kurt Warner retired, Beanie Wells looked horrible in August, and I don't know how much Larry Fitzgerald can do while things are collapsing around him. I'll be very surprised if the Niners don't prevail in the horrible NFC West. As far as teams that everyone likes entering the season, put me down as a Minnesota skeptic. Brett Favre will be playing hurt and he's closing in on his 41th birthday. No Sidney Rice for half the year. Percy Harvin has the ongoing migraine issue. The offensive line, quietly, is a mediocre lot. My projections have the Vikings missing the playoffs, and I could see Favre actually sitting out some games in the second half of the year, given the pounding I'm expecting him to take. I'd still roll with Adrian Peterson as the first or second overall pick in any league, but I am bearish on the Vikings passing game, and this team's overall outlook.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 15 years and writing about it for 12. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

MIKE NAZAREK

I think if the Dallas Cowboys don't improve their OL, QB Tony Romo as well as the running game will struggle to produce as effectively as they did last year.

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 has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is the one and only 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. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at miken@ffmastermind.com.

CORY BONINI

The New York Jets have letdown written all over them. Mark Sanchez is a great distance from being a bona fide NFL star quarterback - or even being able to instill fear in defenses. If Shonn Greene and his limited body of work doesn't pan out, LaDainian Tomlinson, who appears washed up, would be heavily relied on. Yikes! At receiver, Braylon Edwards can't catch salmonella poisoning at an egg farm, and everyone seems to be grossly overvaluing the addition of Santonio Holmes. Letting left guard Alan Faneca go in the offseason was one of the dumbest moves by any team. Watch the Patriots run away with this division.

Since 1996, KFFL.com has been combining its award-winning news service with top-notch fantasy analysis. KFFL.com offers industry-leading services, including daily news, draft guides and in-season advice. Now 100 percent free, KFFL.com is your destination for fantasy baseball, football and NASCAR cheat sheets, tips, sleepers and much more. KFFL.com has won more than a dozen expert championships and was listed as "One of the 10 essential sports-related online destinations for fans, athletes and fantasy owners" by Time.com. KFFL.com has provided content to USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, FOXSports.com and many other quality organizations.

SAM HENDRICKS

Without a doubt the Minnesota Vikings are a train wreck waiting to happen from both a NFL and fantasy point of view. Last season was magical with Favre and his career year. This year everyone has the same expectations yet Brett is recovering from ankle surgery, Sidney Rice is out six weeks at a minimum, Percy Harvin still has migraines and the head coach is bitching about the Saints treatment of his QB in the NFC Championship game. This is a team looking over their shoulder and not out in front at where they are headed.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 competitors) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

SCOTT SACHS

Let's go for the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets! Coach Sexy Rexy likes to say the f-bomb a lot, right? It would be awesome for HBO to mike him for his reaction everytime Big Mouth Braylon drops a ball against Baltimore Monday night. Santonio Holmes is suspended, Cotchery has not emerged, Greene is good not great, LT is on the downside, Keller is barely average, Sanchez is only decent, plus Revis Island is at 4-1 in Vegas for a hammie and 5-1 for a groin pull Monday night. AFC Champs, huh? Really? Let's say 9-7 and out of the playoffs in 2010. 2nd place belongs to Cincy, as the roar will be just a whimper. Any team so reliant on Benson to lead the running game has serious talent evaluation issues. They have definitely improved their Defense, granted. But with an over-rated running game, if they need to pass a lot Carson Palmer appears to have lost his semi-elite status as a passer since his injury. Let's not forget they only play with one ball at a time, and the Ochocinco/Ochouno lovefest is one Pittsburgh or Baltimore shutout away from a meltdown. TE Gresham will probably be severely under-utilized. Honorable mention goes to Arizona with Derek Anderson at QB. DA's only skill is chucking it long. Like 85 & 81 in the Jungle, Highsmith & Beanie do not like sharing just one football. The only saving grace for Big Red is 4 games vs. the Rams and 'Hawks. The SF 49ers look like the class of this division.

Scott Sachs is “The Coach”, at Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering live talk and advice from early August through the NFL playoffs. The Coach has 22 years experience in a 24-team league, 19 years in playoffs with multiple Championships, including the league’s only perfect season! The Coach has a knack for Sleeper & Rookie picks, too! Free content and subscriber options on the website: www.perfectseasonffb.com. Email questions or info requests to perfectseasonffbquestions@gmail.com.

DAVID DOREY

The team that bothers me the most are the Bengals. On paper, it seems like a dream come true now that Carson Palmer has both Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, plus an impressive rookie slot receiver Jordan Shipley and the best rookie tight end in Jermaine Gresham. Problem is that there are only so many passes to share in Cincinnati and they have not been nearly as well thrown since Palmer has gone through major surgeries and no longer displays the same level of talent he did back in his 4000 yard seasons. Is his elbow really 100% back or will it ever be? Add in a very daunting schedule and it is easy to overvalue what any individual player might do on this team.

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

Can I say all of them? There's a whole lot of media chasing after teams who were really good at the end of last season (Vikings, Packers) and ones who had the splashiest offseason (Jets). The Vikings almost don't count because everyone can see the obvious pitfalls. With Green Bay, it's like people are forgetting the way their defense got lit up by top offenses -- and I don't think they'll be better in the secondary this year. The Jets have a worrisome passing offense, and I think the Patriots might still be the best team in that division.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past nine years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual 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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