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:

Have the stellar seasons turned in by lightly regarded wideouts like Brandon Lloyd and Steve Johnson affected your future draft strategy?

MIKE NAZAREK

I won't change my draft strategy very much. I had already begun to shift away from a strict stud RB theory strategy to a more balanced approach. There will always be surprises in any fantasy season at any position.

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.

JEFFREY KAMYS

WR still remains a position we will focus on early in our drafts, despite the emergence of fantasy sleepers this year. With guys like Lloyd and Johnson emerging it only proves one thing, that in order to win your fantasy league you need to hit the waiver wire hard each and every week. These players could have both been grabbed for a song in week 2 or week 3 off most waiver wires.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I tend to subscribe to the theory that we know who the good wide receivers are going to be. We know who the guys are who’ll catch 80-plus balls and 9 TDs. We can count on guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Roddy White, Andre Johnson and the like. It’s at the quarterback and running back positions where you tend to have guys coming out of the woodwork and putting up good numbers. There are more injuries at those positions. So in a fantasy sense, I would have be settled at wide receiver and looking for a quarterback or tailback. I will concede, though, that there have been more receiver surprises in recent years. Miles Austin, recall, was the top (per game) receiver in 2009, and nobody had ever heard of him.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index. He's been in that role since 1987, generating most of the player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine, and also at the company's website, www.fantasyindex.com.

IAN MILLMAN

This year has been the year of the Sleeper at WR and we were very high on some of them, especially Hakeem Nicks and Mike Wallace. That being said, you have guys that come out of nowhere every year, last year it was Austin Miles, Sidney Rice and MIke Sims-Walker. I am in 1st in the Experts League I am in and that draft I took 3 WR's in the first 7 picks. It just so happened that they were Desean Jackson, Hakeem Nicks, and Mike Wallace.. I don't think you have to change your strategy, I just think you have to forecast results and not draft off of previous years stats.

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.

TIM HEANEY

It doesn't change my strategy. Having consistent, more proven wideouts is still vital; the Lloyds and Johnsons should be bonuses to your receiver corps, not your focus; banking heavily on emerging types that late or off the wire can't be your aim as it was in the running back heyday.

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

I always advocate in my books that the best draft strategy is to stockpile RBs and WRs early (and often) while waiting on QB. Usually this means drafting something like 4 RBs, 3 WRs and a top TE with the first 8 picks (depending on what falls to you of course). Typically this results in a RB-WR-WR-RB or RB-WR-RB-WR start. You still need to focus on WR early in the draft, but as seen in the numbers mentioned a strong RB base is more important. Why? You can get good WRs and QBs off the waiver wire. But few RBs and top TEs are there.

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).

PRETZEL MAY

I can't see this affecting next year's draft in any way. In the early rounds you are going to go after the guys that are good year in and year out that won't change. I wouldn't skip an elite receiver with the anticipation of picking a star off the waivers. What this will do is make me more active in waivers early in the season.

The May brothers have more than 16 years of combined fantasy football experience and are the co-founders of FantasyDraftMaster.com. The cornerstone of FDM is the UberRank which is a revolutionary approach to the traditional fantasy football cheat sheet. FantasyDraftMaster.com also offers insightful and humorous commentary on football happenings as well as recommendations on waiver wire pickups, line up submissions and weekly pick em' pools. For more info, visit www.fantasydraftmaster.com or email us at info@fantasydraftmaster.com.

SCOTT SACHS

Not really. Not that WR isn't a position of importance, but this year again illustrates the trend that there are still less quality RBs & QBs in comparison to quality WRs. There are a plethora of TEs, too, who are usable most weeks. At first blush, 2011--provided we have a season--looks to break down the same way.

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.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

No, this season defines aberration. The worst FF teams in 2011 will be those that go "searching for the next...(fill in the blank)" The draft changes little from year to year, owners need to find RBs that will dominate, because they are scarce and find WRs with clearly defined roles, because they are becoming scarce.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I think it shows that in a pass-happy league, there are more viable starting wideouts who can post big numbers than you might initially suspect. You can get away with drafting top running backs and quarterbacks early, if you're active on the waiver wire and don't dismiss no-names. In most of my leagues Lloyd and Johnson sat out there for several weeks after their first big game, just because they were written off. I guess it will probably change my waiver strategy more than my draft strategy.

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.

• Comments [0]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.