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 no-name will come off the bench to help fantasy coaches with title games in Week 17?

IAN MILLMAN

This is a really tough question, but I am going to go with someone everyone has heard of but has been an injury riddled dud all year and that is Ryan Mathews. If I were the Chargers I would give the kid a full shot to show what he has got and with Tolbert out this is the week. The Broncos have a very suspect run defense, and although the Broncos play much better run D at home, I still think this could be the week the Chargers feature Mathews and he produces.

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.

KEVIN PAYNE

I'm willing to gamble on Colt McCoy. He was thrown into the fire (go beat the Steelers in your first game rook) and did quite well. If he stays healthy and gets some more weapons (and more Josh Cribbs play-calls), he'll be an interesting pick. The other guy I'll admit is intriguing is Tim Tebow. I know the "guy's a winner" stuff is annoying but I think there's something to that. Add in the team's usage of him around the goal line and you've got a QB who is more relevant as a fantasy QB than a real-life QB. Take him as a late backup.

RotoWire.com is a fantasy sports news site that focuses on MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, auto racing (mostly NASCAR), golf, college football, college basketball and soccer. The web site features player news, draft kits, mock-draft software, in-season tools, feature stories and statistical data to help fantasy players in each sport. RotoWire hosts a three-hour daily radio show on Sirius-XM, XM 147, Sirius 211 11 AM - 2PM ET, has partnerships with Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, NFL.com and FoxSports, among others. To sign-up for a free-trial to RotoWire.com, go to RotoWire.com/trial..

JEFFREY KAMYS

I would keep an eye on Jerome Simpson of the Bengals who saw a ton of PT on Sunday grabbing 2 TDs.

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 like Stephen McGee of the Cowboys. He played pretty well against Arizona, completing 11 of 17 in a half, and he’ll be playing a Philadelphia team that’s going with the preseason approach. Andy Reid is a believer in the theory that you pull and rest your starters as quickly as you can. As an added bonus, McGee is a mobile, running quarterback; he might run for 30-plus yards. With the Dallas regulars going against the Philadelphia backups, I think McGee (assuming Jon Kitna doesn’t play) could be a top-5 quarterback this week.

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.

BRYCE McRAE

The Philadelphia Eagles have nothing to play for in the final week. DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin might all be limited or sit out. Enter Jerome Harrison. The Cleveland Browns' castoff could see his first significant action of the season. We know he can produce when given a chance, and motivation or tired legs shouldn't be a problem after sitting so long. It might be asking a lot, but Harrison could easily help an owner looking to fill a No. 3 or flex spot.

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

In a standard PPR league, I have Tim Tebow ranked 5th, Stephen McGee at 13th and Charlie Whitehurst at 20th …take your pick. Other honorable mentions: WR: Jerome Simpson 25th, Andre Roberts and Brian Robiskie 45th/46th. TE: Jared Cook TEN 4th.

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).

MIKE NAZAREK

Bengals WR Jerome Simpson broke out on Sunday and will continue to start and play a major role in the team's passing game in Week 17. Fantasy owners in need should consider him if they can make a waiver move this week.

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.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Mark Brunell NY Jets. He's a former "name" player that is hanging on for a run into the playoffs with the Jets. New York is basically locked in as the No. 6 seed with a small chance to move to the No. 5, that's no motivation because as the No. 6 they are likely to get a decent 1st round playoff match up against the Chiefs rather than a date with the Colts (who should win the AFC South and be the No. 4). Brunell has weapons and Buffalo has a date with the exit signs. It's a home game and NY will "warm up" Mark for any potential playoff action by letting him chuck the rock around against a weak Bills secondary.

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 will nominate Joe McKnight, running back for the Jets. Conditioning and performance were issues for the rookie in the preseason, and indeed the Jets have drawn heat for trading Leon Washington and releasing Danny Woodhead to stick the unimpressive McKnight in that role. So far, he's a bust. But for this one week, I think the Jets will get LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene off the field as soon as they can, and give McKnight a bunch of carries against Buffalo's bottom-ranked run defense. It's risky, but I'll be reading practice reports the next couple of days to see how much work he's getting.

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 [1]

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.