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 player waived last weekend, if any, will have fantasy value this season?

SCOTT SACHS

Chester Taylor may be a nice compliment for Beanie Wells in Arizona, taking over 3rd down passing duties. As far as fantasy value, I do not think his impact makes him worth drafting, but may be a waiver move down the road in very deep leagues that have PPR. Tate in Cincinnati may be decent, but if Shipley didn't get drafted, not sure how much impact he'll have either. The new kickoff rule hurts Tate--as well as many others. QB David Garrard may end up having some value if he gets picked up later this season, concerns over his health notwithstanding.

Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, live talk and advice, and has 23 years of fantasy football league experience, including his league’s only perfect season. "The Coach" offers a free Chalk Talk Blog, plus subscriber options at his website: perfectseasonffb.com. Email questions or info requests to perfectseasonffbquestions@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/ffbcoach.

DISH ADAMS

While I am really intrigued by Chester Taylor backing up a never-proven-he-can-handle-full-time-duty Beanie Wells and Arizona; and although I am intoxicated with hope about the possibilities of a speedy Seyi Ajirotutu running long while Cam Newton buys time avoiding defenders and throws deep in Carolina, this week’s choice is obvious: Stephen Hauschka. Yeah, he’s a kicker, but we all start one, don’t we? Kicker is an oft-ignored fantasy position that can put up bigger points than most realize. He immediately becomes a starter, which is more than anyone else can say, and he will be kicking for a team in Seattle that will stall in the red zone several times per game. He isn’t the most accurate so in leagues that give negative points for misses he could hurt a bit, but he has the best chance to put up the most fantasy points based on his new situation. Yes, a kicker!

Adams is the publisher of www.fantasyinsights.com. Adams appears on NBC in Los Angeles on The Challenge with Fred Roggin following NFL Sunday Night Football in America, as well as Bloomberg Sports Friday mornings for Fourth and Fantasy where Dish became the “man who beat the machine,” outpicking Bloomberg’s Fantasy Decision Maker data tool. Dish also hosts Fantasy Insights, a podcast on Voiceamerica.com weekly on Thursdays from 5:00-6:00 PM EST.

KEVIN PAYNE

The player I think could have some fantasy value who changed teams - from St. Louis to the Free Agents - is Donnie Avery. One of the faster players in the league (when healthy) he looked like his old self at times during the preseason. I was surprised that nobody claimed him but I'd be shocked if he didn't have a new team by next week at this time.

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..

IAN ALLAN

I will go with David Garrard (even though he hasn’t officially changed teams yet — he’s only left Jacksonville). He has some flaws, and he had a poor preseason, but he’s a pretty good quarterback. He’ll land somewhere, and his game translates well in most fantasy systems. Four years in a row, he’s been a top-15 fantasy quarterback. That’s not simply because he’s played more games — that’s after stats are adjusted to account for games actually started. He’s completed 63 percent of his passes in that span, with 71 TDs versus only 41 interceptions. He’s also run for 11 touchdowns in those 58 games. He’ll start at least some games for some team this year.

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 www.fantasyindex.com.

JEFFREY KAMYS

Not much excitement in the cuts, Chester Taylor is really the only guy that caught our eye. Taylor goes from Chicago to Arizona and could be a factor around the goal line, grabbing some carries away from Beanie Wells.

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.

ALAN SATTERLEE

While we don't expect big things, Keiland Williams goes from being absolutely buried on the Washington depth chart to some potential fantasy relevance with Detroit. Williams is a solid enough grinder with a thick frame (5'11", 230 lbs) with a good one-cut and runs hard through arm tackles. He also surprisingly put up 39 receptions last season. With the season-ending injury to Mikel Leshoure, Detroit was lacking a power back and in particular one that can contribute in the red zone which is why we suspect they signed Williams. Weighing less than 200 lbs Jahvid Best is not particularly suited for that role and it would be wise to not over-work Best given his injury history. Goal-line work is also not Jerome Harrison or Maurice Morris' forte either. Given the potential for high scoring in Detroit, Williams could quietly sneak in for 5-6 TDs and could get more work if the injury bug strikes Best again.

Dynasty Rogues is the fantasy football information site run by fantasy football enthusiasts for fantasy football enthusiasts. The site includes a year-round approach to analyzing football information for those in dynasty and redraft leagues. Dynasty Rogues were the 2008 Champion of the Fantasy Index Experts' Competition.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

I don't see any significant value in players that changed teams this weekend. Chester Taylor is the big name, and I can't find any way he's a relevant FF player in 2011 without the Cardinals suffering multiple injuries in front of him.

Tranquilli is the founder of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. This is the eighth season BFD will be offering advice. In 2010 their subscribers won over $500,000 in High Stakes Fantasy football events.

SAM HENDRICKS

Chester Taylor RB AZ is one possibility in a very limited field. Keep in mind though the Bears released Taylor for a reason and granted he appears to have lost a step at 32. His yards per carry have steadily decreased every year since 2007. But he can still be a value (remember a small value) as a 3rd down back and if (OK when) Beanie Wells injures or fumbles his way to the bench; Taylor could be there to pick up the pieces. His value is higher in PPR leagues.

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

Chester Taylor for sure. Signing with the Cardinals, he will step in as the third down back and change of pace for Beanie. The upside for Taylor's fantasy value is a result of the injury history of Wells. This could give Taylor value in a couple of ways. If the Cardinals feel that injuries are a major concern he could carve a decent sized timeshare out of Beanie's load. If they however choose to give Wells the full load and Taylor as the change of pace guy then when Wells gets nicked up or a major injury occurs then Chester will step in as the primary back.

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.

DAVID DOREY

Chester Taylor stands the best chance as the likely #2 in Arizona behind an injury-prone and disappointing Beanie Wells. The Cardinals O-line is one of the worst so temper expectations, but Taylor should show up before the season is over.

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.

JARED SMOLA

I'll go off the board a bit here and name a guy who was released and hasn't even found a home yet: Donnie Avery. He was a victim of the numbers game in a crowded WR corps in St. Louis. But Avery flashed plenty of ability in 2008 and 2009 before missing all of last year with a torn ACL. He was still experiencing some pain in that knee in mid-August, but he also reportedly ran a sub 4.3 40-yard dash back in July. And he looked pretty healthy hauling in 2 balls for 42 yards in St. Louis' preseason finale. If that knee is right, this guy has difference-making speed and could make a fantasy impact if he lands in the right situation.

Smola is the Senior Editor of DraftSharks.com. DraftSharks has been providing fantasy football analysis since 1999. The site provides its members with feature articles, daily email updates, in-depth player profiles and projections, its exclusive MVP Draft Board, and much more. This past year, Draft Sharks took home the Fantasy Sports Trade Association's award for most accurate preseason projections.

MIKE NAZAREK

WR Laurent Robinson signed with the Dallas Cowboys and could push Kevin Ogletree for the No. 3 WR job. He's one to keep your eye on moving forward.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, fantasy drafting programs including auction values, 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 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. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at miken@ffmastermind.com

ANDY RICHARDSON

I thought it was a big deal when the Panthers cut fourth-string running back Tyrell Sutton, because I thought Carolina's fourth-string would be a nice No. 2 or third-down back on a lot of other teams. But nobody picked him up. I am going to stick to my guns, though, and say he'll surface as a nice third-down back somewhere, eventually, and contribute this season. As for players actually on a roster, I thought Laurent Robinson was a nice pickup by Dallas; he could be the No. 3 there quickly.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past ten 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.

New this season! We'll post the weekly question on Facebook, and the best reader answer will get included in the column. Here's this week reader winner:

DARREN WOLFE

I think a defensive player tops this list. Safety Brandon Merriweather should make the most immediate impact in IDP leagues...he has 12 INTs over the last 3 years. Last year's starting safeties had 0 takeaways for the Bears....so Merriweather will see the field early and often and should be on the fantasy radar for anyone playing in an IDP league.

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