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 struggling team will continue its downward spiral, taking its top stars down with it?

JEFFREY KAMYS

Well the Jets are a mediocre fantasy team for offensive players, it really comes down to this, the defensive mind that runs the team Rex Ryan will continue to hinder and hamper the development of his young QB Sanchez. The team is built on run offense and game management, so we would never highly recommend any of the players on that offense.

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.

K.C. PAYNE

The team I expect to continue their downward spiral has to be the Dallas Cowboys. Not only do they play in one of the most difficult divisions, they've already been plagued by the injury bug. Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Felix Jones and Tony Romo are all banged up and each may not be 100 percent for the rest of the season. Throw in some more than questionable decision-making by Tony Romo and that's evidence to predict another lost season for America's Team.

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..

MIKE NAZAREK

The Jets want to get back to a run-first philosophy, so QB Mark Sanchez along with WR Santonio Holmes and WR Plaxico Burress could all take a hit in fantasy terms over the coming weeks.

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

SAM HENDRICKS

Excluding the obvious favorite-turned-nightmare team IND, then next in line has to be PIT. Their terrible offensive line (injuries are killing them) will continue to be a problem for the entire year. Injuries to Big Ben and Mendenhall in week 4 will not help (OK maybe I. Redman is an improvement to the side stepping Mendy). Even an easy schedule may not be enough to get the Steelers back in the playoffs, much less the big dance. You may be able to gather some fantasy relevant points by playing the matchups, but of the big five disappointments from the favorites, Pittsburgh is most likely to continue to disappoint.

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

As a Cleveland sports fan, I have been exposed to plenty of lofty expectations with heartbreaking failure as the end result; we have even named the losses: The Shot, The Drive, The Fumble, The Choke, The Snooze. So, I guess it's only fitting to opine on the misfortunes of others. Let's look at Pittsburgh, even though 2-2 isn't exactly crashing to earth, they have not shown their usual fire. Unfortunately, they will probably drag out their smoke and mirrors and rally in November/December with the easiest late season schedule in the league. Atlanta perhaps? Well at 2-2, it's "too too" early, and they have too much talent. As for Dallas, the J-E-T-S, and Philly, it would probably be Philly. Dallas will get their players healthy, the Jets usually look crappy early then pick it up when the weather chills, plus it's way too early to drink any Buffalo kool-aid. So, I guess it's Phailure in Philly, helmed by the over-hyped/oft-injured Vick, of whom I advised against drafting at all, let alone at the ridiculous #1 QB preseason rating.

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.

JARED SMOLA

The Jets are a team without an identity. They're built to run the ball and play defense. But their offensive line can't run block, and their front-7 has sprung more than a few leaks. HC Rex Ryan reportedly told his team that they'll go back to a "Ground and Pound" attack going forward. The problem is that they currently rank 30th in the league in yards-per-carry average. I'm not sure a return to a ground-oriented attack is going to right this ship. RB Shonn Greene and WR Santonio Holmes have been two of the biggest disappointments through 4 weeks. I'm not convinced either will bounce back this year.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I don’t see the Steelers contending for a playoff berth. No offensive line, and the defense seems to have gotten too old. No way they’ll contend with the Ravens. I have revised my projections for that team downward. I don’t see Ben Roethlisberger consistently putting up big numbers. With his style of play, he’ll probably get hurt before long.

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.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

This week, Rex Ryan is talking about Ground and Pound. Next week, he might be crying Tears of a Clown, wondering why he didn't focus on the passing game against New England's vulnerable secondary. Look around you, Rex. Your offensive line can't run block (it goes further than the Nick Mangold injury) and Shonn Greene can't make yards on his own. I'm washing my hands of all New York running backs; Greene is starting to look like a bust (and keep in mind he's already 26), LaDainian Tomlinson is just a specialty player at this point, and Joe McKnight is around to steal touches (maybe he's worth adding at some point later in the season). And quickly looking at a different club, I'm buying, not selling, on Tony Romo. He's had some well-documented glitches that have cost the Cowboys, but he's been a stat-grabber for fantasy purposes, and he should have Miles Austin back after the Week 5 bye.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 18 years and writing about it for 15. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

I have to say right now the Jets just look awful. Their head coach keeps talking "ground and pound" but there's a problem with that. You have to be able to block someone in order to ground. The RBs are getting pounded 3 yards deep in the backfield and their seems to be no hope of Wayne Hunter becoming a viable starter, they should change his name to "Gate" he gets swung around so many times a game. Nick Mangold is hurting and Slausen at guard has been a wreck. This isn't pretty, and there's no depth behind these players to bring up.

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.

CORY BONINI

I don't put much stock into a team's record affecting fantasy value. It is so relative to every team, every situation and every player to paint with a broad brush. A bad defense can lead to a poor NFL record, but it can mean a ton of passing, which obviously benefits the quarterback and wideouts. The running back position probably suffers the most if a team has a weak defense, unless the back is an adept receiver. Some teams, like the Jets, won't do well record-wise if they cannot establish the run, since their passing game is not particularly strong. That clearly impacts Shonn Greene, but his low fantasy value is a product of many facets of the team and his own abilities. To answer the question, though, I guess I feel the Eagles will continue to struggle. They need to gel better on offense, particularly along the line, play more man coverage on defense, quit using the Wide 9 front and plug the middle of their porous run defense.

Since 1996, KFFL.com has been combining its award-winning news service with fantasy analysis. KFFL.com offers 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, and FOXSports.com among many other organizations.

ALAN SATTERLEE

Oddly enough, we are going to say the Pittsburgh Steelers and at the same time mention some potential good buy low targets here. First the bad stuff. The Steelers are playing horrible right now. They got demolished in Week 1 by the Ravens, beat Seattle in Week 2 at home (as they should), barely slid by Indianapolis and now have been beaten at home by the Texans. Their defense is still ranked #2 in total yards allowed but they look aged this season with zero interceptions and three games with zero or one sack. Their o-line looks horrible (on pace for an even 60 sacks) and amazingly they ranked dead last in passing yards. Ben Roethlisberger has less fantasy points than Rex Grossman, Chad Henne and Tarvaris Jackson! At RB, Rashard Mendenhall suddenly looks less than ordinary - averaging less than 3 yards per carry and he is on pace for just 735 rushing yards. Now, both Roethlisberger (bad foot) and Mendenhall (bad hammy) are hurt and each could miss this week, then they play New England and Baltimore. We see more cloudy days in store for Pittsburgh, especially here in the short term. That said, there may be some potential for buy-lows across the board if you can catch a disgruntled owner and have the depth to ride it out. After the team's Week 11 BYE Week they have an extremely attractive schedule including, in order, the Chiefs, Bengals and Browns at home, 49ers, Rams at home and then the Browns again to close out the season.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

It sure looks bad for the Steelers. The offensive line is terrible, Roethlisberger and Mendenhall are banged-up, and while I think the team will still win a few games, they'll be more like the game against the Colts: ugly. I don't expect to see many big offensive showings from this team the rest of the way, and that makes all their players look less appealing.

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 is this week's reader winner:

NELS PETERSON

The most likely culprit here are the Jets. Shonn Greene has failed to find sufficient traction and Mark Sanchez is struggling to find his rhythm, leaving the passing game and the Jets receivers in fantasy limbo. Both the Cowboys and Eagles will continue to produce fantasy relevant numbers because of their ability to keep games close with their offenses. The Jets are struggling because of a lack of offense. That spells doom with a capital 'D' for fantasy owners that have invested heavily in what was expected to be an improved Jets offense.

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