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 preseason injury will have the most effect on the upcoming fantasy season?

PRETZEL MAY

I think Vincent Brown's broken ankle will have the biggest impact on Fantasy. Brown was the heir apparent in San Diego after Vincent Jackson left and now Rivers will not have that weapon to throw to. After Brown you have guys that are extremely inconsistent and will not provide many points for your fantasy team on weekly basis and as a result Rivers' value also takes a hit.

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.

ALAN SATTERLEE

Some of the really big names like Trent Richardson and Ryan Mathews should return early in the season. Oddly enough we are going to say Jason Witten. It's not that we were that high on Jason Witten to begin with, but we worry about his conditioning and ability to take contact when he returns. Our concern is the impact this will then have on Tony Romo. Jason Witten is his security blanket. With the poor play of the Dallas offensive line, missing practices from Miles Austin, now Dez Bryant plus Jason Witten, it is not going to be a quick start to the season for the Cowboys. They look like a team that could implode. The narrative being Witten can't play, they lose games early, Romo is under constant pressure and he is eventually injured. It would not surprise us to see Dallas fall to like 4-12 levels this year and this Jason Witten injury is going to be a big part of that equation.

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 won the 2008 Fantasy Index Experts Poll.

MIKE NAZAREK

It's clear that RB James Starks' turf toe injury along with his slow start has him firmly behind the 8-ball. The Packers signed RB Cedric Benson and he fits in nicely. He's durable and a producer. He's set to start and should hold that position for most of the season, if not all of it. That development is HUGE for a team with big Problems at the RB position.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program 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.

DAVID DOREY

Injuries are never good but losing Vincent Brown for half a season or so puts a bad light on the Chargers season. Already without Vincent Jackson and with Mathew Ryan already hurt, the passing game is not shaping up well. Robert Meachem has not meshed well with the offense and is starting the season with only Malcom Floyd as a primary wideout. Antonio Gates is aging and injury prone already and is already “maxed out” on his contribution.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I will go with the Chargers. They’ve got a bunch of them. Vincent Brown has the broken ankle; he might have been their best wide receiver. Ryan Mathews has the broken collarbone; that’s one that could cause problems down the road. And their best and most important offensive lineman, left tackle Jared Gaither, hasn’t been able to practice because of back problems. That line is leaky as is. If they can’t get Gaither healthy and dialed in, that could be one of the worst 2-3 offensive lines in the league, helping to sink what many are expecting will be a top-10 offense.

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.

KEVIN NELSON

I think the Michael Vick injury will have the greatest impact on this fantasy season. Not because this particular injury may disrupt any game time per se, but because the realization that Vick has already been knocked out of each of the only two games he has played does not bode well for the season. This does not only effect Vick owners, but owners of Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, and others. If Vick's ribs are already bruised, what will it take to bruise them more severely? Or crack them? With back up Mike Kafka already hurt, the Eagles weapons might be relying on rookie Nick Foles for their fantasy fortunes a lot more than owners had hoped. As for Vick owners, I hope you guys were able to secure a quality back up and if you have not drafted, cross him out right now. Save yourself the worry.

FFBLife.com is a company started by fantasy football lovers, for fantasy football lovers. With rankings, forums, latest news and advice, mobile applications, draft tools, social networking and more; Fantasy Football Life solely exists to reach the goal of providing all fantasy football players with everything they need. Nelson is editor-in-chief of FFBLife.com and the Fantasy Football Draft Guide, providing rankings, advice and articles for the company.

CORY BONINI

I am going to step outside of the framework of the posed question and answer with three players, all of whom play for the Dallas Cowboys: Miles Austin (hamstring), Dez Bryant (knee) and Jason Witten (spleen). These ailments put significant doubt surrounding Tony Romo's value as a legit No. 1 fantasy quarterback. After a strong yet underrated 2011 performance, Romo finds himself in a situation that could be downright ugly. Austin has a lengthy history of hammy problems. A lacerated spleen is nothing to fool with, and Bryant's knee is just one of, oh, 50,000 things to be concerned with when it comes to the talented wideout. All of this sums up as a scary situation in The Big D, and that doesn't exclude DeMarco Murray's prospects, either.

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

A preseason spleen injury leaves Jason Witten (TE DAL) doubtful for the season opener and he could miss even more games. His absence is a huge blow to Tony Romo at a time when Dez Bryant and Miles Austin cannot seem to stay healthy. The Dallas OL has not looked great in two preseason games either, so Witten's blocking skills will be missed as well and that could impact DeMarco Murray.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at www.ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 20-plus year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the 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). Follow him at his website, www.ffguidebook.com.

SCOTT SACHS

There are too many to count, so here's a few: In Big D, Witten, Austin, and Dez are all dinged which would seem to downgrade Tony Romo's value significantly. Though Dez vows to be ready by Week 1, his history of reliability is questionable at best. Speaking of reliability, I have been saying for a couple of years now that Michael Vick's style of play makes him vulnerable to injury, and therefore undraftable as far as I'm concerned. It's not that Vick is Wally Pipp with Foles as the new Lou Gehrig, but counting on Vick to carry a fantasy team--let alone the Eagles--is not something I can endorse. Mendenhall's injury combined with the hobbled Redman throws the Steeler running game into disarray, and with a tweaked Big Ben and a late-arriving Mike Wallace, the Steelers look less invincible. The buzz around Indy's A-Luck's upside has been somewhat muted with Austin Collie's latest concussion, giving a little more upside to Reggie Wayne and college chum Fleener. The Browns' Montario Hardesty & Vikes' Toby Gerhart are two must-have handcuffs due to T-Rich & AP's questionable early season production. Throw SD's Brown & McClain in the handcuffs, too, as oft-injured Ryan Mathews looks to have another wasted season ahead of him in 2012.

Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering live personal advice from training camps through the Super Bowl. His 20-plus years of fantasy football experience includes his league’s only perfect season, as well as a wire-to-wire championship in Fantasy Index's 2011 Mock Auction Draft League. Visit "The Coach" at his website: perfectseasonffb.com and follow him on Twitter: at http://twitter.com/#!/ffbcoach.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Hands down the concussion suffered by Greg Jennings. He has gone from a late second to early third round pick to the late third or early fourth. His running mate jordy nelson has now often been the third WR off the board.

BFDFANTASYfootball.com is now in its 9th season of providing hard core fantasy football advice. Born out of the High Stakes games BFD has featured hundreds of draft reviews for subscribers. Our focus on advice designed to help players understand more of what's going on behind the scenes has made the BFD Coaching Tree one of the must read articles of the year, every year. Subscribers get hardcore advice that is worth using in their leagues.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I will say Trent Richardson, even though he might be ready to go in Week 1. The uncertainty surrounding a guy who had, pre-injury, been regularly selected in the top 10 picks will have a huge impact on leagues. If he's what people expected a month ago, he's a steal in the second or third round. If he's now limited for a month, or maybe in more of a committee all season, he's probably a blown pick. The same is true of Ryan Mathews, I think. These guys are going to go a long way to winning or losing leagues for the fantasy coaches who take the risk.

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

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