ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp to Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Which player has changed your opinion of him the most this postseason, for good or ill?
KEITH HERNANDEZ
We all know Andrew Luck is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. He has a chance to be a pretty special signal caller when it's all said and done, but the 2013 playoffs really showed that he has plenty to learn to take his game to the next level. Amid some excellent throws against the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, and an instinctual play to recover a fumble and punch it in the end zone, Luck forced way too many balls (seven total interceptions) into coverage and made some very poor decisions that put his team in deep holes. He's no Peyton Manning, at least not yet, and he'll need a stable running game behind him in order to continue to grow and become a trustworthy No. 1 QB for fantasy football purposes.
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MICAH JAMES
I really haven't been swayed much by any playoff performances thus far in the 2013 season. Some players seem to have confirmed their talents -- Demaryius Thomas jumps to mind -- and others, like Andy Dalton, give us continued reason to doubt. Jimmy Graham had a terrible two-game stretch, but I'm not ready to change my overall opinion of him for 2014 based on those two games. I'll at least attempt to answer the question and will say that my opinion has changed the most regarding the Broncos' Montee Ball. His workload has increased of late, and the coaches are trusting him more in the team's most important games. Free agent Knowshon Moreno might not return to the team in 2014, and Ronnie Hillman doesn't look to have the support of the coaches; Ball may very well be a mid-round steal in next year's fantasy drafts.
James, the FFMagicMan, won the FSTA Accuracy Rankings Challenge in 2012, finishing first out of 61 expert entries with an unprecedented Top-9 finish in each of the four measured skill positions. You can frequently hear him on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and every week on his fantasy football podcast, Trick Plays, with co-host Coach Dennis Esser. Find James on Twitter and on Facebook, and check his website every week for the latest up-to-date player rankings.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
Knowshon Moreno was very good to me for the 2013 season, a late-round pick who road the coattails of the Denver offense en route to 13 touchdowns. But Montee Ball's role continues to expand, which makes me wary of Moreno's downside next year. There's no guarantee Moreno is back in Denver to begin with - and his value would surely go down in a majority of landing areas.
Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 20 years and writing about it for 17. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.
ALAN SATTERLEE
That's a good question although honestly I am not sure anyone really moved my opinion of them that much based on the playoff games. If I had to pick one who has had movement though from where I have them then perhaps Colts' WR LaVon Brazill. Given how little he had done in the regular season, Brazill played well in the playoffs and was a part of the Colts' gameplan. Depending on what they do in the off-season, it's possible that Brazill is a regular part of their 3-WR sets. Against the Chiefs, Brazil caught 4 of 6 targets for 54 yards, however he didn't start. Brazil came up big against the Patriots the following week hauling in 2 TDs. That said, I don't really see Brazil being anything more than just a guy but his stock is up from where it was heading into the playoffs. Sticking with the Colts for a second - how about Trent Richardson?! Unbelievable. In the MFL database, there are 174 players tracked. Richardson is ranked 174th at -0.9 points in the playoffs. He has -1.0 points against the Chiefs (one carry, zero yards and one fumble) and 0.1 points against the Patriots (1 yard on 3 attempts). I still want to believe in T-Rich but it sure has been ugly.
Satterlee is Co-Owner and Chief Editor/COO of FantasyFootballWarehouse.com. FFW features comprehensive profiles for all the major 2013 skill-position rookies, its Trading Spaces series, the team Deep Dives, the Speed Bump competition plus draft strategies, rankings, projections and more. FFW runs in tandem with its dynasty site DynastyFootballWarehouse.com.
IAN ALLAN
Percy Harvin, I guess. Ever since the Seahawks traded for him, I have wondered if he’s any better than the receivers they already have. Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin, those guys aren’t superstars, but they’re pretty good. And Harvin is like them in that he’s a smaller receiver. Seems like a better fit would have been to add a big wide receiver into that mix. But Harvin, in that half against New Orleans, did so some playmaking ability. He’s got a lot more make-you-miss ability than Tate or Baldwin. And they were clearly trying to make him their featured guy in that game. In the second half of the 49ers game, you saw the Seahawks go to a lot more quick throws outside (they were trying to counter San Francisco’s pass rush by getting the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands faster). On those kind of plays, I think Harvin is a lot better than what they have. He’s also a guy who has value as a kickoff returner and running on gadget plays. I expect Harvin will factor prominently in Seattle’s Super Bowl game plan, and he should make a nice impact in 2014 (if they can keep him healthy).
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.
ERIC CATURIA
Although the NFL's postseason supplies a small sample size from which to solidify a sentiment, a player's true colors typically reveals itself in the most pressure-packed of circumstances. For the most part, Colin Kaepernick is terrifying to the opposition and fans alike, but his tendency to find trouble has tempered my thoughts regarding his fantasy prospects. Sure, he impersonated a gazelle in two playoff tilts this month to the tune of at least 98 yards rushing in three opportunities, averaging a phenomenal 9.3 yards per carry. His passing prowess was also evident in his ability to evade defenses and convert timely third-down throws. Ultimately, though, he completed just shy of 55 percent of his passes in the playoffs, which is well below his 61 percent from last year's Super Bowl run and better than a mere two of 37 qualified quarterbacks from the 2013 regular season. The return of Michael Crabtree from an Achilles tear in Week 13 aided in Kaepernick finishing the campaign on a high note -- at least 61.8 percent in four of five outings -- but because the 49ers can negotiate a contract extension with the signal caller in the offseason, he could very well be without top target (and upcoming free agent) Anquan Boldin, if the necessary funds are unavailable. Thus, Kaepernick's stable of reliable wideouts may be reduced to Crabtree and Vernon Davis, placing a damper on his potential production heading into next fall.
Caturia is a writer/editor of NFL, MLB, and NBA content for RotoWire. He can be found on Twitter @etcat30.
SAM HENDRICKS
Julian Edelman. What a great 4 game start to the season (34-319-2 TD). Then came the letdown as he caught just 19 passes for 181 yards in his next 6 games. So by week 12 I had forgotten about him. Then he rebounded with another big 4 game stretch (37-414-4) but I was too busy with fantasy playoffs to note his return. His two NFL playoff games (16-173-1) reminded me of why I drafted him this year and why he is someone to target for next year.
Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at 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 web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I hadn't been terribly impressed by T.Y. Hilton after Reggie Wayne went down, but the game he turned in against Kansas City (13 for 224 with 2 TDs) followed up by another 100-yard performance against New England has made me a believer. I'm not so sure Reggie Wayne, at 35 years old and coming off a torn ACL, can be a No. 1 again, and I have doubts about the rest of Indy's receiving corps (and they've got other key areas to address). Hilton is a guy I'll be watching next summer. Two other guys who stand out are Julian Edelman in New England and running back Khiry Robinson in New Orleans. Edelman should be New England's No. 1 wideout again next season, and Robinson could be the lead back in New Orleans. Finally, I've been impressed with some of the runs I've seen out of Montee Ball the last two weeks.
Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for 12 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.