ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: Based on the drafts you've seen or participated in, who are the most overrated and underrated players?
SCOTT SACHS
New Orleans has a mix of both. Brandin Cooks and Pierre Thomas have been getting a lot of love, yet Marques Colston and Mark Ingram are afterthoughts. Cooks hasn't even played his first game and he's being drafted immediately after the wide receiver elites. Thomas is relegated to 3rd downs. Colston is the sure thing at wideout and Ingram is No. 1 on the depth chart and will get the goallines. Honorable Mention in the way underrated category goes to AFC North quarterbacks Dalton and Flacco. Andy the Red has A.J. Green and Joey F. has the Smith Brothers and a wily OC in Kubiak. I took both as my backups to Peyton Manning in my auction league Tuesday night for $1 each.
With 2 perfect seasons to his credit, Scott Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text consulting, advice, and opinions. Serving as one of the "Experts" for Fantasy Football Index, was 2011 wire-to-wire winner in Mock Auction Draft League. Also, was named winner of the 2012 Fantasy Football Index Expert's Poll! In 2013 Fantasy Index Leagues, finished No. 2 in Mock Auction, No. 3 in Draft.
ALAN SATTERLEE
One overrated for me is Victor Cruz. People are drafting him with 2011 blinders on – there is no way Cruz is approaching 1,536 receiving yards again. Cruz dropped to 1,092 in 2012 and 998 last year. That trend continues, or at best Cruz approaches around 1,000 yards. I have a 6th round grade on Cruz and I have seen him go in the 3rd round. In terms of underrated, sign me up for QB Russell Wilson. I have Wilson as my #7 QB and he is a deadly wait-on-a-QB option this year. Wilson will continue to improve his passing stats (he has looked tremendous in preseason), he will contribute 500 yards or so on the ground and there's no reason why Wilson can't lead all quarterbacks in rushing TDs (especially if preseason is any indication). I slotted Wilson at QB10 in the Fantasy Index expert rankings back in May (versus a QB15 average) and I am feeling good about that one for sure. Wilson is being drafted several rounds below where he should be going.
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
I keep seeing Bishop Sankey being selected as if he’s the starting running back in Tennessee, and that’s simply not going to happen anytime soon. Shonn Greene is the starter there, and I see no reason that they’ll be changing that in the near future. Sankey hasn’t been particularly impressive, and he’s played almost exclusively with the backups. For underrated, I’ll circle back to my old favorite, Julian Edelman. He’s going to catch about 110 passes. He’s filling that Wes Welker role, and he’s very solidly entrenched there. But for whatever reason, he’s not getting much respect. He should be going in the second rounds of PPR drafts, but he’s consistently lasting until the fifth or sixth.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
Underrated, DeAngelo Williams and Shonn Greene. I am not saying go out and draft them in the 5th round because they are going to be great. Instead I think there is value at where they are going. DeAngelo Williams is the starting RB at CAR. What does that earn him in drafts? RB43 and a spot in the 10th round. I love to draft a starter in the 10th on the odd chance that all of the naysayers are wrong. Personally I have him ranked as a RB 35 (late 8th rounder). Shonn is my 44th ranked RB and instead is being drafted like a RB58 in the 15th. I am willing to take a flyer on him because rookie RBs sometimes disappoint. Bishop Sankey was crowned the starter just after the NFL draft but I have seen nothing to prove that he is the man in TEN. He may well be but RBBC is more like it and there is the chance that Greene starts and plays more this season. For a 14th or 15th round lottery ticket I like Greene. Overrated, Wes Welker. Before his concussion last weekend (3rd in 10 months) I had Welker as my WR21 while others had him at WR15. Now I am dropping him even further in my rankings to WR45 or a 10-11th round pick. Sure he will probably play week 1 but what happens if he has another concussion. He could be out for the year. He is too much risk for not much reward even if he does start the season.
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.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Overrated: Cordarelle Patterson due to the issues he will have with his inconsistent quarterbacks. Underrated: Antonio Gates due to the fact he's still the starter and Ladarius Green is the backup, but being drafted like the starter.
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 via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
BRYAN HOUGH
One player that is being overrated is Brandin Cooks. Sure he plays for a high powered offense and is a dynamic player. Here is the deal, he has looked awesome against 2nd-3rd string defenses and has showed nothing against 1st-string defenses. You have to remember that he is just a rookie. Can he make an impact this year? Sure, but not with a 6th- or 7th-round pick. I would be willing to take him in the 9th-10th round of drafts. One player that is being underrated is Charles Clay. I think people are scared of him not staying healthy and catching passes from Tannehill. Here's the scoop, he has looked awesome in training camp. It is much easier for Tannehill to throw to Clay as a safety net, than it is throwing deep bombs to Wallace. The guy is going in the 11-12 round of drafts. That is highway robbery! If you can get him as your 2nd TE and pair him with a Jordan Reed in a flex league that starts 2 TEs, good things are to come for your team.
Fantasytitan101.com is in its first year. It is a fantasy football advice site ran by Bryan Hough, a High Stakes player, along with his technical guy Tony Lee. The site offers live draft results from High Stake drafts along with draft strategies, matchups and analysis, real-time cheat sheets, late breaking news, live injury updates, start'em/sit'em, sleepers, busts, breakouts, gut-check picks, best waiver wire options, player projections and rankings and much more!
JAMES SELTZER
I have noticed a few trends in the drafts I have participated in. For example, QBs seem to be falling, WRs are going off the board quick, among others. As far as specific players go, I think Bishop Sankey has been significantly overrated so far this draft season. Sankey has been average, at best, in preseason play, and that has been against second and third team guys. And while I am not a big Shonn Greene fan, it is clear that he will be the starting RB at the outset of the season. Could Sankey take over the job and be a stud? Sure. But people are drafting Sankey as if that were a lock to happen, and that is far from the case. As for undervalued guys, the name that jumps out immediately to me is Peyton Manning. It seems that people are waiting and waiting and waiting some more on QB this season, and the result has been Manning going in the second round in a number of drafts I have participated in. This is crazy to me. I am all for waiting on QB's, but Manning has the potential to carry a team to a fantasy title (like he did for many teams last season). Manning, most likely, will not repeat last season's record breaking numbers, but he is still the clear No. 1 QB and needs to be taken in the first round.
James Seltzer is a Writer of NFL content for Rotowire.com. Since 1997, RotoWire.com has been one of the leading fantasy sports resources on the web. Seltzer can be found on Twitter @JamesSeltzer975.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Overrated seems to be anything connected with San Francisco. Their defense, their receivers, Kaepernick....all are going too early. And I think Hyde is going to push Gore, too. Underrated, two running backs leap to mind. Doug Martin is going after injury risks and committee guys, and it appears he will be a full-time back like he was two years ago. And then it's almost laughable how late Shonn Greene is being taken. Not a guy I am targeting, but at some point you have to select a clear starting running back.
Richardson has been a contributor and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts 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.