Ask the Experts

September 04, 2014

Who will be the MVP of the fantasy season?

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: Who will be the MVP of the fantasy season?

ALAN SATTERLEE

That's tough to answer as you could go who will score the most points, or who will be the greatest value and impact on teams if taken a little later in the draft. All that said, I will go with my No. 1 wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. With no Eric Decker on the team, and Wes Welker suspended and iffy to even play 12 games, I think Thomas will be super busy - to go along with his tremendous talent and situation catching passes from Peyton Manning. Thomas has the chance for an anomaly season this year - much like Marvin Harrison had with Peyton Manning in 2002 when Harrison caught an unreal 143 passes that year.

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

Unfortunately at the QB position it is hard to break through the top 3 (Peyton, Aaron and Drew); likewise at TE the ceiling is pretty high with Jimmy Graham and a rejuvenated Gronk, so it will have to be a RB or WR that surpasses his average draft position enough to earn Fantasy MVP honors. I am going out on a limb here but Arian Foster seems like a great candidate IF he stays healthy in Houston and they get any kind of QB play out of either Fitzpatrick or a backup. His ADP (25th overall) is wacko (and for some good reasons) but way too low in my opinion. At WR either Andre Johnson or Jordy Nelson (19th overall) could be top 5 WRs that propel their owners to a championship. Johnson would be the biggest climber with his 35th overall ADP. And if I go with my heart Andre Ellington (RB AZ) would be my choice because I think he has the potential to explode this year and is a steal in the mid 3rd round of most drafts.

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

I'll go with RB Eddie Lacy as a surprise pick. He leads the league in rushing and leads the Packers to the Super Bowl.

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.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Russell Wilson was a game manager for two years, a guy along for the ride on a deep team. This year, they'll finally let him steer the ship -- the reins are coming off. If Percy Harvin plays most of the year (no sure thing), Wilson can be a Top 5 fantasy quarterback. Given what he costs today, that earns him my MVP. (If you want the answer to be based on best player, no cost considered, I'll side with Shady McCoy.)

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.

JAMES SELTZER

This all depends on how you interpret the term "Fantasy MVP". I believe LeSean McCoy will be the best player in fantasy this season. I think year two in the Chip Kelly system will yield even better results than year one for Shady. As a result of that, he will be the Fantasy MVP. However, if you want to interpret "Fantasy MVP" as a guy whose value far exceeds their draft slot, and thus ends up being more "valuable" to your team than a first round pick, then I will go with Shane Vereen. With Ridley on the outs in New England, Vereen has the opportunity to seize the lion's share of the running back workload for the Pats. Add in Vereen's pass catching ability, and I believe Vereen could be a guy going later than he should in drafts, who could end up being a top tier running back, and more importantly, someone who helps win fantasy titles.

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.

SCOTT SACHS

No need to over-think this question. It will be the Top 3 QBs by a mile. If Peyton Manning stays upright, he'll be on top. Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers will be runner-up and honorable mention. Health is the key here for Manning, not competition. The Sheriff should put up similar stats as last year as Denver plows through the AFC like a fat boy through French fries.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I think it will be whichever one of Giovani Bernard or Andre Ellington becomes the season's breakout running back. Both players are being drafted between picks 15 and 30 in most of my drafts, a little higher in PPR. If you select one of these players, you're counting on a quality starter. If one of them goes bust -- gets hurts or ends up in a committee -- you're in trouble, but if they break out, you have a top-10 RB at a bargain. A week ago I took Bernard; this week I took Ellington. I'm feeling better about the Ellington pick right now. He could be the guy who helps a lot of teams into the fantasy playoffs.

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.

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