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: What young player on an also-ran team will help fantasy owners in the second half of the season?
MICAH JAMES
I'll go ahead and throw the towel in on the New York Giants and call them an also-ran at this point... The guy who will be huge throughout the remainder of this fantasy season is Odell Beckham, Jr. With Victor Cruz out a lot of analysts (myself included) expected to see Rueben Randle step up and become the WR1 in New York -- problem is that Randle isn't very good and Beckham is a blossoming stud. Hopefully you grabbed him on waivers when Cruz got hurt because OBJ is going to be a weekly starter from this point forward.
James, the Fantasy Football MagicMan, currently hosts the weekly FFToolbox Fantasy Football Radio Show. In 2012, the FFMagicMan won the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s Preseason Accuracy Rankings Challenge, and followed that performance with a Runner-Up finish in 2013. James posts his in-season rankings on the FantasyPros Experts’ rankings every week, and you can find his latest musings at ffmagicman.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FFMagicMan.
IAN ALLAN
A couple of young runners come to mind. I think the Falcons probably will turn to Devonta Freeman at some point, and I think the Bucs will work Charles Sims into their backfield. Of the two, Freeman interests me more. He had a couple of violent, tackle-busting runs in the preseason, and he’s already proven himself to be surprisingly good in the passing game. I’ll be surprised if it’s not Freeman rather than Steven Jackson who’s starting for Atlanta in last December.
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.
JAMES SELTZER
Odell Beckham Jr. I think we all saw what the kid can do, as the rookie receiver was outstanding -- 8 receptions, 156 yards receiving -- in Monday night's loss to the Colts. Beckham clearly has ridiculous hands, as the video of his pregame one-handed catching routine proved, and is an athletic freak. With Victor Cruz out for the season, and the Giants sitting at 3-5, expect Odell Beckham Jr. to become a major piece in this New York offense over the last two months of the season.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
Charles Sims was brought in to be the Tampa Bay version of Matt Forte. He's a big back who is an exceptional pass catcher - he will instantly be one of the best in the NFL at his position. Whoever is starting at QB in Tampa in any given week needs an outlet BAD. It will take a few weeks to get Sims fully worked in as the starter, but I see nothing standing in his way. Sims also will have “fresh legs” for the second-half of the season. He’s my lock for the question this week.
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.
DAVID DOREY
I am loving both Martavis Bryant with the Steelers and Jarvis Landry with the Dolphins as both players start to emerge as legitimate #2 threats for their teams. Bryant has become a scoring machine during this short surrealistic scoring frenzy by Ben Roethlisberger and the Dolphins are emerging as a very good passing offense finally with Ryan Tannehill taking the proverbial next step.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
First let's narrow the field with our also-ran list. From the AFC: NYJ, TEN, JAX and OAK. The NFC list is a little smaller with just ATL and TB with six or more losses. Now we are looking for a "young player"; Charles Sims is my first choice. The third round RB from West Virginia will get his first start with TB this week. He forms a time share with Bobby Rainey while banged up and disappointing Doug Martin slips into the back up role. Sims will be running behind a poor OL and may not get as many carries as Rainey initially, but I grabbed him in most of my leagues last week in anticipation of a big second half. I think he compares well with Matt Forte as he catches well out of the backfield (great hands) and finds holes where there are none. He will be the starter for your fantasy playoffs.
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've been grabbing Devonta Freeman everywhere, because I see him getting a lot of work for the Falcons in the season's final month. I think that Tre Mason is another guy who the Rams will commit to as a lead guy the rest of the way -- Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham didn't get it done. Mason has tough matchups the next two weeks (Arizona and Denver), but after that his schedule looks pretty favorable.
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.