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: Which training camp battle interests you the most?
JAY HARDING
Although both the Jets and Bills QB battles are very intriguing to me, the answer to your question has to be the running back situation in Cowboys camp, right? McFadden has the storied injury history, however last year he actually played in all 16 games, but his numbers don’t reflect true RB 1 status at 2 touchdowns and 534 yards. Surely, with Murray now in Philly those numbers will increase, but then again the question is, will the injury bug hit again with the added workload? Mr. Randle has done next to nothing each time he has been given an opportunity, including last year in his only double-digit carry game when he only managed a measly 37 yards in 13 attempts, I'm not convinced he's the answer. The current wild card is Lance Dunbar out of the University of North Texas, I’ve read that he compares to Shane Vereen, if true that’s a pretty good comparison, no? He is on my late-round watch list, but thus far in every draft there have always been a more proven commodity that I liked better. Lastly, I’m probably not alone in saying that it won’t surprise me in the least if other candidates are signed even at this late hour. My eyes and ears are fixated for sure.
Harding, owner of The Fantasy Football Firm has been playing and winning fantasy football since 1987. The Firm specializes in helping fantasy owners win in three key post-draft areas. Senior Partners at The Firm get all three publications: “Effective Team Management”, “Waiver Wire Wisdom” and “The Trade Maker” a combined 57 pages packed with sound, proven and effective strategies focused solely on helping partners win their league championships and to do so more consistently than ever before. On Twitter: @UDONTWINONDDAY.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
The Texans starting QB job will come down to Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett. That winner has a chance to make a significant fantasy impact during the 2015 season. DeAndre Hopkins owners should be very interested indeed!
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.
IAN ALLAN
I want to take a look at the tight ends in New Orleans. They won’t have a Jimmy Graham type guy in there, but as well as they throw the ball around, I think there’s a good chance they’ll have a top-10 player at that position. Josh Hill was their No. 2 tight end last year, and Sean Payton has mentioned multiple times that he thinks Hill has a lot of upside. He (Hill, not Payton) caught 70 passes in his final season at Idaho State. They’ve also got Ben Watson, and he’s got a lot more experience. He’s 34, and he’s a former first-round pick. Watson supposedly got more work than Hill with the first-team offense at the final offseason workouts. I will be interested to see how these tight ends are utilized in the preseason games.
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.
JOSHUA SIMMONS
Cleveland's depth chart at running back interests me, with training camp now in full swing. Incumbent starter Isaiah Crowell showed real talent in his rookie campaign, but by no means is guaranteed a heavy workload. Rookie Duke Johnson is struggling through a hamstring injury, but figures to add another dimension with his receiving skills. Terrance West and Shaun Draughn are in the picture, as well. Bottom line: whoever gets touches will benefit from a healthier, retooled but already rock-solid offensive line.
Simmons has been a contributor for FantasySharks.com since 2007. His responsibilities include dynasty rankings, weekly projections-driven content and staff representation in various leagues.
SAM HENDRICKS
Obviously who takes over for Arian Foster while he is out with his injury is huge. Alfred Blue seems to be the man unless the Texans bring in a vet like Steve Jackson, Pierre Thomas or Ray Rice. Chris Johnson would be a hoot as he spent quite a few games running over Houston as a Titan. Chris Polk lingers in the background too, but I think Blue wins out in time. Other interesting RB battles include AZ, ATL, CLE, DAL, DET, STL, TB and TEN. That list seems long and it is. Ultimately the best battle may be QB in PHI as Mark Sanchez attempts to demote the often injured but traded for Sam Bradford. The winner there inherits a Chip Kelly offense that promises big numbers for the arm behind it.
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 in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I think an obvious one coming into camp was confirming who the Dallas starting running back would be given the upside with that offensive line, but this seems like a no-brainer as Joseph Randle to me. I have some interest to see how rookie Dorial Green-Beckham will do after a year off of playing football and whether he can unseat Justin Hunter and Hakeem Nicks for playing time. The Jets' backfield is also a little intriguing. I assume Chris Ivory starts and Bilal Powell will be the 3rd down back, but if that the case, what are Stevan Ridley and Zac Stacy’s roles, two players that were on the fantasy radar not that long ago. For a deep look, I am going to watch the back-up running back situation in Seattle (as whoever starts for that team is an attractive fantasy candidate). Robert Turbin would seem to be the obvious choice but in three NFL seasons he has never had a rushing touchdown. Can deep-sleeper Thomas Rawls potentially push Turbin and Christine Michael?
Satterlee is a co-owner and senior writer for Dynasty Football Warehouse. DFW is comprehensive site covering dynasty, redraft, IDP and Daily formats. DFW has a large writing crew with many people from the DFW community contributing to the insights and discussion. Alan is also the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast.
SCOTT SACHS
Continuing the trend of recent years, the RB & RBBC talent pool has the least amount of depth when compared to QBs & WRs. Many teams have adopted the RBBC approach due to emphasis on passing and lack of premier talent at the RB position. Injuries are starting to pile up early in camp, too. Therefore, figuring out starter/change-of-pace/3rd down/goal line roles is important to pay attention to, especially Dallas, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Houston (Ray Rice destination?), Tennessee, NYG, Atlanta, and Detroit. All are going to be very interesting to monitor, but since I have to pick one, I'm going with the 4-deep RB dogfight of Ivory, Ridley, Stacy, Powell for the QB-challenged J-E-T-S, who are going to have to play D and run the ball to win games.
With two perfect seasons to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Consulting & Advice. He was the 2011 winner of Fantasy Index's Experts Auction league, as well as the winner of the 2012 Experts Poll. In 2013, he finished 2nd in the Auction and 3rd in the Draft league; in 2014, 3rd in the Auction league.
DAVID DOREY
The camp battle that intrigues me most is between Devonta Freeman who has already proven he is not starter material and Tevin Coleman who could be. The offense should be formidable again this year and give opportunity to any running back. Coleman strained a hamstring in camp and is currently sitting out but I am still very interested in him.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
There are plenty, but I'm most interested in the wide-open running back situation in Cleveland. With that receiving corps it's clear that passing the ball is not going to be a big part of the offense, and they will lean on the running back. Unfortunately there's a strong chance the starter will change multiple times during the season, but if one guy emerges in the preseason, he could be a real value in drafts -- a mid-round pick who runs for some 1,200 yards. Dallas (obviously) and Atlanta also interest me for their running back battles.
Richardson has been a contributing writer 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.