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 player have you drafted or do you expect to draft on every team?
SAM HENDRICKS
I have a man crush on Nelson Agholor. The Eagles' first-round draft pick is No. 2 on the depth chart. He is behind Jordan Matthews, who will stay inside at the slot position, but Nelson should also excel in the Chip Kelly spread offense in the outside position. Think deep balls. I project him to have 65 catches, 1000 yards and 8 TDs--one every other game. Like I said, man crush. Those numbers make him a top 25 PPR wide receiver and he is going in most drafts at WR30. I am taking him a round ahead of his ADP (so grab him in the 6th) and betting on a big year and a championship!
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.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I have a lot of Jeremy Maclin shares, the classic market-overcorrection discount. Everyone knows the Chiefs didn't have any wide receiver touchdowns last year, but I blame that as much on Dwayne Bowe and Donnie Avery as anything else. Maclin shouldn't keep all of his 2014 stats, of course, but Andy Reid deserves the benefit of the doubt (and he has history with Maclin). I love Maclin as a third or fourth receiver, and I think he has an outstanding chance to settle in as a steady WR2. "Regression!" should never be the end of the conversation - it's the beginning of one.
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.
L'ROY ANTHONY HALE
There are actually two players I am targeting in every draft, Ryan Tannehill and Eli Manning. In multiple drafts I have been able to pick up both quarterbacks in rounds 8 and 9. They will be the key to my teams this year; holding off on QBs early and stockpiling RBs and WRs in the first 7 rounds. Tannehill and Manning both ended 2014 on a strong note and appear to be in an even better situation this year. I like the chances of one or both of the players finishing as a top-10 QB in 2015.
Hale is the founder of the Fantasy Maxam family of websites, Fantasy Gives, Fantasy First and Fantasy Football for Females, a charitable organization that utilizes fantasy sports to support non-profit groups. For the first time ever, Fantasy Gives will turn fantasy football in to a national fundraiser where participants can win thousands of dollars in weekly prizes while supporting their favorite charity.
JAY HARDING
I’m drafting my 12th and final team right now and so far I own Sam Bradford in 7 leagues, followed by Eddie Lacy in 4 and Adrian Peterson in 3. To see why I like Bradford so much check the archives from Ask The Experts two weeks ago, it’s right there in all its glory! Simply put though, the potential upside in that offense for Sam is stratospheric, especially in light of where you can draft him at, currently in a 12-team league his ADP is 11.6 on MyFantasyLeague.com.
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.
IAN ALLAN
Roddy White. He’s been flying under the radar, hardly playing in the preseason and then sidelined with an elbow surgery. And he’s an older guy who’s slowing down. But he can still play. He knows what he’s doing, and he can be successful with that quarterback. I think he’s still got a chance to be a top-20 wide receiver, and he tends to come up earlier on my draft boards than with anybody I’ve been playing with.
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.
SCOTT SACHS
The Cleveland Browns didn't seem to need a running back in the draft, yet they plucked The U's Duke Johnson in round 3. The Browns will play defense and run the ball in 2015, so Johnson will add pass catching and homerun capability to the Browns backfield--both missing in the team's 2nd half tumble last year. Duke-J was to be, at minimum, the 3rd down guy at the beginning of camp, but his hammie and subsequent concussion last week in Tampa have temporarily knocked him off the track. I know I'm a Browns "Homer", however, any back that can catch the ball, split out, play the slot, return kicks, and be a legitimate threat to score anytime he touches the ball gives me confidence to predict that he will emerge eventually to be the Browns No. 1 RB this season.
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.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Eli Manning in the 8-11 round area as my fantasy starter at quarterback. I always wait to draft a top-12 guy, and he's falling to me all over the place this summer. He'll produce top-10 numbers, and comes at a great value.
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.
DAVID DOREY
Breshad Perriman will be on almost every one of my teams. Granted he is out with a sprained PCL and may not be back in time for week one. But he comes very cheaply – after week 12 or deeper. And the 1.26 pick by the Ravens has talent no one has really seen yet in the NFL. With new OC Marc Trestman you can be sure there will be plenty of passing and the Ravens only have the aged and soon-to-retire Steve Smith and a host of no name wideouts to use. He won’t start out on fire but he just may end the season that way.
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.
JOSHUA SIMMONS
I keep ending up with Teddy Bridgewater on a lot of my teams. I entered fantasy draft season with 16 quarterbacks in mind that I would feel comfortable plucking from, in keeping with my usual late round approach. I suppose my competitors have their list whittled down to less than that, but at any rate, Teddy is always the one left unscathed. He's been a popular QB2 target for me in superflex formats.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
For me, it is a set of receivers that I will have consistently in nearly every league. The first is Julio Jones (although you may want to not put all your eggs in the same basket to avoid a major injury taking down all your teams). I think Julio is the No. 1 receiver this year and he is my target pretty much anywhere from 1.04-on in drafts. The second is Brandin Cooks who is my 2nd round target. The next is Amari Cooper in the 4th round. Cooper is a lock to be an elite receiver in the NFL and it starts right out of the gate. Lastly at receiver, I intend to score Martavius Bryant at now reduced prices in every draft. At quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater is a favorite target of mine at the appropriate draft price. At running back, there are three I will spotlight. The first is Chris Ivory who is way mis-priced if he falls to the 7th round. At a cheaper price, Danny Woodhead to me is a fantastic utility player to add this year. I will also mention Khiry Robinson who I will get at the end of all drafts. Robinson is one injury to either Mark Ingram or C.J. Spiller from playing time, and he will be effective when or if that happens (and when don’t those two miss time).
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Branden Oliver. I know some figure Melvin Gordon is the main runner and Danny Woodhead is the third-down back. But let's see if Gordon can pick up his game enough to stay in that role, and if Woodhead can stay healthy. With Oliver as the backup to both players, and maybe more explosive than either, I think it's possible he'll have a role early, and likely he'll have a good-sized role eventually.
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.