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 early-season star will disappoint the rest of the season?
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Atlanta Falcons RB Devonta Freeman will be forced back into a timeshare when RB Tevin Coleman is healthy, so fantasy owners better SELL HIGH on Freeman now if they need a boost at QB, WR, or TE moving forward.
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.
JAY HARDING
Travis Benjamin. The schedule for the Browns is about to take an uphill climb from the early likes of Oakland and Tennessee. Yes he did catch 3 for 89 and a TD against the Jets in week 1 but look at the next 7 games before their bye week. At San Diego and Baltimore, then Denver comes to town followed by a trip to St Louis, then Arizona visits Cleveland followed by trips to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. They do get San Fran at home a few weeks after the bye but they also travel to Kansas City and Seattle. And before I forget, the Browns QB situation is unpredictable or to use a Colin Cowherd cliche it's “A dumpster fire!” I like what Mr. Benjamin is doing but I honestly don’t see him finishing in the top 5 of fantasy WRs where he currently sits at No. 4.
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
I’m not there yet with Andy Dalton. He’s playing well, and they’re scoring points, but I don’t think he looks dramatically different than he has in previous years. When they start running into some more difficult defenses, I imagine he’ll start making some of the same head-scratching decisions that have plagued him the last few years. I don’t believe he’ll be a top-10 quarterback going forward.
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
Okay so admittedly I'm plucking some low lying fruit, here, but Rishard Matthews is currently the 10th best wide receiver for fantasy -- slightly lower in PPR formats. Rishard's numbers will soon level off, not necessarily due to talent but because the Dolphins are horrid. Poor blocking up front, ineffective play on the part of their running backs, inconsistency from Ryan Tannehill, you name it. On top of all that, snaps have been pretty widely distributed among Matthews and three of his teammates, alongside mainstay Jarvis Landry. The opportunity for Matthews just isn't sustainable.
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
Steve Smith would seem to be a good option to answer this question. Like last year Smith has started off absolutely on fire but the reality is Smith if a 36-year-old receiver and it just isn't reasonable to expect this type of production to continue -- it didn't last year. Smith opened up as the number four receiver overall last year but the reality is he wasn't even a strong WR3 after that finishing as WR37 from Week 5 on last year. Smith will have more difficult match-ups and his targets the last two weeks have been ridiculous (and unsustainable) -- Smith has had 33 targets the last two weeks. I wouldn't give Smith away and he isn't going to fall off the map -- and he will want to finish his career strong in his final season (although he has a high injury probability remember too) -- but we have seen Smith's best 3-game stretch this season in my opinion.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
Devonta Freeman is my favorite for selling high this week. Coming off a career game (141 rushing yards, 3 TDs and 5-52 receiving) versus the Cowboys, he will be desired and hyped to the ceiling. However, his rushing was not that impressive prior to week 3. Sure Tevin Coleman is out for a few games so Freeman has a clear start and a favorable schedule (HOU, WAS, @NO, @TEN), but Coleman will be back sooner rather than later and in the mean time Matt Ryan could light it up more to favorite Julio Jones then handing off to Devonta. He could disappoint those who recently jumped on the bandwagon.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are off to a nice start, but look who they've played. Jacksonville, Houston, New Orleans and now Tampa Bay; not much heavy lifting in that schedule. In the next month (Seattle, Philly, Green Bay and even Indy with Vontae Davis), this team's lack of a legit wide receiving corps is going to catch up with it, and everything will be tougher on the offense.
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.