Ask the Experts

October 15, 2015

Which creaky veteran will help teams most the rest of the way?

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 creaky old veteran will help fantasy teams most the rest of the way?

SAM HENDRICKS

Carolina RB Jonathan Stewart has not exactly set the league on fire (220 rushing yards, 3.7 YPC and 5-22 receiving) and his injury history has returned. So I am going out on a limb here but …. (drum roll) if he can stay healthy and the Panthers defense starts to take over. When Cam Newton controls the game we could see a resurgent Stewart make some noise. It may be a question of quantity (lots of carries) not necessarily quality. He will not get many TDs unless they are from outside the 10 yard line, but yardage could propel him to mid RB status if he gets hot.

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.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

I still think QB Peyton Manning will get it going again at some point, although the huge games from a few years ago are likely long gone.

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.

JOSHUA SIMMONS

So this may seem like a cheat but at the ripe old age of 30, Calvin Johnson makes for an excellent buy-low and figures to play well down the stretch. He isn't gaining separation to the degree fans have grown accustomed, but his long speed is still there. Two major obstacles to Calvin's fantasy production, five weeks in, have been the quality of defenses Detroit faced and Matthew Stafford's uneven play. I don't know about Stafford correcting the problems inherent to his game anytime soon but from a schedule standpoint, the Lions have an easier upcoming slate -- beginning at home this week versus Chicago. Believe me, this team is going to make more of a concerted effort to get its finest playmaker the football.

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

I picked up Andre Johnson off waivers before last Thursday's two touchdown game and he us a player who I think will be more valuable than he has been (Johnson was sent to the waiver wire in many leagues after two straight games without a catch). He isn't going to necessarily set the world on fire but Johnson isn't completely dead. The issue is Indianapolis needs to settle in on better offensive line protections and simply settle into a better rhythm, With a few weeks to recover hopefully Andrew Luck will be ready to roll in a huge game this week against the Patriots where they will need Johnson and others to step up. The Colts were the 3rd best offense last year but are down roughly 20 percent this year to 334.8 yards per game as just the 23rd best offense -- the Colts aren't that bad, they will improve and Johnson will settle more into a reasonable flex with some WR3 match-ups.

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

Take it from me, another creaky veteran, if Peyton Manning doesn't light it up against the depleted Cleveland defense this week, grab your wallet and buy yourself a new Brock Osweiler jersey. Honorable mention goes to DeSean Jackson, who should add some stretch and spark to balance out Washington's run-heavy offense.

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

Have to like Andre Johnson who started out cold, then disappeared and finally roared back to life back in Houston last week. Success breed success and while he was largely written out of the game plans in Weeks 3 and 4, he had 10 and 7 targets the first two weeks and finally seven more against the Texans. The Colts offense struggled but is coming together better and the return of Andrew Luck can only help. Johnson’s not going to return as a top ten player by any stretch, but he should make for a serviceable WR3 or flex play from here on out.

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

I'll vote for an Atlanta receiver, but not Roddy White. Jacob Tamme has been a big part of the passing game around an early-season concussion. I think that will continue to be the case with Julio Jones a little banged up and Roddy White creaky and old. Especially in PPR leagues, Tamme should be pretty good for as long as he can remain on the field.

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.

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