Fantasy News

January 15, 2016

Fantasy Index Experts Poll

Chris Liss gets addition by subtraction at kicker position

A polite smattering of applause, please, for Chris Liss of Rotowire.com. For the 25th annual running of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll, he’s the winner of the Kicker Category. With a middle-of-the-pack finish in defenses, he’s also now the current leader, with two of the six categories graded.

Sometimes with this style of competition (where everyone getting some kind of credit for each of the 20 players he ranks at each position) it’s not who you pick but who you omit. Liss was one of only two of the 20 experts who decided to not include Shaun Suisham in his top 20. That ended up being his key pick, since Suisham suffered a season-ending injury in the Hall of Fame game.

Liss also benefited from not including Connor Barth in his top 20. All but three of the other analysts ranked Barth in their top 8 (and most of them had him in their top 4). The Broncos decided to go instead with Brandon McManus, leaving Barth out of work for the first month of the season. He ended up being the No. 18 player at this position.

As for the top of the board, Liss’ selections weren’t as good. He didn’t put Stephen Gostkowski in the top spot (like most of the field), and that was a mistake. He instead went with Justin Tucker, Adam Vinatieri and Dan Bailey as his top 3 kickers, and those picks could have been better.

But the bold strokes with Suisham and Barth were enough to lift Liss to the top spot at this position.

We grade these picks, recall, using a complex scoring matrix. Matt Prater, for example, scored 102 points. If you ranked him No. 1, you would have received 2,550 points (25 x 102). If you ranked him No. 2, you would have gotten 2,448 (24 x 102). And so on, down to 612 points if you ranked him 20th (6 x 102).

There’s no perfect way to score this kind of competition, of course, and injuries (like Suisham) play a huge role. But we score it keep it fun. It’s fun (for one analyst, anyway), when the combination of his good selections and some luck with injuries allows him to outperform the other 19 guys.

Kickers scored out this way …

KICKERS (NFL points)
Rk	Player	FG	XP	Pts
1.	Stephen Gostkowski	33	52	151
2.	Graham Gano	30	56	146
3.	Chandler Catanzaro	28	53	137
4.	Blair Walsh	34	33	135
5.	Josh Brown	30	44	134
6.	Cairo Santos	30	39	129
7.	Justin Tucker	33	29	128
8.	Robbie Gould	33	28	127
9.	Steven Hauschka	29	40	127
10.	Brandon McManus	30	35	125
11.	Mike Nugent	23	48	117
12.	Dan Bailey	30	25	115
13.	Dustin Hopkins	25	39	114
14.	Chris Boswell	29	26	113
15.	Jason Myers	26	32	110
16.	Mason Crosby	24	36	108
17.	Adam Vinatieri	25	32	107
18.	Travis Coons	28	22	106
19.	Josh Lambo	26	28	106
20.	Dan Carpenter	23	34	103
21.	Matt Prater	22	36	102
22.	Sebastian Janikowski	21	38	101
23.	Connor Barth	23	25	94
24.	Phil Dawson	24	20	92
25.	Caleb Sturgis	18	35	89
26.	Greg Zuerlein	20	26	86
27.	Nick Novak	18	29	83
28.	Andrew Franks	13	33	72
29.	Ryan Succop	14	29	71
30.	Matt Bryant	14	26	68
31.	Randy Bullock	14	19	61
32.	Kai Forbath	9	33	60
33.	Nick Folk	13	19	58
34.	Shayne Graham	11	8	41
35.	Zach Hocker	9	11	38
36.	Josh Scobee	6	6	24
37.	Kyle Brindza	6	6	24
38.	Randy Bullock	5	3	18
39.	Cody Parkey	3	7	16
40.	Zach Hocker	1	1	4

When you take the actual NFL results and merge them against the rankings, Liss comes out on top.

In the first position we graded, Defenses, the two civilians in the competition, Todd Voorhees and Bryan Hough (reader qualifiers from the Fantasy Index Open) both ranked near the bottom. But they both rebounded, ranking in the top 4.

David Dorey of The Huddle managed to rank 3rd at this position, even after taking a big loss by ranking Connor Barth as his No. 1 kicker. Dorey made up most of his ground, I think, by omitting Dan Carpenter, who had a crappy year.

When we last checked in, Tony Holm of Fantasy Sharks was in 2nd place, but he crashed and burned at this position. He had Barth and Suisham in his top 3, so he finished in last.

But lots of positions and points still to go.

EXPERTS POLL, Kickers
Rk	Expert	Points
1.	Chris Liss	32,700
2.	Todd Voorhees	31,668
3.	David Dorey	31,388
4.	Bryan Hough	31,342
5.	Scott Pianowski	31,333
6.	Scott Sachs	31,240
7.	Pete Owers	31,020
8.	Michael Nazarek	30,933
9.	Sam Hendricks	30,845
10.	Bob Henry	30,708
11.	Paul Charchian	30,701
12.	Jay Harding	30,696
13.	L.A. Hale	30,579
14.	Mike Clay	30,248
15.	Alan Satterlee	30,125
16.	Cory Bonini	29,995
17.	Lenny Pappano	29,947
18.	Micah James	29,941
19.	Mike Nease	28,782
20.	Tony Holm	28,393

For now, Liss is the overall leader, followed by Cory Bonini of USA Today Fantasy Sports. Voorhees is in third. Rounding out the top 5 are the only two analysts who’ve been able to win three of these competitions – Scott Pianowski of Yahoo, and Bob Henry of Footballguys.

EXPERTS POLL, Overall
Rk	Expert	PK	Def	Overall
1.	Chris Liss	1	10	67,123
2.	Cory Bonini	16	1	65,844
3.	Todd Voorhees	2	17	65,792
4.	Scott Pianowski	5	9	65,776
5.	Bob Henry	10	3	65,607
6.	Bryan Hough	4	14	65,562
7.	Sam Hendricks	9	6	65,548
8.	Paul Charchian	11	4	65,511
9.	Michael Nazarek	8	13	65,178
10.	David Dorey	3	19	65,116
11.	Pete Owers	7	18	65,051
12.	Jay Harding	12	12	64,990
13.	Scott Sachs	6	20	64,892
14.	L.A. Hale	13	16	64,758
15.	Lenny Pappano	17	7	64,486
16.	Alan Satterlee	15	11	64,468
17.	Micah James	18	8	64,447
18.	Mike Clay	14	15	64,432
19.	Tony Holm	20	2	63,576
20.	Mike Nease	19	5	63,543

—Ian Allan

Older

Newer

My dad and I have subscribed since I was 10 years old and I am 38 now. We canʼt go a season without it.

Trevor T. Sparks, Nev.

You guys are great - if you look at my account, I believe I have been a subscriber for around 20 years! Unfortunately, a few years ago a couple of other owners found the same publication (they didnʼt get it from me; I always disguised the sheets while at the draft!)

Michael B. St. Charles, Mo.

I have purchased your magazine since my first fantasy football season ever 12 season ago and love the insight you offer. Thank you for the great service, I look forward to many many more years of enjoying your subscription!

Paul L. Mequon, Wisc.

The magazine is exactly the same as last year, which is perfect. Boys, we have a chance to repeat in the 33rd year of the NWFFL. I am counting on you to help pull it off. FI has been a league staple for decades, one of my guys has every edition. A few years ago, we devised a clever way to use one of your lists to draft a team for an absent owner, the sob won it all. We love you guys. Peace!

Glenn S. Olympia, Wash.

Hi, received my copy over the weekend and I think it's the best work you guys have done (I've been reading your publication since 1988). The writing is terrific and full of good humor, along with more substance than anybody else has.

Keep up the great work!

John L. Madison, Wis.

I'm in 3 leagues. All have different formats. I bought one magazine, the same magazine for 30 years. I keep the Fantasy Football Index handy and refer back to your preseason reports throughout the season to help me evaluate roster moves in every format. This week I'm in two championship games and a semifinal. Did I tell you I'm in three leagues? Three playoff teams! Best fantasy season ever. Thank you.

Henry G. Bartlett, Ill.

Thanks for another great season of Fantasy Index, you avoid group-think and form your own opinions, and always have. I've been using your products since 1992, and you've always been a cut above the rest.

Rob D. Wellington, Fla.

Thank you for all you do and what your team does. Been playing since mid 90s and your mag has been there every year. The mailer I get with the questions on the front is what I consider the beginning of the fantasy football season. Get the updates and listen to the podcast. I write a weekly column for the newspaper I work at and always appreciate the work you put in to produce as much as you do. Just a fan saying thanks and will keep up with you and the site through the season.

Jason C. Tulsa, Okla.

A little feedback from a long time customer.

Our fantasy pool is entering its 25^th year and I have used multiple books and on-line tools over the years.

I have locked on to Fantasy Index as my go to for the last 5 years and have won the pool 3 of those years and finished no lower than 4^th.

Interesting to see how much more accurate you were at the end of the year compared to other books my competitors used.

Having it in a format that allows me to work the forecasts to match our scoring system and then receive updates as the season approaches is invaluable. Whoever your sources are for the forecasts are the best. Hang on to them. Thanks for the help!!

Peter M. London, Ontario, Canada

I did receive the updated draft ranking from you guys in plenty of time for my draft that night. My draft report gave me an A+ and predicted me to go 14-0 and win my league! I just want to say thank you for the excellent customer service that your company provided me. When I first started playing fantasy football more than 15 years ago, I used to buy as many fantasy football magazines as I could find. It wasnʼt long before I only purchased Fantasy Football Index each year. It is by far the most comprehensive, well written fantasy football magazine on the market. Also, I almost always rank in the top three in my fantasy football leagues, and won my league last year. Thank you to you and all of your great team. You have a customer for life!

Trey C. Fort Worth, Texas

Thank you for all the updates etc. In the last 14 or 15 years, we have placed in the top three 9 times winning it all 4 times. I have been a customer of yours for many years. Our success is partially due to luck, but I think your magazine with all of the good stuff has been a real contributing factor. Keep up the good work. Will be a customer until the time I can't read anymore.

Richard M. Imperial, Neb.

I just wanted to send everyone at Fantasy Football Index an apology. Since 2003 (Ricky Williams cover), I've protected my source of information and have gone out of my way to hide Fantasy Football Index from my leagues prying eyes. I've won championships in leagues and money playing Daily Fantasy and your Training Camp updates are the highlight of my summer and a recurring order for me every single season. I just wanted to Thank You and everyone there (customer service, the writers, janitors, secretaries and assistants) for your hard work and dedication.

You are appreciated and valued part of my Fantasy Football Operations department even if i never speak your name in fear that others in my league will discover the wondrous bounty of knowledge contained in your pages…

From the bottom of a champion's heart,

Dave M. Elma, N.Y.

I wanted to send a quick note and thank you for your great magazine! The information you provide, has allowed me to win my league 3 years in a row!

The payoff in the league is not bad, six hundred dollars to be exact, but it is those all important bragging rights that really make it fun!

I epically enjoyed this last issue because you included all the covers for the past 30 years, I did not buy 87, and 88, but all the rest I have purchased.

All I have to do is read and then plug and play, thanks again for doing all the work so I don't have to, except for cash the check of course! Lol.

I will be continue to purchase your magazine, and recommend it to others, although I don't like to give away my secret!

I typically don't write emails to magazines, but after 3 wins in a row, and others which I did not list, I felt like you would like to know.

Thanks again to you and your staff,

Darrell W. Holt, Mich.

I wanted to let you know I finished my season going 16-0 winning my league, breaking every record in our 19 year history along the way. A special thank you to FI for the insightful knowledge as it provided me much help along the way.

Ryan M. Lynnwood, Wash.

You guys do a great job. I got laughed at by a few people at the draft but they're not laughing now. I'm leading the league in record (8-1) and PF thus far.

John W. Aylett, Va.

And a side note… we've got a re-draft 16-team, 20 players drafted league (drafting water boys by the 17^th round) that I've won 2 years in a row. Nobody's ever done that in 21 years… using your cheat sheet. it's an old school league that used to draft out of piles of magazines.

Thanks again,

Todd S. Grand Junction, Colo.

This is my ninth year competing with my two very savey adult children and their 11 regulars to make it a 14 team draft with a $200 bid limit. Your SuperFanatic package has put me into the 6 team play- offs 4 out of the 8 years and there is no way I could compete with these guys without my cheat sheets! They still have no idea how I can be so lucky every year :-) Cheaters do prosper!!!!

Robert A.

I wanted to thank you for such an amazing product and your customer service. I ordered the wrong date for my update and called to correct the mistake. Your customer service person was very kind, helpful and took care of the issue immediately.

I have used your product for the past 18 years or so… Every now and then I will be tempted and look at what other magazines have to offer, quickly realizing no one comes close.

In addition to the magazine, I started buying the weekly updates years ago when my dad taught me a lesson. The draft came and dad was sitting in the 12 hole for his pick. He told me he felt very comfortable about who he was going to select but would not tell me who his prized gem was to be. I was doubtful. The pick? Priest Holmes (his first dynamite year). I remember telling my dad, "that is a decent pick but they plan to pull him at the goal line." Ever the teacher, dad explained he had purchased the Fantasy Football Index update and read Holmes would get the goal line carries. "Update?", I asked. That was 2002 and Holmes had 21 rushing TDs and Dad won the title! Lesson learned.

By the way, I have made the title game for the last 5 years in a row. Thanks for the detailed, hard work and an great product!

David R. Queen Creek, Ariz.

Fantasy Index

Customer Service

Fantasy News

Fantasy Index Experts Poll

Today's Trivia

Mailbag

Spring Training Cheat Sheets

Member updates

Follow

Why Choose Fantasy Index?

Quick hits

Your Stuff

In-Depth

Resources

All Products

Help & Support

Fantasy Index

Customer Service

Customer Service