ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What is the main reason people should tune in to watch preseason football games?
JODY SMITH
Staying current on current camp battles can be one of the biggest keys to a winning fantasy football draft strategy. Not all owners are willing to put in the work or hours necessary to research and read daily news. But these eleventh hour, training camp developments are often vital to shaping a team's depth chart and regular season plan. Over the last few years, unheralded players like Victor Cruz, Julius Thomas, Peyton Hillis and Arian Foster have gone from undrafted to immediate fantasy stardom and only the owners who dedicated time to staying abreast of training camp battles benefited by drafting these players onto their rosters. Not all preseason heroes become fantasy contributors, but those that occasionally become relevant are almost always snagged in the late rounds by the owners that put in the work.
Smith the co-owner of Gridironexperts and a member of the FSWA. Jody was named the Most Accurate Fantasy Football Expert by Fantasypros in 2012 and is currently attending Houston Texans training camp.
SAM HENDRICKS
Preseason is all about the positional battles and the sleepers. Who gets time with the first team is what I look for in these games and most of the time it all comes down to the 3rd preseason game. The fourth game is to determine who makes the team, not who starts on the team. Look for key RB roles. Who is the third down back that is relied upon to protect the QB in passing situations. Which WR is connecting with his QB. But buyer beware-make sure the statistics they put up in preseason are measured. Is it against a weak defense? Their second string defense? Did the offensive players have the first string on the field at the time. All of these variables need to be put in perspective. You can gain nuggets of insight but you can also be distracted by detours.
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 25 year fantasy football veteran who 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 is drafting live in the FFPC in Vegas this year. He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
They should watch the positions where battles are truly being waged, and of course for injuries to key players. Just don't take the stats too seriously since this is the preseason.
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.
JUSTIN ELEFF
I swear this is my truest answer: no one should watch preseason games, because Ian Allan and Andy Richardson are doing it for us. I know I sound like a company shill, and I could not possibly care less. Fantasy Index's preseason updates are so thorough that I haven't watched an exhibition game in something like ten years. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, then back to Netflix. Better Ian and Andy than me, for sure; as I write every year, preseason football plays on a loop in hell.
Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.
IAN ALLAN
There will be 64 preseason games this year. Some will be more meaningful than others, but I usually go with about a half dozen things for each game that I want to check. I always like to make note of which guys are playing with the first- and second-team units. For most teams, there’s usually a positional battle, and I’ll always keep a close eye on those guys — it’s often apparent based on these preseason games who’ll be winning out. If the first-unit offense gets near the goal line, it can sometimes provide a hint of what they’ll be doing in that part of the field in the real games. And there’s the unexpected. Every year there will be some lightly regarded players in the preseason who just keep making plays in these practice games, forcing you to re-assess the possibility that they might be a factor in the real 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.
DAVID DOREY
The only real reason to watch preseason games is to see if new players – rookies/second year guys – can show up in the first quarter when the real team (mostly) is out there. There is nothing in the entire second half that has any meaning.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
Well, if you love fantasy football then I would think you are aching to watch some football (preseason or not). In terms of actual fantasy impact, I think there are a ton of reasons to watch the games -- but it all needs to be taken in context. For starters, it's the first time to see rookies on the field. Stats themselves could be meaningless (and often they are), but nonetheless it is valuable to see how players look. Additionally, it is important to see who is starting and what the rotation looks like in terms of third receivers and second and third running backs. You also can find sleepers -- and last year, seeing Thomas Rawls with your own eyes is a perfect example (Rawls ripped off 158 rushing yards on 30 touches in preseason last year and Rawls was the third leading rusher in preseason). Likewise, at receiver, Stefon Diggs splashed with 174 receiving yards (also third most) on 15 receptions last year in preseason. Most strong preseason performances don't carry-over of course, but nonetheless it can help to identify talent and later round sleepers.
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
I don't think there's any substitute for seeing players in action, even in meaningless games. You see a guy has a 20-yard run in the stat sheet, but was it an impressive, jitterbug or bowling people over carry, or was it a great block in front of him? I'm mostly interested in seeing the rookies for the first time. Do they look like they know what's going on, or are they tentative? Melvin Gordon concerned me the first time I saw him carry the ball last preseason. Ameer Abdullah thrilled me. Time will tell which one will be better, but I'd still give the edge to Abdullah.
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.