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: At the halfway point of the season, who is the fantasy MVP?
MICHAEL NAZAREK
It's very clear that David Johnson has been the most consistent and dominating fantasy force on the field this season. His low game in PPR leagues has been 16, and he's scored nearly 25 more points than any other running back in the league, averaging a gaudy 24.2 points per game! Most shockingly of all, he's scored nearly 30 points more than the top wide receiver (A.J. Green) in PPR leagues!
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.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I still don't think Melvin Gordon is anything special as a football player, but the Chargers are giving him all the snaps, all the playing time, and all the cheap scoring opportunities he can handle. With Danny Woodhead out of the mix, there's no one to get in Gordon's way. When you consider return on investment, raw points, and draft cost, Gordon is the biggest difference-maker that I see through the opening two months.
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.
DAVID DOREY
David Johnson is the Fantasy MVP and there should be no question. He has delivered every week and never once had a bad game. He leads all running backs in fantasy points – for a position that has otherwise had a tremendous amount of injuries and year-to-year shifting. He’s never had fewer than 100 total yards and already has eight touchdowns. It’s the consistent, high production that delivers fantasy champions.
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.
IAN ALLAN
I’ll go with Melvin Gordon. There have been four running backs who have been really good, including David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott and DeMarco Murray. But back on draft day, Gordon came a lot cheaper than those guys.
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.
JUSTIN ELEFF
Honorable mention now that he may disappear from all leaderboards to Spencer Ware, who was available very late in every draft and auction I had and wound up on all of my teams. But the real MVP is David Johnson, that rare top pick who has done exactly what he was supposed to (and, hey, is also on almost all of my teams). Leads the league in touches and yards, second to LeGarrette Blount in rushing TDs, and meanwhile a lot of teams spent their first picks on Todd Gurley or Adrian Peterson. Fast and steady wins the race.
Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I don't think he will necessarily finish this way, but at the half way point I would have to go with DeMarco Murray. You can make a case for a number of players -- Ezekiel Elliott, Matt Ryan, surely others -- but Murray has been the second best running back, consistent, and he was much cheaper than Elliott in terms of his draft ADP. I like Murray to remain strong (maybe 80-85 percent levels relative to the first half) as Derrick Henry should see more touches given his tremendous talent and not to wear Murray out too much.
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. He is also the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast.
ANDY RICHARDSON
David Johnson, who has those who selected Odell Beckham Jr. or Todd Gurley instead of him kicking themselves. Ezekiel Elliott has worked out nicely for those who gambled on the rookie. Certainly DeMarco Murray, based on how late he was available in most drafts, or maybe Spencer Ware. A lot of good candidates this year. I think Johnson, who singlehandedly won me a couple of matchups with that Monday game against the Jets, deserves the nod.
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.