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: Which rookie wide receiver will have the best career?
ALAN SATTERLEE
At this point, I think you have to go with Michael Thomas and it isn't particularly close. All things being equal, I would prefer the larger receiver and Thomas fits the bill (versus some of the other rookie receivers drafted high like Corey Coleman and Josh Doctson). Coming into rookie dynasty drafts, the near consensus top three rookie receivers back in the spring were Laquon Treadwell, Coleman, and Doctson, with Thomas and Sterling Shepard in the next tier. However, for me a half of a season into their NFL career it's Thomas as the best longer-term rookie receiver in a landslide. Thomas has shown he can be a big-time player at the NFL level, on pace for a ridiculous rookie season of 94 receptions, 1,146 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
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.
DAVID DOREY
Unfortunately, we have a situation not unlike 2015 where many of the rookie wideouts have been injured or unseen for a variety of reasons. Corey Coleman, Will Fuller and Josh Doctson have all had varying injury situations. Landing on poor passing teams have been tough on Fuller and Laquon Treadwell. Sterling Shepard and Tyler Boyd followed up promising preseasons with nearly nothing. The easy answer is Michael Thomas because playing with Drew Brees has already shown his talent but for the long haul, I would still want Corey Coleman. They may eventually figure out the QB spot in Cleveland. He’s a big talent.
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 don’t think there’s a big difference between these guys. Corey Coleman, Josh Doctson, Sterling Shepard and Will Fuller are all very much in the running to finish with the most catches, yards and touchdowns in the first half-dozen years of their careers. I’m assuming Doctson will be starting on opening day next year for Washington. Even Laquon Treadwell could still come on — he caught his first pass last week. But Michael Thomas has shown the most so far. Setting aside Week 1, he’s been more productive than either Brandin Cooks or Willie Snead, which is really saying something. With Fuller and Coleman, you have the issue of them being locked onto teams with quarterbacking problems. So I will go with Thomas No. 1 (not by much).
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
Michael Thomas is my choice. He will play in a throw first system (NO) with a great QB (Brees)-hopefully for years to come. Will Fuller gets an honorable mention. Some of the others with perhaps more talent lack a great QB or play in a run first system which limits their targets.
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
Michael Thomas, no doubt. He's already filling the Marques Colston role better than Colston did for the past few seasons. That is, the big body playmaker role, one of a high-quality receiver that can make the big catches in traffic for scores. He's just what the Saints needed!
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
At the start of the season, it would probably have been Corey Coleman; a month in, Sterling Shepard or Will Fuller. Today it's Michael Thomas, and I'll concede that if I had him in dynasty, I wouldn't trade him for the other guys. But: Corey Coleman has been really good in his limited action, and he could be the No. 1 and go-to guy for Cleveland's passing game for years to come. With Thomas, he'll vie with Brandin Cooks, and who knows what the Saints offense will look like 2 years from now? But I'll say Thomas, with Coleman a really nice fallback candidate. (And a really nice receiving class.)
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.