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 player are you most thankful for this season?
MICHAEL NAZAREK
David Johnson. The guy is automatic. He not only scores most every week, but also is pretty much a lock to total more than 100 yards of offense no matter the opponent! He just keeps on giving, and giving, and giving...Thanks Mr. Johnson, for all you do this season!
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
If I had to pick just one player for me it would be DeMarco Murray. He's been a true difference-maker and stud every-week running back (Murray is on pace for 2,029 yards). Murray is the one player I landed in all my drafts this year year, going wide receiver heavy early and scoring Murray in the 5th round. I have Derrick Henry in every league also as insurance so hopefully Murray/Henry is a lockdown RB1 down stretch as Murray has been through 11 weeks so far.
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.
JUSTIN ELEFF
I have a long happy history with Jimmy Graham, and he's the easy answer to this question in 2016. For one thing I'm just a fan of the guy, and it's great to see him back to being the beast I remember from before 2015. But there's also this: he timed his return to beast mode perfectly. I didn't draft him anywhere; I wound up with Virgil Green alone at tight end on most of my rosters. But when others grew frustrated with J.G. early in the year I plucked him off of waivers in about half of my leagues ... and wound up with the biggest bargain in all of fantasy. So I guess I'm equally thankful for the player and his impulsive original owners. Extra turkey for everyone.
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
I like Mike Evans. I got him in a league at a nice price (one of those situations where I was considering the top 10-15 receivers, looking for the best value, and he was the one of the 15 who was most underpriced). I got him, and he’s ended up consistently outperforming even what I thought he would be worth.
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.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I'm most thankful for Justin Tucker, the Baltimore placekicker. He doesn't have the most points and he's not driving a fantasy title - kickers don't do that. But he never misses, in a world where kickers are getting more skittish by the day. Tucker's only missed one kick inside the 40 for his career, extra-points included. Peace of mind has a value, too. Oh, and I'm finally thankful for all of my Doug Baldwin shares, now that Russell Wilson is starting to get healthy.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
I will give you one from each position: Matt Ryan, Melvin Gordon, Larry Fitzgerald, Jimmy Graham, Adam Vinatieri and MIN defense. All are in the top 5 at their respective positions and were available in the middle of the draft. One or two of these, combined with a reliable stud or two from the early rounds, gives your team a great playoff potential. I have all of them scattered across my fantasy teams. Just wish I had them all on one high stakes team!
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
One is having a frustrating season, and one didn't even play the first three weeks. But for me I'm most thankful for Aaron Rodgers and LeVeon Bell. I started out 0-5 in a league, and Rodgers' smaller numbers and Bell's absence were certainly felt. But they have been absolutely great since then, and I went on to win five of six and score enough points to be one of the four playoff teams in an FFPC league. Thank you guys -- let's keep it going.
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.