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 coming back from injury will help fantasy teams down the stretch?
DAVID DOREY
I absolutely think that Sammy Watkins is worth owning for the rest of the way – he already showed up in his “ease back in” game with three catches for 80 yards that included a 62-yard reception. And it is not just that he had a stat line of 60-1,047-9 last year, it is that his remaining schedule is @OAK, PIT, CLE and MIA. That’s very nice right when you need him most.
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
To me, two stand out: Sammy Watkins and Adrian Peterson. Watkins quickly showed his big-play capability last week catching all three targets for 80 yards. Watkins has solid match-ups in the Week 14-16 fantasy playoff slate, all at home, versus Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Miami. Plus at 6-5, Buffalo is still fighting for a playoff spot so that will only aid Watkins' chance of wide receiver one usage. As for Peterson, what can you say other than he's simply unreal in his ability to return from injury. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if AP exploded right out of the gates. Minnesota too is at 6-5 and fighting for a playoff spot. If Peterson can play in Week 15 he could lead teams to the fantasy super bowl with a great match-up at home versus the Colts.
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
Funny that most of these guys were having disappointing seasons even before they got hurt. That kind of year, I guess. But the easy answer to the question is that Watkins will have the biggest impact by far, for two main reasons. First, he's the best player of the bunch; clearly he has a long way to go before his career can begin to compare to Peterson's, but Peterson is running on fumes and the healthy Watkins only began to hit his prime in 2015. And second -- and this cannot be ignored -- his return has already happened. Owners waiting around on Anderson and Abdullah may yet see hiccups that delay their theoretical comebacks until Week 15 ... then Week 16 ... then Week 17, when most fantasy leagues will already have closed for business. But Watkins is on the field right now, out to a giant head start that may only continue to grow.
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
Adrian Peterson supposedly is going to make it back. The Vikings have all kinds of offensive line issues, but if he can make it back and knock off some rust in Week 14, I could see using him in Week 15 — at home against a lesser Colts defense (and Indianapolis could be kind of out of it at that time).
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
I have slowly added Sammy Watkins wherever I can stash him. He played in about 50% of the snaps this week (went 3-80) and I expect bigger and better things for him (especially with Robert Woods faltering health-wise late in the season). My money is on the sure thing; Watkins is playing versus the lottery ticket of some of the running backs who might make it back by Week 15 or 16. Even if AP or C.J. Anderson does make it back for a week 16 appearance, are you really going to trust them with a roster spot their first week back? Not me. Go with Watkins and bet on his improvement in targets and catches.
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
If Sammy Watkins can stay healthy, he will make a very big impact as the primary targets in the Buffalo Bills passing game moving forward.
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
I can't trust Sammy Watkins. I'm relieved my team was able to overcome his third-round selection. Foot issues and wideouts are a bad mix. I'm not sure about Adrian Peterson; he can't do it all himself. But if Matt Asiata can score a touchdown every couple of games, Peterson certainly can. Ameer Abdullah is a possibility; he could help that offense as a runner and perhaps receiver the final few weeks. I think one of those two running backs could be a starter in the fantasy playoffs.
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.