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 not-so-obvious player will be a star in the fantasy playoffs?
ALAN SATTERLEE
I am not sure if Malcolm Mitchell qualifies as not-so-obvious, but with Rob Gronkowski out Mitchell has really got a lot of playing time and he has produced. Mitchell's full-season pace over his past three games is a would-be season of 91 receptions, 1,184 yards and 16 TDs. A running back could be called into action and lead a team to glory, much like Tim Hightower last year. Injuries will dictate that but a few that could be prominent should the starter for their team get injured would be candidates of Tevin Coleman, Kenneth Farrow, Mike Gillislee, Derrick Henry, Tim Hightower (again) and Alfred Morris.
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.
L.A. HALE
Jeremy Hill is the unquestioned alpha dog in the Cincinnati backfield after Giovani Bernard tore his ACL in Week 11. Sure, Rex Burkhead has assumed the role as the change of pace/3rd-down back, but Hill has seen an increase in his number of snaps since Bernard went down. Hill has only been adequate the last two weeks, but his upcoming schedule should have fantasy owners salivating during the crucial fantasy playoffs stretch run…Week 14 @Cle (31st FP vs RBs), Week 15 vs. Pit (29th FP vs RBs) and Week 16 @Hou (20th FP vs RBs).
Hale is the Founder and President of www.Fantasy Gives, a 501c3 charitable organization that provides financial support to non-profit groups through fantasy sports.
IAN ALLAN
Isaiah Crowell hasn’t done much in awhile, but I think he could be surprisingly good on Sunday against Cincinnati. The Browns were running the ball very well early in the year, with Crowell leading the way, and I believe the Bengals probably have a bottom-5 run defense. Also this Sunday, the Eagles get Ryan Mathews back, and he’ll be running against a Washington defense that’s allowed a league-high 17 rushing touchdowns; I like Mathews. If we’re getting into multiple-week guys, how about Kenny Britt? The Rams host Atlanta this week, and in Week 16 they’ve got San Francisco. Both of those defenses have allowed 26 TD passes. I expect Britt will be a top-20 receiver in at least one of those weeks.
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
Doug Martin. He plays two games against the Saints in the next three weeks. Questions none. Yeah I know he got bent over backwards like a pretzel Sunday but word is he is OK. If you want to buy some insurance pick up Charles Sims who may be activated this week.
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.
DAVID DOREY
Spencer Ware was a running back that often went to a fantasy team that was drafting for speculative players deeper in their drafts and not from the Jamaal Charles owners who very often waited too long. Ware has been solid in most weeks and better at home. He gets a schedule of three straight home games – Raiders, Titans and Broncos. He already posted 163 yards and a score on the Raiders and 96 yards on the Broncos earlier this year in their stadiums.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I will nominate Taylor Gabriel, who's been heavily involved in the offense lately and has a sweet closing schedule: Rams this week, which is just OK, but then 49ers and Panthers the next two weeks. Similarly I'm intrigued by Tyreek Hill, who has a three-game home stand the next three weeks against Oakland, Tennessee and Denver (who he had his best game against).
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.