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: Who has impressed you most this preseason?
JUSTIN ELEFF
The universal opinion coming into (and out of) the draft was that Patrick Mahomes II had great tools but was going to take time to develop. The latter part is still true, of course -- in assessing the preseason we sometimes lose sight of just how watered-down the schemes are on both sides of the ball -- but Mahomes seems to have the respect of his huddle, and one tool in particular jumps off the screen: dude is flat-out great at using his legs to extend plays. Ideally that skill would match up with a giant tight end who could find open spots in the end zone and a couple of slippery wide receivers, and whaddaya know; Travis Kelce is 6'5", Tyreek Hill is the fastest player in recent memory, and WR2 Chris Conley seems to have picked up a trick or two over the offseason. Big things coming (eventually) in Kansas City.
Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.
DAVID DOREY
Truly surprising to me is Alvin Kamara with the Saints. It was already a RBBC with Adrian Peterson and Mark Ingram so it was easy to ignore Kamara. He’s been electric in camp and preseason games and has earned a role in that backfield as a third down, change-of-pace back. He’s just looked too good not to use.
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.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Lions rookie wideout Kenny Golladay scored twice in the first preseason game, so I want to see more of him with the starters in preseason Week 3. He's got great upside at the position.
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 newly re-designed 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. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
IAN ALLAN
His first two years have been marred by injuries and fumbles, but Ameer Abdullah is really fast and quick. Looks like 1994 Barry Sanders — makes people miss and has the speed to get around the corner. He’s going to make some big plays. He’ll be Detroit’s main runner, and while they’ve got Theo Riddick there to catch passes, Abdullah will be a factor in the passing game. He’s in a committee situation and won’t punch in any 1-yard touchdowns at the goal line, but I like Abdullah.
Allan is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. A co-founder of Fantasy Football Index in 1987, he generates most of the writing, 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
Christian McCaffrey is the first one I'd draft, though I don't like the particular fit in Carolina. But McCaffrey looked like a special player at Stanford and it's carried to his first pro camp. He probably won't need a lot of touches to make an impact, and he can run inside as well as outside. As for a longshot special, receiver Cooper Kupp has the technical ability and football IQ to make an immediate impact with the Rams. And I'm reevaluating that entire team -- especially Todd Gurley -- now that the incompetence of Jeff Fisher and Co. has been swept away.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I mentioned Christian McCaffrey in an earlier question on who I was most interested to see, and I'll mention him here again. It's only preseason but he sure does look ready for prime-time after averaging 6.6 yards per carry and 19.5 yards per catch on two receptions. He's on my (late) 2nd-round board. Another player that has really impressed has been D'Onta Foreman, who also has produced big stats (albeit again in preseason, and against backups). Still, Foreman is quickly moving up my board as a sleeper in the middle/late rounds. Lamar Miller is obviously entrenched as the starter but after dipping to 4.0 yards per carry last year (on 268 rushing attempts), versus his 4.6 average coming into the year, maybe the Texans' coaching staff will realize that Miller is best served not being overused. Foreman came in after Alfred Blue and Tyler Ervin, but those two sure don't have the pedigree or talent to keep Foreman off the field for long (nor would either of them start if Miller were to go down). Let's not forget that Foreman is the 2016 Doak Walker Award winner for a reason and with his tremendous size, he could definitely be a vulture in the red zone in short order. Given what we've seen, I bet Bill O'Brien coaches him up quickly to help in 2017 with a definite role in the offense.
Satterlee is the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast. Satterlee first started playing fantasy football in 1990.
SCOTT SACHS
I was hoping the Browns would slow-play 20-year-old DeShone Kizer this season. His all too brief up/down career at Notre Dame would seem to indicate he has a steep learning curve, despite him having AFC North physicality -- big, strong, mobile. Having Brock Osweiler open as the starter (or even Cody Kessler) to get Cleveland through the first month or so against the Steelers, Ravens, etc. makes better sense to me than throwing Kizer out there Week 1. However, Kizer has been must-see football when he has played, progressing on the depth chart from No. 3 to 2, and now to 1 for the third preseason dress rehearsal game. To be clear, you have to play D-Kizer eventually this year to see what you have. Isn't it a better confidence builder to have Kizer's 1st NFL start be after the first month or after the bye week? Bottom line though is that Kizer has impressed everyone with his rapid progress, and if he shows anything at all this Saturday night vs. the Bucs, he will indeed be out there against Pittsburgh Week 1.
With two perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He won the 2011 and 2016 Experts Auction League and also the 2012 Fantasy Index Experts Poll.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I can't pick one, two players stand out. The first, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is Jared Goff. I had pretty much written him off after last season, but he was very impressive against the Raiders last weekend, looking like he knew what he was doing running an offense for the first time since college. I guess offensive coaching really does matter, since Sean McVay seems to have got him on the right track. Not that I'm drafting Goff, but I feel much better about Todd Gurley and the various wideouts. Second is Marlon Mack, who I though was a revelation in his limited carries for the Colts last week. It's looking like a lost season already for Indianapolis, but Mack looks like he'll be a foundation runner for that offense. Can't believe I let him slip to the third round of my rookie draft back in May, trading out of a pick where I could have selected him.
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.