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: With six teams on bye, what nobody -- available on waivers in many leagues -- will be somebody in Week 10?
ALAN SATTERLEE
This is a week where you can probably find a wide receiver on the waiver wire that can plug in and assist. The most obvious candidate is likely Rams’ Josh Reynolds who will be thrust into a starting role with Brandin Cooks out. Likewise, Atlanta’s Russell Gage will now have a more prominent role and like with the with Rams, the Falcons run a lot of three-receiver sets. I also am willing to add in a bid on Arizona’s Andy Isabella who showed his big-play ability and second-round pedigree last week. If you are in a pinch you could take a flyer in what should be a shoot-out matchup with the Buccaneers this week.
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.
JUSTIN ELEFF
Working off of the assumption that Patrick Mahomes will be back, I'm interested in pretty much any receiver on either team in the KC-TEN game. Demarcus Robinson has bounced back off of rosters in some of your leagues after a nearly invisible October; Mahomes hit him twice in the first 16 minutes of the game in Denver before leaving with his injury, and there's every reason to believe a rising tide would lift D-Rob along with everyone else. On the other side, Ryan Tannehill has been playing well (enough) (ish), and teams that face Mahomes are often under tremendous pressure to score points, especially in the second half, especially by passing. So any of the Titans guys -- down to Adam Humphries for sure -- could see an uptick on Sunday.
Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.
SAM HENDRICKS
Chester Rogers should get more balls thrown his way as T.Y. Hilton and Parris Campbell are out. This combined with the Colts opponent, the Dolphins, could provide him with opportunities. Of course Zach Pascal is in the same position so they may be fighting for touches. Another long shot is Bilal Powell. Sure LeVeon Bell is fine after his MRI....hmmmmm I have my doubts as they added a RB this week from their practice squad (Josh Adams), Ty Montgomery is banged-up, and I have yet to see Bell practice after proclamations that his knee is not a major problem. So I will believe Bell is fine when I see him declared active on Sunday morning. Until then Powell is a sneaky hedge 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 won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
IAN ALLAN
I think Mike Gesicki might be coming on. He caught all 6 passes thrown his way last week, for 95 yards, and he went for 41 and 51 yards in two of his three previous games. He’s a pass-catching tight end, and I think the Dolphins might be starting to use him more — especially with Preston Williams now sidelined for the season. Gesicki is officially a tight end, but he’s more like a wide receiver — he’s tall and lean, and when he’s on the field, it’s to catch passes rather than block. Ryan Fitzpatrick is starting for them, and I like his playing style; he’s a quarterback who’s willing to put the ball up, giving his pass catchers chances to make plays.
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He and fellow journalism student Bruce Taylor launched the first newsstand fantasy football magazine as a class project at the University of Washington. For more than three decades, Allan has written and edited most of the content published in the magazines, newsletters and at www.fantasyindex.com. An exhaustive researcher, he may be the only person in the country who has watched at least some of every preseason football game played since the early 1990s. Allan is a member of the FSTA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
MICHAEL NEASE
There are players out there available that can help us. With Brandin Cooks expected to be out multiple weeks with a concussion, Josh Reynolds becomes a viable option. After hardly playing all season, he had a 3-73-1 stat line and was targeted eight times in Week 8, with Cooks not in the lineup. If you need a longshot, Atlanta wideout Russell Gage, while replacing Mohamed Sanu, had a 7-58-0 game with 9 targets with Matt Schaub at quarterback in the last game.
Nease is a member of the FSWA and has been playing the game since 1985, while also writing about it since 2001. He is a writer for Big Guy Fantasy Sports. Over the years he has sampled about all the playing scenarios that fantasy football offers, including re-drafter, keeper, dynasty, auction, IDP and salary cap leagues. You can contact Mike at mnease23@yahoo.com anytime and during the football season follow him @mike-insights.
SCOTT SACHS
Mason Rudolph and Kyle Allen would be my quarterback choices. For wide receivers, Ted Ginn could put up a couple of long-distance TDs against the disappointing Falcons.
Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering LIVE Talk & Text consulting. He has multiple league championships including two perfect seasons. Sachs is a past winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll and a 2-time winner of the Experts Auction League.
DAVID DOREY
I’d consider Mike Gesicki of the Dolphins for sure. He comes off a 6-catch, 95-yard effort against the Jets and three of his last four games were over 40 yards. He’s in a nice spot for better stats the rest of the way since the Dolphins just lost Preston Williams and need viable receivers. The Dolphins are never going to have the luxury (or ability) to run the ball much and Fitzpatrick is a capable quarterback in need of good hands near him. Gesicki is a rare tight end that should be better in the second half of the season.
Dorey has been dealing out all the rankings and projections for The Huddle since 1997 and wrote up a preview of every game for the last 21 years. His specialty is schedule strength and he’s been in countless magazines, podcasts, and radio shows. He is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
Unless Chris Herndon has the practice of the year on Friday, I'll be using Ryan Griffin in a few leagues. Griffin very quietly has three touchdowns (and a two-point catch) in the last four games, and for any secondary tight end, we're just looking for a lucky play around the goal line -- that's the Darren Fells principle. Griffin also has 10 catches in the last two weeks. I wish Herndon were around to be New York's featured tight end, but in Week 10, with so many teams on bye, beggars can't be choosers.
Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for over 20 years and writing about it for 18. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Looks like Evan Engram is going to miss time, so I could see Rhett Ellison having a nice game against a Jets defense that's pretty much struggled all along. I also picked up Chester Rogers, who's scored 2 TDs this season -- both in games T.Y. Hilton missed, as he will this week.
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.