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 will be the MVP of the fantasy playoffs?
SAM HENDRICKS
Christian McCaffrey. Running backs are at a premium and a stud, work horse, pass-catching back like McCaffrey is golden. He is the best in the NFL and head and shoulders above the other runners out there for the fantasy playoffs. He would be my first draft pick if drafting now for the playoff run.
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.
DAVID DOREY
It may sound like a cop out, but Lamar Jackson. His next three games are at Buffalo, versus the Jets and at Cleveland. He's obviously white-hot right now anyway but the beauty of Jackson and the Ravens is that their offense is weather-proof. Rain, snow, wind -- it doesn't matter when they are running on 60 percent or more of their plays. The slippery field against the No. 1 defense on Sunday had him run for 101 yards and a touchdown plus pass for 105 and another score. The worse the weather, the better he can be.
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.
IAN ALLAN
I’m expecting nice things from the Bucs passing game. They’re at Detroit in Week 15. They’re at home against Houston in Week 16. Both of those defenses have had problems against the pass. I would think Jameis Winston, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans will put up some big numbers in those games.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I’ll start with the New England Patriots’ defense. While slow of late, big picture they are on pace to have the greatest fantasy season ever. In Week 15, they get a soft Bengals’ matchup on the road and could feast, then they are at home against Buffalo in Week 16 in two late-season games that should count. Among skill-position players, my vote is Saquon Barkley to be fantasy playoff MVP (assuming you made it to the playoffs with him). Barkley has exceptional matchups against Miami and Washington in Weeks 15-16. I’ll also mention Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins who look likely to deliver the goods in the fantasy playoffs with great matchups against the Titans and then Buccaneers in Weeks 15 and 16.
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.
MICHAEL NEASE
In Week 13, hopefully not something that will repeat in the playoffs, many key players let us down: Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas and Mike Evans, to name just a few. For those of us reaching the playoffs, that sort of news does not inspire confidence. Obviously Lamar Jackson and a handful of top players can be expected to excel. What has to happen to win it all is to have a secondary player step forward and be the difference-maker. I look for Leonard Fournette and Derrick Henry to be the sort of players that can win championships for us. Expectations for them are somewhat tempered, but they basically have been consistent, with the ability to rise to high scores in any given week.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
How about Deshaun Watson. He made me a believer with his stellar game against a tough Patriots pass defense. He gets Denver this week, which isn't ideal, but then in Weeks 15 and 16 he has a huge game against Tennessee and a matchup with one of the league's worst pass defenses in Tampa Bay. I expect Watson to put up big numbers in both of those games.
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.