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 nobody will be somebody in Week 17?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
The setup isn’t perfect for Gus Edwards — Pittsburgh’s defense is a staunch challenge — but I’m excited to see what he can do in an expanded role. The Ravens don’t need the game, which means most of their primary skill guys will sit. Edwards carries a shiny 5.2 YPC for the season, and has the highest percentage of positive runs on the year; he’s a bowling ball, difficult to tackle. Volume should be his friend Sunday, and at least one touchdown is likely.
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.
ALAN SATTERLEE
I play in a long-time total points league and we go through Week 17. I am firing up Washington’s Steven Sims. He’s had 28 targets over the past three weeks and has looked exceptional, connecting on three touchdowns the past two games and Sims even got two rushing attempts last week. This should be a good game and Sims should be a great dart throw and he should be busy again out of the slot and surprising with his tremendous speed. Go pick up Sims if he’s sitting on waivers in dynasty leagues.
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
With Baltimore resting starters this week, we get a chance to see if Gus Edwards can fill the starting running back role like he did in 2018, his rookie season. Over the last seven weeks in 2018 he averaged almost 12 points/game. So far in 2019 he has been a capable RB2 complementing Mark Ingram. Edwards will be called upon to provide rushing yards, with neither Jackson, nor Ingram playing. If you are playing in Week 17 and need a running back, Edwards would be a solid choice.
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.
IAN ALLAN
I kind of like the way N’Keal Harry is coming on. The Patriots put him in the starting lineup two weeks ago, and he’s beginning to find a role in the offense. He passes the eyeball test. He’s scored a couple of touchdowns on short throws around the goal line and had another touchdown in that area nullified by a bad spot by an official. They’re giving him the ball on end-arounds with some success — 4 carries for 40 yards in the last two games. I don’t know that we can grade him out as a fantasy starter, but certainly a guy I’m looking at.
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.
SCOTT SACHS
I was thinking that the Ravens might be resting most of their regulars this week. It looks like that will indeed be the case, and RGlll will be taken out of mothballs to start at quarterback. While Lamar and his friends watch from the sidelines, this will be RGIII's playoff game and I'm sure he's going to doing all he can to impress. They may have their subs playing, but no way Baltimore lays down against arch-rival Pittsburgh.
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
Maybe not a complete nobody, but have to really like Latavius Murray playing in Carolina. The Saints have reason to win, so they will play in earnest but shouldn't have much trouble with the 5-10 Panthers that have lost their last seven games. Murray already accounted for 64 yards and a touchdown in Week 12 in their first meeting. Alvin Kamara finally went off last week and scored, but the Saints should handle the Panthers without too much trouble. Drew Brees is a bit gimpy and doesn't need to throw more than necessary. Kamara will play but once the game is in hand, there is no reason to expose him to possible injury. The Panthers sport the No. 31 defense against running backs and it looks like a tasty matchup for Murray to run out the clock.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
I do not know if he is considered a nobody but Dallas Goedert, the Eagles other tight end (not named Zach Ertz) seems like a good choice this week. Ertz is banged up and even if he does play he will be more of a decoy. Goedert has big potential as PHI plays NYG with a win giving them the Divison and a playoff spot. Goedert looked to be the go-to-guy last week and this should carry over to Week 17.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
He's not a nobody, but if Latavius Murray happens to be available, run don't walk to pick him up. I think he'll get a larger-than-usual share of the workload this week against a godawful Carolina run defense. As for nobodies, at least in fantasy terms, I'd consider Baltimore's Justice Hill. Gus Edwards will start, but Hill might play about as much and will be much more involved as a receiver. Same game, I expect Hayden Hurst to play the Mark Andrews role in the offense.
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.