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 slow starter will turn things around the rest of the way?
MICHAEL NAZAREK
T.Y. Hilton. Why? His talent will shine through, and they will need him to win most games for the rest of the season.
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 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 nearly $30K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
DAVID DOREY
I like Deebo Samuel to come on strongly for the rest of the season. He's been out - that's really slow - and returned in Week 4. The 49ers have a great passing schedule and a desperate need to get more from the wideouts. Once Garoppolo returns in a week or so, Samuel should resume where he left off in 2019.
Dorey co-founded The Huddle.com in 1997. He's ranked every player and projected every game for the last 23 years and is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. David has appeared on numerous radio, television, newspaper and magazines over the last two decades.
SCOTT SACHS
T.Y. Hilton was supposed to finally break out of his funk in Week 4, but no dice. His targets are down, the Colts defense is really good, and they are a run-first offense to control the clock. But Indy's receiving corps is banged up, so Hilton remains the unchallenged No. 1. Looking ahead, Week 5 brings the horrible Cleveland secondary, plus future games against Cincy, Detroit, and Houston (twice). In fact, of his future opponents, not one has a pass defense currently rated better than 13th. If the Colts want to do more than just contend, they have to have more run/pass balance, so it is essential that Hilton returns to form.
Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering LIVE Talk & Text consulting. He has multiple league championships including 2 perfect seasons. Scott is a past winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll and a 2-time winner of the Experts Auction League.
IAN ALLAN
David Montgomery hasn’t made much of an impact yet this year. And I would be leery of starting him in the Thursday night game (given the way Tampa Bay tends to shut down the run). But I still believe in the player. He’s a good, tough runner, and he should also be consistently involved as a pass catcher. (With Tarik Cohen out for the year, the Bears don’t really have much else at the position). I think we’ll see him trending upwards in the coming weeks.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
Alshon Jeffrey, wide receiver, Philadelphia. I mention the position and team because he has missed the last eight games going back to 2019 so he is pretty far off most fantasy teams' radars. So there is nowhere to go but up. Why do I like him to rebound? He is close to getting back on the field. Real close. Once healthy he makes for a great target for Wentz as the Eagles offensive line collapses and they play from behind. Plus the schedule eases up tremendously in a few weeks so a healthy Jeffrey could be a difference maker.
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 and 2018. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I'm not giving up on Kenyan Drake. In the leagues I have him I made sure to secure Chase Edmonds, but I still believe they can get Drake back to putting up the kind of numbers they did last year. How about a matchup with the reeling, sorry Jets to get him going? I'm also optimistic about Damien Harris. If he plays well the next few weeks I think the Sony Michel era, such as it was, quietly comes to an end in New England.
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.