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 player are you most thankful for?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I won't blame anyone who opts for Jonathan Taylor here, but give me Cooper Kupp. Wide receiver is traditionally a high-variance position, but he's been remarkably consistent. Targets, catches, touchdowns, explosive plays, it's all here. Even when Matthew Stafford plays poorly, Kupp routinely finishes with another big game. Unstoppable.
An FSWA award-winning writer (with nominations in four sports) and podcaster, Scott has been with Yahoo Sports since 2008. On the rare occasions when the computer is turned off, he enjoys word games, poker, music, film, game theory, and a variety of condiments. He lives in suburban Detroit.
MIKE NAZAREK
This is an easy one... Cooper Kupp. He's a huge reason for my first ever 9-0 start in the FFPC high stakes main event. He's been the most consistent producer for big fantasy points in 2021. What's not to be thankful for? My Kupp is full!
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 25 years online! His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site, www.ffmastermind.com. 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. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
DAVID DOREY
I would have said Michael Carter, for always giving me a running back that I can fall back on or even start with confidence in some matchups. But... sigh... he too is now hurt and will miss at least two weeks. So I guess I need to go with Jalen Hurts. I got him cheaply in many leagues and he's exceeded my expectations even if his "NFL value" isn't as high. Long as he runs, he doesn't have a bad fantasy game.
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.
IAN ALLAN
In most leagues, I’m one of the first to select a klcker. That position isn’t as important as most of the others, but you need to start one every week. I like to win at that position. This year, I misfired (or got outbid) on some of those early kicker choices, but in a couple of those leagues, I’ve been able to pivot to Nick Folk. And Folk’s having himself quite a year. He’s making his kicks, and the Patriots consistently have been settling for field goals. Through Week 11, he’s been the highest-scoring player at the position.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
If we're being honest, it would be hard for me to name anyone but Cooper Kupp, who I have everywhere and is having a season for ages. But if you asked me a few weeks ago, he'd have been neck and neck with Kyler Murray, who was absolute money up until suffering that ankle injury against Green Bay, putting up big numbers (NFL and fantasy) in almost every week. One more: Tyreek Hill, who hasn't been great every week, but has had a couple where he won the week almost all on his own, which is always great to have on your side.
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.