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 was the first-half fantasy MVP? Who will be the second?

JASON WOOD

Halfway through the season is always a good moment to reflect on preseason assumptions and realize they're irrelevant. What's happened this year is far more predictive of the second half than what players did in prior seasons. To be the fantasy MVP, you not only have to produce high-level starter numbers, but the player also had to come inexpensively. As always, there is a litany of surprising heroes worthy of consideration. Zach Ertz (TE3), Taysom Hill (TE5), and Tyler Conklin (TE7) have been saviors in an abysmal tight end year for anyone who passed on Kelce and Andrews. Tyler Lockett is a top-10 receiver after he fell out of the top 30 in ADP because of fears about the quarterback situation. Rhamondre Stevenson is a top-10 back that came at a mid-round price. But my choice for first-half MVP has to be Geno Smith. The journeyman had enough career playing time for us to be sure he wasn't capable of high-level fantasy value. Yet, halfway through the year Smith is QB7 with nearly identical fantasy points as Kyler Murray. For those who waited to draft quarterbacks, Smith carried the baton.

The second-half MVP is going to be either Travis Etienne or Tony Pollard. If I was sure Jerry Jones wouldn't force Ezekiel Elliott back into the lineup, Pollard would be the easy choice. This week he looked like an All-Pro, and the Cowboys' offense hummed. Rational coaching would argue Pollard should remain the workhorse and Elliott take a back seat. But since Jones loves Elliott, I'll throw my hat in the ring for Etienne, who is healthy and thriving as the centerpiece of the Jaguars' offense.

Wood is Senior Editor at Footballguys.com and has been with the company since its start in 2000. For more than 20 years, Footballguys has provided rankings, projections, and analysis to help fantasy managers dominate their leagues.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

I don’t see a decisive MVP through eight weeks; several plausible candidates are on the board. I’ll choose Nick Chubb, who has provided upside and floor at fantasy’s most challenging position, but I could have easily opted for Austin Ekeler, or Josh Jacobs (especially considering his summer ADP), or even Josh Allen (given the shockingly poor quarterback play around the league, star QBs matter more than ever). Going forward, Christian McCaffrey is capable of dominating fantasy again, tied to a strong offensive infrastructure and a creative head coach. New team, new number, same old CMC.

Pianowski has been with Yahoo Sports since 2008, covering a variety of sports. 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. Pianowski was inducted into the FSWA Hall of Fame in 2021.

SAM HENDRICKS

Normally the MVP nod goes to a quarterback. If so Josh Allen. The Bills' quarterback is outscoring other top players at the position by 5 points each week. But not so fast as he was drafted much higher, too. I am naming Austin Ekeler as my MVP so far. (And technically we are not at the midpoint of the season due to bye weeks and the 17-game season but I digress.) Ekeler is leading all of the top running backs by 4 or more points per game. The Chargers seem determined to use him consistently. As for the rest of the season, James Robinson recently traded to the Jets. Robinson is not flashy by any means but he can be the stud New York lost when Breece Hall went down for the season. Plus he is a free agent next year so motivation is there. Not to mention the Jets fantasy playoff schedule.

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 30-year fantasy football veteran who participated 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.

SCOTT SACHS

Against my preseason apprehension, Saquon Barkley has been the comeback player and MVP so far this year. I remain concerned about his durability going forward that they will overuse him, but he has been money. In the second half, Buffalo's Josh Allen has the rest of the AFC East on his remaining schedule, plus the reeling Lions on Thanksgiving, so the Bills look ready to boat-race their way into the playoffs.

With 2 perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, featuring LIVE Talk & Text Advice. He is a 3-time Winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Auction League, as well as a previous Winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll.

DAVID DOREY

The Fantasy MVP so far is Travis Kelce. In a position that offers almost no consistency and rare performances that make any difference, Kelce is a stud that has never had a bad game and more than half the time is maybe your highest scoring player for the week. He's a difference maker in the extreme and there is no way he can be replicated by streaming or mixing or matching.

For the rest of the season? I'd expect that Derrick Henry will guide fantasy owners into their playoffs. He's back to being the beast, he is healthy, and he has the lightest rushing schedule of any running back.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

So far, I think it's been Saquon Barkley. In a league I drew the first pick, I took Jonathan Taylor at 1.01 and was fortunate enough to get Barkley at 2.12. No need to explain how that's worked out. It might also be Barkley the second half of the year, but that was some game by Christian McCaffrey last week. On a winning team and with a creative coach drawing up plays, I can see McCaffrey having a lot of big games the second half of the season.

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.