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 rookie will be best the second half of the season?
JASON WOOD
As you note, this has been a banner year for rookie contributors. C.J. Stroud is not only on his way to Rookie of the Year honors, but he's a legitimate Top-10 fantasy quarterback overall. DeVon Achane was the most explosive running back in the NFL before his IR stint and is returning just in time for Miami to right the ship. Puka Nacua has been a fantasy dynamo right out of the gates. But I choose Sam LaPorta, the Detroit Lions breakout star tight end. The tight end position was thin and top-heavy before Darren Waller went on injured reserve, and Dallas Goedert appears likely to join him. That makes what LaPorta has done (TE4 through nine weeks) even more impressive. For context, LaPorta is on pace for 90+ receptions, 900+ yards, and 9+ touchdowns. If he maintains this pace, he'll overtake Keith Jackson for the second-best rookie tight end season in NFL history (behind Mike Ditka's 1961 marvel).
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 SACHS
C.J. Stroud is certainly at the top of the rookie quarterback list. He showed a lot of his physical, mental and intangible skills in a high-scoring back and forth come-from-behind air war against Baker and the Bucs. He put up huge fantasy numbers, plus he's still growing into the role. A healthy Jahmyr Gibbs is helping to restore the roar in Detroit, leading rookie running backs in high hopes for the second half of the season. Addison and Flowers seem to be rookie receivers looking for more consistent production in the second half, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba has Geno Smith as his quarterback and is just not seeing the targets needed to reach his potential. Detroit's LaPorta still looks like the best of the rookie tight ends.
With 2 perfect seasons and multiple league championships to his credit, Scott 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.
IAN ALLAN
I think it’s still Bijan Robinson. He plays the position that’s the hardest to fill. He’s a talented guy; he’s shown he can do it. And I think he’ll be even better int he second half of the season. Atlanta’s remaining schedule is very favorable. The Falcons have gotten away from using Robinson as a pass catcher the last two weeks, but I expect that will return.
Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index magazine. He is a member of the FSGA’s Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame. He is an avid runner, swimmer and cyclist.
DAVID DOREY
I'd love to say Puka Nacua, but he has slowed down since Cooper Kupp showed up and then Matt Stafford went down. Maybe it is too easy: C.J. Stroud is the real deal and proved it again in Week 9 when he shattered rookie singe-game records. He's brought an entirely higher level to the Texans offense and made them into at least a competitive team, something that is a sharp increase to the bottom-dwelling seasons of the recent past. This has been a surprising rookie class and a reminder of how you just never know.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
DeVon Achane is back in Miami in week 11 after their bye. He returns from a knee injury. He had 527 yards in 4 games and averaged 12 YPC before his injury. He should continue to dominate despite a good initial performance from Raheem Mostert. But Mostert has been slowed recently. Achane will breathe new life into a Miami offence that needs it after their loss to KC this past week. Honorable mention is Sam LaPorta.
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.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Lots of good candidates. Both running backs, Bijan and Jahmyr, seem like candidates. Sam LaPorta, the No. 2 receiver on a Detroit team that should run away with the NFC North, is another good one, and it's nice that his bye is behind him. And it would be nice to have either of the key rookies in Houston's passing game, C.J. Stroud or Tank Dell, with those guys likely to have some big games the rest of the way. But I'll put forward a lesser name in Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell. The team uses a one-two punch at the position, and after Mitchell's big week last week I think he'll be that two ahead of Justice Hill. The Ravens have some credible defenses coming up on the schedule, and I suspect Mitchell will fare better in some of them than Gus Edwards. To be clear, I'm not saying to trade Bijan for Mitchell, that would be crazy. But he's a nice pickup who could have some good games coming up, helping a fantasy team secure some wins down the stretch.
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.