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 star so far looks like a trick the rest of the way?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
I'm still worried the Alvin Kamara production could collapse. He's on pace to lead the NFL in touches, which isn't sustainable for a running back of his size and age. And most things around Kamara are crumbling, with injuries all over the New Orleans offense. If you have good running back depth, open the entire page to your opponent and see if they land on Kamara.
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.
JASON WOOD
I'll give you two for the price of one, as both James Cook and Chuba Hubbard are top-20 fantasy backs unlikely to help teams win down the stretch. Most scouts viewed Cook as a complementary player entering the league, but circumstances led to him having a lead role last year, and he looked good, to his credit. But he's been unable to match last year's heroics on a team that's fully committed to the ground attack, and now rookie Ray Davis has been taking on a larger role and looks up to the task. Chuba Hubbard has performed well but he, too, faces pressure from a rookie as Jonathon Brooks looms. The Panthers have absolutely no incentive to keep Hubbard in a lead role since they have draft capital (second round) tied up in Brooks, who profiles as a game-breaking every down threat when healthy.
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.
IAN ALLAN
D’Andre Swift has put up at least 119 combined yards and a touchdown in three straight games, but I expect he’ll be falling off quickly. They’ve been playing an easy schedule (with those games against the Rams, Panthers and Jaguars). As Chicago’s schedule gets harder, I don’t think anybody will care much about D’Andre Swift.
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. Since that time, he’s written and edited most of the content published in the magazines, newsletters and at www.fantasyindex.com. Allan is a member of the FSGA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
DAVID DOREY
Count me out on Tank Bigsby. He had two big games versus the visiting Colts and the visiting Patriots (in London) who both had one of the worst run defenses while Travis Etienne has been banged up. At Chicago in Week 6, he was limited to only 24 yards on seven carries while Etienne had just three runs due to injury. This week versus GB is not too bad, but to follow are these teams with their defensive rankings versus running backs: @PHI (5), MIN (6), @DET (4), bye, HOU (7), @TEN (8). That's a gauntlet that won't allow him to look like the next great running back.
Dorey co-founded The Huddle.com in 1997. He's ranked every player and projected every game for the last 26 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
I hate to say it, because I have a ton of respect for how Baker Mayfield has turned around his career in Tampa Bay. I am actually interested in acquiring him in dynasty, because of what he's done since joining the Bucs. He's a legit starter and a legit fantasy starter who's been great this season. But with Chris Godwin on IR and Mike Evans down the next month, I don't see it continuing. The team will have to be running it more, and I just don't think they'll be able to sustain the passing production. I'm concerned that Mayfield won't be nearly as good the second half of the season as he's been thus far.
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 writes a weekly gambling newsletter, Index Bets, during the NFL season and also previews all the games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays.