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 modest performer to this point will be a treat the rest of the way?
SAM HENDRICKS
Darnell Mooney. He is not that sexy and depends on your definition of modest but he has 36 receptions and 500 yards in 8 games to go along with his 4 TDs. Now 13 catches, 191 yards and 3 of those TDs came versus TB which will not happen again this season. But Mooney has had 5 or more targets in the last 7 games and that should continue and grow as he seems to be creating a rapport with Kurt Cousins. He does have his bye in week 12 but I see him with an improvement of 44 receptions, 600 yards and 4 additional TDs in his last 9 games. That would be a delightful treat (80/1100/8) and take some teams into the fantasy playoffs and Championship.
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
"Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes" is one of my go-to phrases, but how else can you describe the Cleveland Browns after last week's stunning victory over a legit Super Bowl contender? Jameis Winston had an AFC offensive player of the week performance with over 300 yards and 3 TDs. He's definitely worth adding to a fantasy roster, along with super sophomore receiver Cedric Tillman and (gasp!) Jerry Jeudy. David Njoku scored, too, and he should see an uptick in targets, plus even the previously buried Elijah Moore may now be worth a deep stash. A revitalized passing game will help Nick Chubb a lot, too, as he continues to round into form. Winston's opportunity at the expense of the oft-injured and ineffective Deshaun Watson is reminiscent of last season, when Joe Flacco came off his couch to lead the Browns to the playoffs after Watson went down with (another) season ending injury. Deja vu in Indianapolis as Flacco Fever has infected Colts fans everywhere, with Richardson being benched. Get Flacco in your lineup as Indy has some great offensive skill players and a talented o-line.
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.
MIKE NAZAREK
As long as Tua Tagovailoa is healthy, Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane will SMASH for fantasy the rest of the season!
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 29 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 website, 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 $36K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
JASON WOOD
Following Sunday’s "Tight End Day," it’s fitting that I respond to the question with a list of tight ends. Two weeks ago, alarm bells were ringing at the position, as Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Kyle Pitts, Dalton Kincaid, and Sam LaPorta were all falling short of preseason projections and expectations. Flash forward, and their outlooks have brightened considerably—I’d argue that they’re all very likely to be top-8 options for the rest of the season, provided they stay healthy. But my actual answer to your question is T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson has missed the entire season so far while rehabbing from last year's injury, but he should be activated for Week 9, and the Vikings have the second-easiest remaining schedule for fantasy tight end scoring. With Jordan Addison making social media waves about his role, expect Hockenson to immediately step back into the No. 2 target share behind Justin Jefferson.
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
I think the Rams are going to be playing good offense the rest of the way. Matthew Stafford may have dropped off rosters in some leagues; I think he’ll be good for some starts. And I don’t think Joshua Karty is even rostered in the vast majority of leagues. I would see him being a top-5 kicker in the second half of the season.
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.
KEN HOLIZNA
There are a ton of candidates that have under and moderately performed this season. A lot more that have underperformed. This week’s question is who has moderately performed, so I narrowed my expansive list to a player that has been ok, but I think his situation has drastically changed. It is David Njoku of the Browns. Deshaun Watson was abysmal, near the bottom in just about every QB metric. We saw this week what Njoku can do when he is healthy and has a QB that can get him the ball. With Flacco at QB and Cooper gone he will get plenty of targets and Tillman’s continued emergence should keep double coverage off of him.
Holizna is a 29-year fantasy football enthusiast and founder of Faith-Family-Fantasy Football in 2019, a family-friendly, faith-based, G-rated fantasy football platform. Rankings contributor to the 2023 Fantasy Index magazine. Find him on Twitter @holihandicapper
DAVID DOREY
George Pickens is just the No. 29 fantasy wideout but has taken on a return to his previously productive ways with Russell Wilson under center at the Steelers. He broke 1,100 yards and five scores last year while playing with Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph. Justin Fields couldn't establish the needed connection with him but Wilson has already shown he knows where to look first, and he won't take off on a run instead. Best yet, the Steelers enjoy one of the softest remaining schedule for wide receivers, with only Week 17 versus the Chiefs as an opponent with a top defense and four more visits with Bottom-10 secondaries.
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
It's hard not to feel good about the Steelers passing game, primarily George Pickens. The Justin Fields story was nice, but he's simply not the passer that Russell Wilson, even at his advanced age and slow-footed current status, still is. Wilson and Pickens had two near-misses on touchdowns against the Giants, and the remaining schedule features the Ravens' bottom-ranked pass defense twice, the Bengals (also twice, although one is in Week 18), and the Browns (also nothing special defending the pass). Pickens should be more like the better version of himself with Wilson at quarterback.
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.