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: What surprised you most in Week 1? Will it continue?

JODY SMITH

Miami looked totally out of whack and the body language looked like a team on the brink. Considering Mike McDaniel was the odds-on favorite to be the first coach fired, it shouldn’t come as a shock. Still, with key early-round fantasy options in the roster, I expected the Dolphins to show up in a favorable matchup.

Smith is an analyst and writer at Draft Sharks who is known for compiling some of fantasy football’s most accurate rankings. He has over 15 years of experience in the industry, which includes a stint on the sidelines covering the Houston Texans.

IAN ALLAN

I was confident Jacksonville's running game would be improved, given Liam Coen's work in Tampa Bay (along with a choice matchup against Carolina). But I didn't envision Travis Etienne running for 143 yards in his opener. I have been bouncing around on that backfield for months, wondering whether the best back would Etienne, Tank Bigsby or Bhayshul Tuten. It's looking like mostly Etienne for the foreseeable future. I don't know that he'll have another game over 140 yards, but he's looking like a reliable every-week starter.

Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He is a member of the FSGA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.

KEN HOLIZNA

Week 1’s biggest surprise for me has to be Aaron Rodgers. It was a pleasant surprise as a lifelong Steelers fan, but I will not be fooled by this mirage. Aaron was under pressure all day, he had to roll out to buy a little time. He took too many hits and had to rely on his athleticism way too much. Putting a 41-year-old QB behind that offensive line for an entire season is not a recipe for success. Aaron still has the football IQ and arm strength, but his physical ability is limited by his age and recuperation time. What does all of this mean? At best Coach Tomlin will still not have a losing season, although it strongly looks like another one and done in the playoffs if Aaron is still able to walk by the end of the season. Enjoy watching this first ballot hall of fame candidate for as long as he can stay upright.

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

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Everyone expects the Detroit offense to regress this year, but nobody could have expected the no-show that happened in Green Bay. I'm admittedly nervous about new offensive coordinator John Morton, but there's too much talent for this ship not to get back on course, at least somewhat. I'm still going to proceed as if this is a top 10 unit.

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.

MIKE NAZAREK

The fact that Los Angeles Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh took the reins off QB Justin Herbert and used the passing game as the primary offensive attack to beat the Chiefs. It worked and I think there is a good chance the Chargers will continue with that philosophy in most games moving forward.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc, celebrating 30 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 $40K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

JASON WOOD

Broadly speaking, offenses were terrible. I believe all but one NFL under bet hit this week. Specifically, the most painful was the Cincinnati Bengals anemic passing attack, which surely hurt anyone who latched their success onto the backs of Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, or Tee Higgins. We've seen this many times before and offenses will round into shape quickly. I also have no reason to worry about the Bengals outside of their offensive line, which to be fair has been an ongoing concern during much of this current era.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

So many surprises, most notably the offenses that struggled. While some it was not hard to see coming, or at least there were hints of trouble in Miami and slow starts from Cincinnati, I did not anticipate the Lions offense putting up such a clunker. I realize that Ben Johnson is gone and that was a really good Packers defense, I just didn't think it would be that bad. Can they bounce back? The Bears may also give them problems this week. There won't be duds all the time, but I'm nervous about Detroit going forward. More positively, props to Justin Fields, who I've ripped plenty in the past. I'm not sure he can do it all year, but he should at least be a viable starter in fantasy leagues.

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.