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 players have changed your opinion the most this postseason?
JASON WOOD
Jayden Daniels has shown a poise and confidence that belies his age. We all know he's been a fantasy star all season, but the way he's handling the media and crucial playoff moments are things you can't teach, and -- in my opinion -- set him up for elite performance for years to come. We learned last year with C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love that young quarterbacks can reach a certain level, but it doesn't mean they'll be elite. I think what we've seen from Daniels sets him apart.
I'll also mention Jared Goff. With Ben Johnson leaving the Lions, I doubt Goff will ever match this year's regular-season heroics. He's not going to become a bad quarterback by any stretch, but I think his playoff flameout is indicative of the risks he'll have when he has a lesser play-caller and feels compelled to play hero ball.
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
How about The Ohio State University WRs (& RBs, too), plus Will Howard showing some "poise in the noise"? Buckeyes continue to churn out NFL and Fantasy worthy talent. As far as NFL, Cooper Kupp was having a really productive year, but fell off a cliff after Week 14, tanking throughout the Fantasy playoffs--and NFL playoffs, too. On the up side, Dyami Brown has caught 11 of 13 targets with a TD so far, helping Washington to advance.
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
Before the start of the playoffs, I was operating under the assumption Sam Darnold would be a starting quarterback in Week 1 of the 2025 season. Now, I’m not so sure. He came up awfully small in his final two games, unable to generate much of anything against the Lions and Rams. The Detroit game looks even worse in hindsight, with Jayden Daniels picking apart that same defense. Amari Cooper has also come up remarkably small. On a team that’s scored 58 points in two games, he’s caught 2 passes for 8 yards. Eight players on his own team have more receiving yards.
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
One player that exceeded all of my expectations this season and postseason was Kyren Williams. He did nothing as a rookie, then had an encouraging second year but missed four games due to injury and was dinged in others. So the Rams drafted Blake Corum as the 3rd running back taken as a fall-back. But that did not happen either, and it was Corum who was injured with a broken arm while Williams only missed one game and operated as a very healthy workhorse for the entire season. Sorry Blake.
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.
SAM HENDRICKS
I hate to say this as I am a Vikings Homer, but Minnesota. They are/were a paper tiger not worthy of their 14-3 record. And add Sam Darnold to the list. He played fine when ahead but once he fell behind he collapsed. Held the ball way too long and just turned into a poor QB his final 2 games (perhaps last 2 games with the Vikings) of the season. On a brighter note, they did extend the contract with a great QB whisperer in Head Coach Kevin O'Connell. I will stop my ranting now.
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
I don't want to go overboard on Jayden Daniels, who for sure has had two favorable playoff matchups for passing in Tampa Bay and Detroit. But his performance and poise have been impressive enough that I think an upset in Philly is possible, and it sure looks like he's going to be putting up good offensive numbers for years to come. He's done it this year with arguably only one star in Terry McLaurin around him, so things could get even better the next couple of years. As for negative, which NFC North team to mention? Jordan Love, Sam Darnold and Jared Goff really came up small in their postseason games. Maybe we can say that Love had a tough matchup and with Goff it's just one bad game (with Detroit's defense a bigger issue in their loss), but hard to feel fully confident in those players for next season, especially with coordinator or personnel turnover thus far, and yet to come.
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.