Ask the Experts

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly, with answers to a new question being posted every Thursday morning.

How the guest experts responded when we asked them:

One game into the season, which of your predictions are you MOST and LEAST confident about?

MIKE NAZAREK

I can tell you that the fact I expected the Dallas Cowboys passing game to be very good is an understatement. It took a while for them to get on track, but QB Tony Romo is looking more like a solid top-10 fantasy QB every day, if not top 5.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a fantasy auction drafting program, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its website. He is also a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at 702-568-7118 or miken@ffmastermind.com.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

We warned people all summer long that Larry Johnson was rated too high on most rankings and he would fall off. After the KC preseason and their first game – against Houston – we feel pretty good about this one. It’s really too early in the season to be making judgments either direction actually; it’s a long season.

Endsley is co-owner and a senior fantasy football consultant for FantasyDraftEdge.com. For more info, go to www.fantasydraftedge.com.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Andre Johnson was somewhat limited in the David Carr world, but just one game into the Matt Schaub era, things look more promising. It's refreshing to see Johnson finally getting to run intermediate and deep routes on a regular basis - this guy can blow by any corner when he's single covered. I was bullish on Laurence Maroney into the season, but his first game makes me nervous - he wasn't used as a receiver or at the goal line, and the Pats found plenty of work for other backs.

Pianowski is a free-lance journalist who's been writing about sports (fantasy and otherwise) for a variety of websites, newspapers and magazines for the last 20 years. He can be reached at pianowski31@yahoo.com.

PATRICK GLEESING

The loss of Orlando Pace will hurt all the St. Louis players. But, a blind faith in Cedric Benson based on his being the feature back on a good team with a great O-line and an easy schedule looks like a mistake. Character is very important in the NFL. Owens accomplished first, then was a jerk later. There were many reaches that I think will play out for me, but a strong belief in Denver's running game makes a high placement of Henry my best decision.

Gleesing is the owner and senior writer for fantasyfootballdrafthub.com. He can be reached at patrick@fantasyfootballdrafthub.com. For more info, visit his website at www.fantasyfootballdrafthub.com.

STEVEN LASSAN

Although the season is still early, I feel most confident about our predictions on Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Most people were ready to write off Roethlisberger after his 2006 season, but I felt like the young quarterback was due for a bounce-back year. Although four touchdowns might be a bit much to expect each week, I expect the Steelers signal-caller to have several solid fantasy outings throughout the year and be a top-15 fantasy quarterback. In terms of the prediction I feel least confident about, I would have to say Miami running back Ronnie Brown could end up being a complete bust this season. Pro Fantasy Sports pegged Brown as a candidate to have a top 15 fantasy season at running back, but you have to wonder after his performance against Washington. Unless Brown turns it up, he will be a huge disappointment this year.

Lassan is a senior staff writer for Pro Fantasy Sports. For more info, visit the websites www.profantasysports.com and www.fswa.org.

CORY BONINI

After one week of the season, we are most confident with our projection of Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee. Against a weak Cincinnati Bengals run defense, McGahee looked merely average. He rushed for 77 yards on 19 carries, which is a fair 4.1 yards-per-carry average, but his big-play potential is nearly nonexistent. McGahee continues to show that he is an overvalued fantasy commodity. As for the projection we are least confident in, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart looked lost and didn't show to have improved his footwork, something he had worked on extensively much of the offseason. The team's offense, in general, was pretty flat, short of running back Edgerrin James, who we were high on anyway. The lack of downfield passing from the Cardinals has us a bit worried about Leinart's long-term worth this season.

KFFL offers football as well as baseball content and has captured over a dozen expert league championships. Founded in 1996, this company offers daily news, preseason draft guides, player rankings, sleepers, busts, weekly newsletters and more. KFFL also provides fantasy content to various organizations including SportsTicker and Yahoo! Sports. For more information, visit http://www.kffl.com/ .

NATHAN ZEGURA

I am most confident that Jon Kitna will be an elite fantasy QB this year. The additions of Calvin Johnson and Shaun McDonald almost make this team unstoppable in the passing game. Kitna went into Oakland and completed 75% of his passes for 289 yards and 3 TDs against last year’s No. 1 pass D. Sure he threw 2 INTs, but his yardage and TD totals will be monstrous this year and far outweigh any turnover penalties. Just wait 'til we see them on turf this Sunday. Least – any Titans receiver. I really thought Brandon Jones would step up in Tennessee to fill the void left by Drew Bennett, but it seems the Titans are content to go with WR by committee. That is not good for anyone from a fantasy standpoint and it seems that the only fantasy plays for the Titans are Young, the RBs and TE Bo Scaife.

The Fantasy Consultant (www.thefantasyconsultant.com) is a fully dedicated fantasy football resource run by a former McKinsey and Co. consultant. TFC’s standard service offers detailed player previews, position previews identifying break out, busts and sleepers, weekly and full-season player projections/rankings customized to your scoring system, daily in-season emails and much more. The Premium service includes direct email access to The Fantasy Consultant for all of your lineup, trade, waiver, keeper and draft questions.

JEFFREY KAMYS

Well I guess we wish that we would have ranked Big Ben Roethlisberger a bit higher, if that Steelers passing attack stays that wide open, he could have a huge year. We feel very good about our sleeper picks of guys like LaMont Jordan and Ronald Curry. Granted the Raiders were playing the Lions Sunday, but their offense can only greatly improve after last year.

Kamys is president of Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports. His company, via the web, offers player news, injury reports, cheat sheets, projections, weekly matchups, statistics, and a customized team tracker. Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports also e-mails preseason newsletters and reports throughout the season. For more info visit www.docstats.com or send e-mail to webmaster@docstats.com.

TOM KESSENICH

I’ll remain confident that my prediction about Javon Walker being a top-5 WR will come to fruition. He was terrific in Week 1 and it's clear he's on the same page with Cutler and Cutler will get him the ball a ton. He's poised for a huge season. On the flip side, I was expecting a sleeper season from Isaac Bruce but after a poor Week 1 and Orlando Pace's injury, I'm not sure he'll have the WR3 upside I was anticipating.

Kessenich is the managing editor of Fantasy Sports Magazine, which began publishing in 1989. Editor Greg Ambrosius is the founder of the National Fantasy Football Championship, the industry's first multi-city, high-stakes event with a $100,000 grand prize. Ambrosius also founded the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference and was the FSTA president from 2002-2006. For more information on the NFFC, go to www.fantasyfootballchampionship.com.

BRIAN SWAW

The prediction I am most confident about is Chad Johnson as this year’s No. 1 Overall WR. CJ and the Bengals offense are going to be special this year and Johnson is out to prove last season was a fluke. I see Johnson approaching 1450 yards and 12 TDs in 2007. I am least confident in Ben Watson finishing as the No. 5 TE, Brady spreads the ball around so much it is hard to tell from week to week who will be his number one target. One thing is evident Big Ben is his number one red zone target just afraid he won’t get the looks outside of the red zone.

Swaw is senior writer and owner of GameTimeDecisions.net and the co-host of two fantasy football radio shows for ESPN AM 1000 in Chicago -- Fantasy Football Island and Fantasy Expert. He has been a keynote speaker for the FSTA and several fantasy football conventions with the likes of John Clayton, Chris Mortensen, Sean Salisbury and Mark Schlereth. For more info, visit www.gametimedecisions.net.

ANDY RICHARDSON

It's only one week, but I'm pretty pleased with my faith in rookie running backs Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch. Both looked like immediate difference makers in week 1, Peterson scoring on a long TD reception and Lynch posting 90 yards and a TD against a very good Broncos defense. Both will have some dud games (particularly Lynch with his schedule), but who won't? My gamble on Lynch as a second running back in a couple of leagues where I took a quarterback early should pay off. I'm also glad I avoided Cedric Benson, Brandon Jacobs, and Ronnie Brown in every league. On the flip side, I'm not sure what I was thinking with the Rams defense. I knew that teams that are poor against the run seldom turn things around overnight, but I still believed their personnel additions would help them turn things around. Nope. I'm a little worried about my faith in Marques Colston, too. He's still talented, but he's going to see much tighter coverages this season, meaning he could have some more dud games in the future.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past six years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections, as well as various site features. He has run the magazine's annual draft and auction leagues since their inception. Other writing credits have included FFToday.com and football coverage for newspapers in Colorado and Florida. For more information go to www.fantasyindex.com.

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