Ask the Experts

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them:

How concerned should fantasy owners be about players from top teams being rested as early as week 16 this year?

MIKE NAZAREK

If you own Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, you should make sure you own a solid alternative to start should they sit that week, but otherwise, I don't get too upset about it. Why not? I'm more worried about GETTING to a Fantasy Bowl rather than what I do once I get there. Assumptions bring about bad karma.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, fantasy auction & regular drafting programs, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is the reigning four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, 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.

SAM HENDRICKS

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Just look back to 2005 when both Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning pretty much sat out the last 2 games of the season giving their owners minimal points. But quite frankly it is way too soon to worry about it now. Of the three teams with 3 game leads, IND has a tough schedule ahead and a ton of injuries; I do not see them securing home field advantage early enough. Minnesota with four of the next five games at home could be in a position after week 14 and NO may be the same. But then again they both may be fighting each other for that #1 seed. So don’t sweat it yet.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Almanac 2009, all available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is a 19-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th overall in the 2008 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

CORY J. BONINI

Players rested as early as week 16? This should be of very little concern to fantasy owners. Even if a team has a three-game lead in their division, they still have homefield advantage to play for. If they wrap that up, well, do they want to risk being rusty for their first playoff game? Being rested in week 16, one would assume any star players would play very little in week 17; factor in the bye in the playoffs and that is almost four weeks between meaningful game action. How many coaches would want their star players to go just under a month without taking snaps at game speed? It's not something we've seen and is nothing to worry about for fantasy owners.

KFFL.com offers fantasy football, fantasy baseball and fantasy NASCAR content. We have captured well more than a dozen expert league championships. Founded in 1996, KFFL offers award-winning daily news feeds, preseason draft guides, player rankings, sleepers, busts, weekly newsletters and more. KFFL is completely free! For more information, visit www.kffl.com.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Based on the recent history of the Colts, owners should be very concerned and start making some plans to have secondary options for those weeks. There is simply no reason for a NFL team to risk losing a big time play in what would effectively be a scrimmage for them. If I have room, I'm making some moves for players that may have games with great importance those weeks.

Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about delivering the information players want, not fluff, just opinions that matter to fantasy football players. Lou has worked with NFL players and gives a unique perspective because of it. We'll be giving MORE teams away in 2009 to BFD subscribers!

SCOTT ENDSLEY

This has been the demise of many strong fantasy teams in the past and with the lack of parity this season looks to be a significant factor this season. It could be argued that a championship caliber team would have the depth to overcome this or the savvy to make some trades late in the season to avoid having this cripple their team. But it's really not much more than bad luck and it sucks if it happens to you. And this season it looks like it could happen to many of us.

Endsley is co-owner and a senior fantasy football consultant for FantasyDraftEdge.com offering customizable fantasy football cheat sheets and professional VIP advice all season long. For more info, go to www.fantasydraftedge.com.

JEFFREY KAMYS

It is too early to consider players that could or might be rested in week 16. At this point, who knows if those players can stay healthy, yet alone play or be rested in week 16. The way the NFL has been worked with the salary cap, parity seems to always take over and teams that start out dominant can somehow fall apart. Ask the Jets from last year or the Giants from this year, how secure their lead is in their division.

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 email to webmaster@docstats.com.

DAVID DOREY

There is a very realistic chance that the Saints and Colts will have it all wrapped up early and could rest players but that typically affects week 17 far more. In the past teams have rested players in week 16 only to see them rusty I the playoffs and lose their game. The Colts in particular had this problem in the past. It could be an issue but not one that should prompt anyone to change their roster. At worst the superstars would sit in the fourth quarter if the game was in hand.

Dorey is the co-founder and Senior NFL Analyst at The Huddle since 1997. He has produced award winning rankings and has projected the fantasy stats for every game over the last 13 years. David produces the bulk of The Huddle rankings and his “Predictions and Projections” breaks down every single NFL game every week through the Super Bowl. You can find more about David at TheHuddle.com.

ANDY RICHARDSON

At this point, I'm going to say no. I think the Colts will lose a game or two in the next month, so they'll still have important seeding to play for through week 16. I think the Saints have a legitimate shot to go undefeated, and will go for it, and failing that, could be in a battle with the Vikings for the top seed in the NFC. Obviously it's early, and things could change, but at this point in time I'm not too concerned about it. I think teams have seen the fallacy in recent years of resting players rather than continuing to play hard right through the end of the season.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past eight 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. His A DAY OF FOOTBALL wrap-up column appears Mondays during the NFL season.

• Comments [1]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.