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:

Which player should fantasy owners be most thankful for?

PRETZEL MAY

I think fantasy owners should be thankful for Chris Johnson. This guy has performed well above expectation. Everyone expected him to get some yardage for sure but he also has 9 touchdowns. But on top of outstanding performance you have to look at the fact that he is ultra exciting to watch. Literally anytime he touches the ball it could be going for 6. Nothing is better than having a guy one your team that produces and you love to watch play.

The May brothers have more than 16 years of combined fantasy football experience and are the co-founders of FantasyDraftMaster.com. The cornerstone of FDM is the UberRank which is a revolutionary approach to the traditional fantasy football cheat sheet. FantasyDraftMaster.com also offers insightful and humorous commentary on football happenings as well as recommendations on waiver wire pickups, line up submissions and weekly pick em' pools. For more info, visit www.fantasydraftmaster.com or email us at info@fantasydraftmaster.com.

MIKE NAZAREK

Brett Favre returning to the league as a Viking to make things more interesting and producing a real MVP season.

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.

TIM HEANEY

We'll throw out a food metaphor to stay in the Thanksgiving spirit. The top picks of your fantasy football team make up the meat, and your middle-tier players are the important side dishes. Aside from the main courses (Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, etc.), fantasy football players should be most thankful for the gravy - the bonus for everything they worked hard for, what they grabbed on the cheap that makes their teams that much sweeter. In this case, that's Ricky Williams, who was drafted as a handcuff to Ronnie Brown and a sneaky No. 5 fantasy option. He has come out with fresh legs and boasts a 5.3 yards-per-carry average. Even before Ronnie Brown was lost for the year, Williams offered starter-worthy performances. He was even playing on Brown's level for most of the season, at a more reasonable price. Williams' owners truly have been satisfied after their weekly meals....

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.

JEFFREY KAMYS

As good as Adrian Peterson has been, special thanks really need to go out to Chris Johnson of the Titans who has had some huge weeks, that have no doubt carried his owners to a W.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I think we should be thankful for New Orleans coach Sean Payton. He’s just a step ahead of NFL defenses right now. His offenses have been putting up big numbers for years, and now he’s got his team among the rushing leaders. Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, Reggie Bush. It doesn’t matter who he puts back there. The Saints rank in the top 5 in rushing and have a league-high 18 rushing touchdowns.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index. He’s been in that role since 1987, generating most of the player rankings and analysis for that publication. His work can be seen in Fantasy Football Index magazine, and also at the company’s website, www.fantasyindex.com.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

I was skeptical on this Brett Favre comeback stuff, but he's arguably the MVP of the league right now - honestly, he's exceeded the hype. And he's bringing some receivers along for the ride, steering Sidney Rice to the Pro Bowl and making an every-week starter out of Visanthe Shiancoe. I thought I was Favred out for good, but he's won me over again, too.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 15 years and writing about it for 12. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

Fantasy owners should be thankful for any draft pick they selected in rounds 1-5 that remained healthy throughout the season.

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

Hands down Brett Favre is my candidate. He has the Minnesota Vikings at 9-1 with a three game lead in the NFC North. The Vikes QB is No. 1 in the NFL in passer rating (112.1), No. 1 in fewest interceptions thrown (three), No. 2 in completion percentage (69.7) and No. 2 in touchdown passes (21). He is averaging 20 points per game in most leagues (7th best QB); not bad for someone going in the 11th round in many drafts.

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).

ANDY RICHARDSON

I'll mention Brett Favre, in large part because I was aggressively ridiculed in a couple of leagues where I drafted him. And also Ray Rice, who has carried a whole bunch of my teams to lofty records -- without him, there's no doubt some of my winners would be losers. But the guy I''m most thankful for is Chris Johnson, since with all of my late first-round picks I was looking at a bunch of similar-valued players -- Frank Gore, Chris Johnson, Steve Slaton -- and Johnson is the one who's been a difference-maker.

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.

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