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:

Who should be the top pick in a fantasy playoff format?

BRYCE McRAE

Our staff predicted a Green Bay Packers against San Diego Chargers Super Bowl; any player we take first would have to come from one of those two teams. With the Pack playing this weekend, they should have one more game played than the Chargers when all is said and done. Thus, we like Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers as our top pick. Running back Ryan Grant garnered some consideration - he's been on a tear lately - but Rodgers has the best shot at returning value from the top draft spot. The pass is still Green Bay's preferred method of attack. Rodgers has been consistent all year, and Green Bay should face some weak secondaries in their tear through the NFC. Green Bay's offensive line is no longer giving up a ton of sacks. The Pack also have one of the deepest receiving corps in the NFC, too.

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.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

Playoff fantasy football is always so interesting because you must factor both performance and longevity in the playoffs. It's really hard to not have Adrian Peterson the No. 1 guy. He's on the best team with games only in domes ahead of him so no weather concerns and you still need a stud RB. Plenty of candidates, yes but New Orleans looks primed to get bounced early and in the AFC the Colts have no running game; the Chargers spread the ball out a lot. If any wildcard team looked like a sleeper so you'd get an extra game out of them on a 4 game playoff run including the Super Bowl instead of 3 for a bye week team that would be a smart pick but I don't see that team -- maybe Dallas and Marion Barber, but Dallas spreads out the ball a lot as well so Barber isn't a huge point producer. AP is our No. 1 guy right now.

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.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Philip Rivers. Take a look at the AFC playoff teams, and only two of them have "one sided" offensive attacks: The Jets running game and the Chargers with Rivers as the linch pin for an all-out passing game. Rivers rules this offense, LT2 averages about 50 yards a game rushing and when looking at who they could play: Bengals, Pats, Colts, Ravens and possibly even the Jets make tough opponents against the running game. Rivers has got to get it done for the Chargers to get to the Super Bowl, and I think he will.

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.

IAN ALLAN

Looking at the 12-team field, I see a lot of good quarterbacks. All four of the teams with byes have very good quarterbacks — Manning, Rivers, Favre, Brees — and I think you’ll see good numbers out of a lot of passers this week, particularly Rodgers, Warner, Romo. (I also think Brady, McNabb and Flacco are acceptable quarterbacking option this week). I realize that many people run these playoff pools many different ways, but one school of thought is to draft one of these quarterbacks and hope he gets the hot hand through the playoffs. I can not, however, say with any confidence that any one of those guys is anything close to a safe bet to be playing in Miami. So if I had the first choice (and I wouldn’t want the first choice — I’d try to trade down) I would instead focus on the running back position, which is far weaker this year than what you typically see in the playoffs. Adrian Peterson would be my choice — then I’d hopefully still get a good quarterback in the second round.

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.

JEFFREY KAMYS

This is pretty much a no-brainer; Peyton Manning is the best choice. He was playing better than anyone when the season ended and the home field advantage gives them the best odds to make it to at least the Championship game. If you wanted to take a chance on a wild card team, we would say Aaron Rodgers, but that is a huge risk as they have to win 3 road games to make it to the Super Bowl.

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.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

The NFC is the conference with the land mines, where all six teams can dream about going deep; you want to mine that conference for value, but I wouldn't attack it early unless you feel you've uncovered a hidden favorite. In the AFC the chalk should rule; I'll be very surprised if anyone other than the Colts or Chargers represents the conference. With that in mind, pick your preference between Indy or San Diego, then grab a quarterback. In my mind it's a virtual coin flip between Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers; today I'm giving Manning the tiniest of edges, tomorrow it could be Rivers.

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

I started a NFL Playoff contest in my local league ten years ago and many other leagues/operations run this kind of game now. I love the additional fun for the next 4 weeks. I am taking A. Rodgers. He averages 23 points per game (the most of any QB for 2009) and he could easily play four games if GB makes the Super Bowl. GB has a great defense, great WRs and I especially like J. Finley at TE. Ryan Grant is no slouch in the running game (14th in league) and they come in with an eight game win streak if you erase the freakish loss to PIT 37-36 in week 15. Sometimes it is better to go with a player who could play four games (Wild card weekend team) even though he does not score as many points per game.

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

It's tough but I think I'd probably go with Adrian Peterson. I'm pretty comfortable the Vikings are going to win their first playoff game, which will likely send them to New Orleans against a defense that has a lot of problems right now. So I think Peterson is a strong candidate for two games -- two really good games -- and perhaps a third. My other choice comes down to the two AFC quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers. I'm pretty confident one of those guys will play three games, but my uncertainty over which one makes me prefer to go with the top NFC running back.

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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