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:

Based on what you've seen so far, which rookie running back do you believe will have the best career?

PRETZEL MAY

DeMarco Murray seems to be in the best position of the rookie runners. Jerry Jones like his offensive firepower and has more control of his team's day to day decisions than any other owner in the league. If Murray can stay health and continue to perform, Jones will make sure his coaches continue to feed him the rock.

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.

ALAN SATTERLEE

The popular pick is DeMarco Murray and we are on board with his talent. Murray has exploded onto the scene with a mighty impressive 6.7 YPC average. He’s the popular pick to this question and our official answer. Long-term, however, we are going to give a bonus shout out to Mikel Leshoure. He’ll be flying under the radar in next year’s drafts and to be fair we’ll have to monitor the progress of his torn Achilles' tendon. However, he’s a young man (he’ll only be 22 years old next year) and there’s no reason he can’t regain his strength by next season. If so, Leshoure should instantly walk into a featured role in Detroit. Jahvid Best cannot take the wear and tears of a starter while the 6-3, 233 lb. Leshoure is built for the role (similar in size to a young Steven Jackson). There will be elite points to be had in Detroit and Leshoure should be the lead back. He had a tremendous junior season at Illinois where he carried the offense with 1,706 yards and 17 TDs. The Lions sent their 3rd and 4th round picks and flipped two additional picks to land Leshoure this past year. It’s a shame he is out this year as he would be tearing it up with Best sidelined.

Dynasty Rogues is the fantasy football information site run by fantasy football enthusiasts for fantasy football enthusiasts. The site includes a year-round approach to analyzing football information for those in dynasty and redraft leagues. Dynasty Rogues were the 2008 Champion of the Fantasy Index Experts' Competition.

CORY BONINI

It's a total shot in the dark at this point. Assuming we are talking about recent rookie performances, I'd have to go with Roy Helu. KFFL.com has touted him from the moment he was drafted by Washington, as he fits their one-cut-and-go system perfectly. Health is a bit of a concern with him, but you can make that argument with a lot of running backs. Overall, it is hard not to acknowledge Mark Ingram's talents, but his situation is less than ideal for fantasy success.

Since 1996, KFFL.com has been combining its award-winning news service with fantasy analysis. KFFL.com offers services including daily news, draft guides and in-season advice. Now 100 percent free, KFFL.com is your destination for fantasy baseball, football and NASCAR cheat sheets, tips, sleepers and much more. KFFL.com has won more than a dozen expert championships and was listed as "One of the 10 essential sports-related online destinations for fans, athletes and fantasy owners" by Time.com. KFFL.com has provided content to USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, and FOXSports.com among many other organizations.

IAN ALLAN

If the running backs were to be thrown back into the hopper and NFL teams were allowed to choose again, DeMarco Murray would be the first running back drafted. No doubt about it. He’s got the size and speed, and he’s been very effective. Three games in a row, remarkably, he’s averaged over 6 yards per carry. How many players do that in their entire careers? The other guy I would think about would be Stevan Ridley of the Patriots. He’s bigger, faster and more talented than BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and that’s a successful franchise. Ridley will make a big impact at some point. But Murray, I think, is the only guy that can be put in that No. 1 spot.

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 www.fantasyindex.com.

SCOTT SACHS

DeMarco Murray looks like a keeper, kind of an Adrian Peterson-ish back from same school [Oklahoma], Cowboys O-line isn't great though, and injury-plagued Felix Jones is still a Razorback like Jerry Jones, so he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Ingram needs to stay injury free to be a factor. Same goes for Daniel Thomas. Delone Carter for the Colts may be added to the conversation as Addai sinks and D-Brown can't stay healthy. I'm not sold on Roy Helu either, the Skins are terrible, will be passing a lot [from who/to who?] and Shanahan goes through RB's like old diapers. Choice: I suppose I'd have to pick Ingram and maybe Murray or Thomas, but this is one of the weakest rookie RB classes in recent years--in retrospect, the best of the 2011 rookie RBs may turn out to be "none of the above".

Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, live talk and advice, and has 23 years of fantasy football league experience, including his league’s only perfect season. "The Coach" offers a free Chalk Talk Blog, plus subscriber options at his website: perfectseasonffb.com. Email questions or info requests to perfectseasonffbquestions@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/ffbcoach.

JEFFREY KAMYS

DeMarco Murray is looking extremely impressive for the Cowboys, his outing against the Rams was solid, but the Rams run D is terrible, However his outing against Seattle was even more impressive as that has been a team that has done a very good job against the run prior to Murray rushing for 139 yards against them on Sunday. Murray has a very good chance to unseat Felix Jones in Dallas who has been less than impressive and oft injured in his short career.

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

I am still convinced that Mark Ingram is the best runner of the bunch and have to assume that the Saints might increase his workload in the future plus he plays in such a prolific offense. Perhaps his sharing will also give him a longer career.

Dorey is the co-founder and lead NFL analyst for The Huddle and author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. He has projected and predicted every NFL game and player performance since 1997 and has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, radio and television.

SAM HENDRICKS

Best career? Way too early to call that. Much will depend on skill sets (talent) and opportunity. Front runner has to be Mark Ingram in my mind, simply because of where he was drafted. In my first fantasy football book, Fantasy Football Guidebook, I point out that the first RB taken in the NFL draft is a stud 80% of the time. That percentage goes down the further away from the 1st round you go. So the NFL scouts kind of know what they are doing. Statistically, the higher a RB is drafted, the greater the chance of a better career.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 competitors) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

JARED SMOLA

It's been a disappointing rookie season, but I'm still high on Mark Ingram's long-term outlook. He's yet to top 17 carries in a game, is averaging just 3.9 yards per carry, and has missed the past 2 games with a heel injury. Those are some nice selling points when making an offer to acquire Ingram in a keeper or dynasty league. Ingram is built to have a long and productive NFL career. He'll eventually emerge as New Orleans' lead back, giving him plenty of upside.

Smola is the Senior Editor of DraftSharks.com. DraftSharks has been providing fantasy football analysis since 1999. The site provides its members with feature articles, daily email updates, in-depth player profiles and projections, its exclusive MVP Draft Board, and much more. This past year, Draft Sharks took home the Fantasy Sports Trade Association's award for most accurate preseason projections.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I feel bad turning away from Mark Ingram, but 5 years from now Sean Payton will probably still be coaching the Saints and there will still be multiple ballcarriers involved. Tough to win fantasy championships with those kind of running backs, so I'm looking at two guys -- one I wasn't high on coming out, the other I was. DeMarco Murray has surprised me with his ability; I didn't think he'd be much better than Felix Jones, and he obviously is. He should be the lead back in Dallas for several years to come, and he's got a lot of big-play ability. Next is a guy I did like, Roy Helu. He's got the speed and size to be a feature back, and it's looking like Mike Shanahan won't stick very long with Washington. Two years from now I think Helu could be a franchise back there for a different coaching staff.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past ten years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.

New this season! We'll post the weekly question on Facebook, and the best reader answer will get included in the column. Here is this week's reader winner:

ERIC KAIN SCOLNICK

Talent wins, have to go with Mark Ingram. But the rookie that will put up the best rushing numbers in their career is going to be Cam Newton.

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