Ask the Experts

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from the start of the preseason up through the Super Bowl. Here's how the guest experts responded when we asked them:

What is your preliminary Top 12 for the 2012 season?

DISH ADAMS

1. Drew Brees
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Arian Foster
4. LeSean McCoy
5. Ray Rice
6. Calvin Johnson
7. Matt Forte
8. Cam Newton
9. Maurice Jones-Drew
10. Tom Brady
11. Andre Johnson
12. Matthew Stafford
Five quarterbacks, including the first 2 picks. Five running backs, neither named Peterson or CJ2000. Two wide receivers. The world has changed. Fantasy Football is now a quarterback league. Running backs are getting diluted more and more every year. Honorable mention, deep consideration to Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, Mike Wallace, Hakeem Nicks, even Rob Gronkowski at the 12 pick. Sleeper picks that merit first round consideration are Roy Helu, A.J. Green, and in all likelihood whichever of the first round running backs ends up in Cleveland as Hillis will likely be shown the door.

Adams is the publisher of www.fantasyinsights.com. Adams appears on NBC in Los Angeles on The Challenge with Fred Roggin following NFL Sunday Night Football in America, with extended web commentary on NBCLA’s website. On Bloomberg Sports ”4th & Fantasy” Dish became the “man who beat the machine,” outpicking Bloomberg Sports Fantasy Decision Maker data tool for the 2010 season. Dish also hosts Fantasy Insights, a podcast on Voiceamericasports.com weekly on Thursdays from 5:00-6:00 PM EST.

JARED SMOLA

1. Arian Foster: The dominant offensive line in front of him gives Foster the slight edge over the next 2 guys on this list.
2. Ray Rice: He's the complete package, plays on a run-first offense, and is still only 25 years old.
3. LeSean McCoy: Shady won't match this past season's 20 TDs in 2012, but he could improve on his yardage total.
4. Calvin Johnson: Has a WR ever been drafted inside the top-5? Megatron deserves to be the first.
5. Matt Forte: He was 9th in points per game among RBs last year. With Mike Martz gone, Forte should see even more carries in 2012.
6. Aaron Rodgers: Can't believe I'm ranking a QB this high! But Rodgers has posted 4-straight top-2 finishes and is the safest bet in fantasy football.
7. Ryan Mathews: This assumes free-agent Mike Tolbert doesn't re-sign with the Chargers. In that case, durability would be the only thing between Mathews and a top-5 finish.
8. Jamaal Charles: He'll be almost 12 months removed from that torn ACL when the 2012 season kicks off. I'll be willing to gamble on his sky-high upside.
9. Maurice Jones-Drew: An incredible 2011 season. His 955 carries over the past 3 years scare me though.
10. Drew Brees: The 2nd-safest player in fantasy. Brees has averaged 4,734 yards and 34 TDs per season with the Saints.
11. Larry Fitzgerald: He's finished as a top-5 WR in 4 of the past 5 seasons. He's as safe as they come at the position and isn't lacking in the upside department.
12. Chris Johnson: He no longer has 2,000-yard ability, but he's a heckuva lot better than he showed in 2011.

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.

MIKE NAZAREK

1. Arian Foster - After missing the first few games due to a hamstring injury, he played like an elite RB that never had an injury. Perfect fit for the run-oriented Texans offense.
2. LeSean McCoy - Not far behind Foster and very durable. Once again, the perfect fit for the Eagles potent offense. Great goal line runner too.
3. Ray Rice - Just as talented as Foster & McCoy, but sometimes disappears in an inconsistent Ravens running game. Still, an elite STUD RB.
4. Maurice Jones-Drew - Proved his detractors wrong that a STUD RB with past knee injuries can be managed (with rest during the week) and produce a big season without much help at QB or WR.
5. Calvin Johnson - Clearly the top WR in the league, coming off a 16-TD season where he coasted down the stretch. Could top 20 TDs in 2012.
6. RB Matt Forte - When healthy, he can do it all and he did just that when healthy for the Bears in 2011. The question is will he remain a Bear and get that long-term deal he wants so badly?
7. Aaron Rodgers - Still the most consistent elite QB in the league, week-in and week-out, but others are closing in.
8. Fred Jackson - Just like Forte, he doers it all when healthy, but the questions of a new deal and an emerging RB C.J. Spiller cast doubt for this ranking.
9. Darren McFadden, OAK - Remember, he was a top 4 RB at the time he went down with the foot injury in 2011. That is obviously a big concern heading into 2012.
10. Wes Welker, NE - The Patriots won't let him go via free agency. He's a mortal lock for 100+ catches again in 2012 barring injury.
11. Larry Fitzgerald, ARZ - He was a top 5 WR in 2011 with pretty much crap at QB. How good would he be with QB Peyton Manning throwing to him in 2012?
12. Drew Brees - The Saints will franchise him if they can't re-sign him to a new long-term deal. His years of consistency give him an edge over QB Cam Newton at this ranking.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, fantasy drafting programs including auction values, 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 a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at miken@ffmastermind.com.

IAN ALLAN

1. Arian Foster
2. Calvin Johnson
3. Rob Gronkowski
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Drew Brees
6. Ray Rice
7. LeSean McCoy
8. Jimmy Graham
9. Larry Fitzgerald
10. Maurice Jones-Drew
11. Mike Wallace
12. A.J. Green
13. Brandon Marshall
14. Chris Johnson
It’s early. There are a lot of different scoring systems and league formats. I am going to guess that most readers are in leagues where quarterbacks tend to get undervalued. I will guess that most fantasy leaguers won’t want to select a quarterback in the first round, because there will be some great ones available in the second round and plenty of acceptable options in the third and fourth (and even emerger-types in the much later rounds). So I’m leaving Newton, Brady and Stafford off my list. Gronkowski and Graham look like real difference makers at tight end; I haven’t fully explored the numbers, of course, but it might make sense to select those guys in the top 10 overall. Adrian Peterson is coming off the serious knee injury, so I’m guess he’ll go outside the top 20.

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 PIANOWSKI

Usually it's easy to find 10 players I'm madly in love with. This year, didn't feel so easy. Oh well, lots of time to change my mind.
1. Arian Foster
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Ray Rice
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Maurice Jones-Drew
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Drew Brees
8. Marshawn Lynch
9. Ryan Mathews
10. Cam Newton
11. Matt Forte
12. Jimmy Graham

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 18 years and writing about it for 15. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

CORY BONINI

Without having a specific scoring system in place, or knowing what the offseason will bring, I think a safe list is as follows. That, however, doesn't mean I would necessarily draft players in this order.
1. Arian Foster
2. Ray Rice
3. LeSean McCoy
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Drew Brees
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Maurice Jones-Drew
8. Ryan Mathews
9. Wes Welker
10. Larry Fitzgerald
11. Matthew Stafford
12. Rob Gronkowski

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.

SCOTT SACHS

1. Ray Rice
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Arian Foster
4. Shady McCoy
5. Calvin Johnson
6. Drew Brees
7. Tom Brady
8. Cam Newton
9. Rob Gronkowski
10. Adrian Peterson
11. Marshawn Lynch
12. Jordy Nelson

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

1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Arian Foster
3. LeSean McCoy
4. Ray Rice
5. Drew Brees
6. Adrian Peterson
7. Maurice Jones Drew
8. Chris Johnson
9. Calvin Johnson
10. Darren McFadden
11. Tom Brady
12. Michael Turner

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

1. Arian Foster
2. Ray Rice
3. LeSean McCoy
4. Calvin Johnson
5. Aaron Rodgers
6. Drew Brees
7. Larry Fitzgerald
8. MJD
9. Andre Johnson
10. Tom Brady
11. Matt Forte
12. Rob Gronkowski

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).

PRETZEL MAY

1. Arian Foster
2. Ray Rice
3. LeSean McCoy
4. MJD
5. Matt Forte
6. Frank Gore
7. Aaron Rodgers
8. Marshawn Lynch
9. Steven Jackson
10. Ryan Matthews
11. Calvin Johnson
12. Drew Brees

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

The depth is at wide receiver right now; I can't see myself taking more than one in the first round with so many great options that will be available in the second and third. I want one of the handful of elite running backs or quarterbacks, and will take a shot at the game's most dangerous tight end, so my top 12 should look something like this.
1. Ray Rice - the best all-around back in the league
2. Arian Foster - a close second, thanks to injuries elsewhere
3. LeSean McCoy - too productive to drop too far
4. Aaron Rodgers - How much will Green Bay's offense change? Not at all
5. Calvin Johnson - the position's dominant player
6. Drew Brees - Probably the position's most reliable player
7. Cam Newton - Some risk, but a lot of reward
8. Matt Forte - A difference-maker somewhere
9. Matthew Stafford - Top talent in pass-happy offense
10. DeMarco Murray - possible breakout running back
11. Tom Brady - Weapons galore, shootouts ensue
12. Jimmy Graham - only getting better

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.

• Comments [3]

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.