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 training camp battle are you most interested in this preseason?

GREGG ROSENTHAL

Anyone with even a passing interest in fantasy football knows that Selvin Young's spot atop the Broncos depth chart at running back should be written in pencil. The only thing we can expect out of Mike Shanahan is a surprise, which is why I'll be watching the development of Ryan Torain and Andre Hall closely. Michael Pittman should be slated for a passing down role regardless. Despite all the different names recently, the Broncos have finished in the top-ten in rushing the last six seasons. So who is going to get those yards?

Rosenthal is the managing editor of Rotoworld.com, the highest trafficked fantasy news website on the web. He also writes a blog, contributes to NBCSports.com's NFL coverage and appears in the NBC Fantasy Fix three times a week, including a live show every Sunday morning at 11AM.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

Matt Leinart vs. Kurt Warner. Leinart is the Golden Boy with the cast iron arm, Warner is the Bronze MVP with the grey beard. The guy that has this job is loaded at the WR position and could literally throw FF teams into their league playoffs. Each is selected in the 9th round or later in Fantasy Drafts, a cheap price for a Big Time potential producer. I'm betting that Leinart does enough in camp against the scrubs to "win" the job, but Warner comes in quick relief to be the fantasy QB steal of drafts. NFL Coaches are selfish, and Warner represents the best chance for the Cards to win right now.

Louis Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about giving advice to players from a player. Lou's been a highly successful owner in many high stakes contests. BFD is giving away 50 fantasy football teams in 2008.

CHRIS LISS

Believe it or not, the 49ers QB battle is one. I think there's some upside there with Mike Martz aboard. Say what you want about Alex Smith or Shaun Hill, but neither is more improbable than Derek Anderson was last year. The Denver RB battle is unlikely to be settled at any point, so that's disqualified in advance.

RotoWire.com is a leading independent provider of fantasy sports news on the web, covering all the news as it breaks, combining innovative analysis with an easy-to-use format. The site’s content has won numerous awards and has earned partnerships with ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, FoxSports, XM Satellite Radio, NFL.com, NBA.com and many other sites and networks. To sample site content, take advantage of their free 10-day trial.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

All of them! FantasyDraftEdge.com will be on top of every battle in preseason – the ones we already know about and the ones that are sure to develop. QB in Baltimore and will McFadden make himself the starter to name just a few and inevitably new battles will emerge and we’ll be watching them all.

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.

IAN ALLAN

I’m excited about the wide receiver battle in Seattle. That team passed the ball very well last season, and they’ll need to rely on a young receiver – a virtual nobody – for a least the first part of the year. Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne or Jordan Kent. One of those guys is going to have some fantasy value.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index magazine. He’s also one of the main content contributors for that company’s website, www.fantasyindex.com. His IAN ALLAN’S MAILBAG column is posted on Fridays.

JEFFREY KAMYS

There are some interesting battles, No. 1 Favre versus the NFL and the Green Bay Packers. As always fantasy footballers are interested in RB battles. We like the Carolina RB situation: Will Stewart be healthy enough to knock off or take away a good amount of carries from DeAngelo Williams?

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

The training camp that is of most interest to me is Denver. The Broncos are returning players to each fantasy position with question marks. Jay Cutler – will he explode now that he has treated his diabetes? Will Brandon Marshall’s arm be just as good as last year or will the nerve damage hurt him? How will Michael Pittman and Ryan Torain be mixed in with Selvin Young? Who is going to be the No. 2 wideout? Keary Colbert? Are you serious? Can Tony Scheffler stay healthy in the summer for once? Oh yeah, and after 15 years – can anyone replace Jason Elam? Lots of questions to be answered. Or at least half-answered in true Shanahan fashion.

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.

MIKE NAZAREK

I'm watching the key RB battles with interest in both Denver and Tampa Bay. If one player emerges late in those two situations, they could push a team lucky enough to draft that player in the middle rounds to a league title. I'm far from convinced that both Selvin Young and Earnest Graham will be starting come September.

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 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

Well the Favre saga is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. But as for players battling it out; I am keeping an eye on Carolina and their RB battle between heir apparent DeAngelo Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart. Word as camps start is that Stewart may be slowed by an old toe injury. This combined with Williams’ new found ability to pass block may be the extra edge Williams needs to secure a starting role. No matter who wins the battle, look to see if one is the clear starter (versus RBBC). If that occurs, big numbers behind a revamped offensive line could be possible.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook and the recently released Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 which are both available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is an 18-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) and will participate this year in the inaugural season of the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

BOB HECK

One of the ones we are following closely is the starting San Francisco QB job. On the one hand, the options don’t seem to be all that attractive in Alex Smith, Shaun Hill and J.T. O’Sullivan; on the other hand, Martz let Jon Kitna fling the ball a whopping 1,159 times over the last two years. It is time for Alex Smith to prove he isn’t a bust – in 30 games played the former No. 1 overall NFL pick has passed for more than 250 yards just two times in a game. Shaun Hill is a bit of an unknown, but Martz has certainly worked wonders with unknown QBs in the past. Hill has nice size and played well in a 3-game stretch to close out the season last year with 5 TDs versus only 1 INT. The deep-sleeper is J.T. O’Sullivan who Martz knows from their two years together at Detroit.

Heck is a founding partner at Dynasty Rogues, a fantasy football website filled with football enthusiasts, run by football enthusiasts. The company provides year-round dynasty and redraft fantasy football coverage and analysis, including Dynasty Rogues Radio and the Rogues Forum. The site can be reached at www.dynastyrogues.com.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I’m most interested in the running back battle in Cincinnati. I’m not a big Rudi Johnson fan, but he’s fallen so far in a couple of leagues that I’ve got him on my team, and nobody else is interested in Chris Perry at all – I understand, he gets hurt a lot, but when healthy he’s the most talented back on that roster. Plus there’s Kenny Watson. The Bengals have generally given one back most of the work in recent years (barring injury), so I think one of these guys will be a legit top-20 running back this season, making them particularly appealing in the middle rounds of drafts.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past seven 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. For more information go to www.fantasyindex.com.

• Comments [0]

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.