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 the preseason, which rookie do you feel you greatly over or underestimated in your initial evaluations?

SAM HENDRICKS

Steve Slaton has jumped up the charts since my initial rankings in May. Some of that boost has come from a great preseason and some has come from the injury situation with Chris Brown and A. Green. Rumors out of Houston hint that Slaton may be the starter sooner rather then later. Eddie Royal is another underrated rookie who has caught my eye. He gets the start for Denver in week 1 with B. Marshall serving his suspension. If he can make his mark, it will be hard to take him off the field. Devin Thomas is another rookie WR, but he appears to have been overrated and may not see too much playing time early this season.

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

Tim Hightower continues to climb our boards. The Cardinals got a steal nabbing Hightower in the fifth round of the draft (of what looks to have been a remarkably deep and talented RB class). Hightower is very well built for NFL duty at 6'1" and 225 pounds. He also has nice vision and a burst to his game. With his long hair and aggressive running style Hightower looks close enough to Marion Barber on the field that it's eye-grabbing. We wouldn't be shocked to see a 70/30 split between Edgerrin James and Hightower, and he is a must-have handcuff for Edge owners - especially if you've spent a 5th round pick on Edge (his current ADP), which you should not do. Longer term, we also like Hightower to succeed Edge, who turned 30 this year and comes into the year with 11,617 yards on his tires (13th best in NFL history).

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.

MIKE NAZAREK

Rookie RB Steve Slaton has really impressed me. He's risen to be my top-ranked RB for the Texans right now. While I was never a big fan of RB Ahman Green, I was shocked to see RB Chris Brown (back) be unable to hold the starting job once Green suffered his groin injury. Looks like the Texans will be throwing early and often in 2008!

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.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

Based on the preseason, Matt Ryan would have to get consideration for underestimated. How many Rookie QBs come into the league and become the starter before week 1? The Atlanta QB made an immediate impact and beat out veteran QBs to be the starter.

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

DeSean Jackson. Two months ago, he wasn’t a player I was even tracking — a 169-pound rookie receiver who was hardly going to play. Now that Kevin Curtis is out indefinitely, however, and with Jackson looking very solid in the preseason, I expect him to be Philadelphia’s leading receiver in September. If you’ve got Steve Smith or Brandon Marshall on your fantasy team, Jackson looks like a nice fill-in option early in the season.

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

Rashard Mendenhall has us worried, no NFL team is going to tolerate fumbling and Mendenhall cannot seem to hold onto the ball. Parker may have gotten much of the work anyway, but Mendenhall had a good chance to be the ball carrier near the goal line, but fumbling in the redzone, that's a huge no no.

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.

GREGG ROSENTHAL

I didn't give Chris Johnson enough credit initially. I thought he would be more of a third-down back, and them choosing another workout wonder last year, Chris Henry, had me mentally lump them together. Like Steve Slaton, Johnson is showing he's more than a third-down back. Eddie Royal is another pleasant surprise; more than a return man. I didn't rank any rookie receiver as draftworthy, but Devin Thomas has a longer way to go than I expected.

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

Chris Johnson in Tennessee, undervalued. This team is all about the running game and Johnson has infused some needed speed and playmaking ability. Even in a 60/40 split with the 40 percent of the work going to Johnson he has the wheels and hands to score 8 TDs and catch 55 passes. That's a good deal on a No. 3 RB in PPR leagues.

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.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Josh Morgan was buried on my cheat sheet two months ago but he's made up for lost time. Morgan definitely passed the eye test in early August (decent hands, good speed, not afraid to play physical), and quickly established a rapport with quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan. It's a shame Morgan was sick during the final week of practice, because he was close to solidifying a spot in this team's WR rotation. That said, the 49ers are clearly a work in progress and there's no dynamic player in front of Morgan, so even in general 12-team leagues I'll stash Morgan on the bench and take a wait-and-see approach. Consider him in the late rounds.

Pianowski is a fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports. His work regularly appears on Yahoo's Roto Arcade Blog (rotoarcade.com), and you can also email him at pianowski31@yahoo.com.

CHRIS LISS

Well, it has to be Darren McFadden who we assumed would start last spring, but now is in a timeshare and could give up goal-line carries to a third back. We probably underestimated Dustin Keller, but his situation has changed with Brett Favre aboard.

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

It’s a little early to say I was too high on Rashard Mendenhall, but his fumbles in the preseason suggest he might not have a big role this year. I was definitely too low on Tim Hightower, in the sense that I went out and drafted Edgerrin James in a couple of early leagues, dismissing the idea that some fifth-rounder would take any work away. To my credit, on Chris Johnson – who I have on nearly all my teams – I might have been just right.

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.