Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Players who could emerge in 2016. Legal wrangling over fantasy football at the state legislature. Can Jeremy Langford keep it up? And battle plans for Andrew Luck.

Question 1

Just received the Wednesday cheat sheet and saw the note about the hearing in Washington state regarding the legality of fantasy football. I played in a few DraftStreet leagues before moving back to Arizona last year. As is the case in Washington, you can't play in daily-fantasy leagues for money here. Are you worried the state legislature will lump traditional fantasy leagues with DFS and declare the entire industry illegal? Could this issue have been avoided had FanDuel and DraftKings kept a lower profile when the season started and not saturated the airwaves with a zillion ads? Once word got out about employees using proprietary information to win big bucks, DFS had no goodwill to draw upon. Thanks for your great work over the years; I've been a subscriber since Bush the Elder was President. Hope you're able to continue doing it.

Mike Fimea (Scottsdale, AZ)

I think most everyone is fine with a group of friends getting together and running a 12-team league. Maybe the entry fee is $20 or $50 (or maybe there’s no entry fee at all). I think most everyone agrees that those games are in bounds. But I saw an article in the New York Times last month where there was a college kid who was spending about $8,000 a day on daily fantasy games. I believe he was a business student, spending most of his time on it and entering about 400 leagues a day. Some days he’d win thousands, some days he’d lose thousands, and he believed he’d be able to make a living at it. I think most would agree we don’t want that. So you get into where you draw the line. I don’t have a good answer; I haven’t thought too much about it. I’ll let you know if I hear anything interesting at the hearing today.

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Question 2

Are there any players you can think of that should be available in most leagues right now, because either they have not done much in 2015 or the projection for the reminder of 2015 is very poor but will be good in 2016?

ERIC SCOLNICK (Redmond, WA)

There are some hurt guys. LeVeon Bell, Kelvin Benjamin, Jordy Nelson, Jamaal Charles, Dion Lewis, Julian Edelman. Steve Smith and Arian Foster, I suppose, are worth a flyer, but I’m not sure where he’ll be playing. I’m not interested in Victor Cruz. Three first-round receivers hardly played in their first year, but I would think one or two of them will still have good careers: DeVante Parker, Kevin White and Breshad Perriman. David Johnson made a handful of really nice plays as a rookie for the Cardinals; I think he’ll have a good career. Jay Ajayi of the Dolphins has been coming on nicely. Dorial Green-Beckham could step up for the Titans. Karlos Williams of Buffalo looks really good, but I’m guessing he’s on a roster. Maybe Javorius Allen for the Ravens. Josh Robinson isn’t even on a roster right now (he’s on the Colts’ practice squad) but I liked the way he ran in the preseason – breaks tackles. Clive Walford might be a top-10 tight end next year for the Raiders. Melvin Gordon has had a lousy rookie year, but I’m not giving up on him yet – probably will be running in a new offensive system next year. Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and Heath Miller potentially could retire, elevating Gavin Escobar, Ladarius Green and Jesse James into starting roles. Seattle’s No. 2 tailback, Thomas Rawls, probably should be on a roster. Tevin Coleman could be Atlanta’s starting tailback. I think that's most of them. If anyone notices anybody I missed, please add to the comments section.

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Question 3

I have Devonta Freeman and Jeremy Langford. Another guy in my league has Matt Forte and Tevin Coleman. Should I trade Langford for Coleman and one of his WRs (Hurns, Crabtree, Jarvis Landry)? Right now everything is great, but if Forte comes back strong and Freeman gets injured, I am screwed. I also have Latavius Murray, Doug Martin, and Alfred Morris for RBs.

Kid K (Park Ridge, IL)

I like the idea of selling high on Langford. Once Forte comes back, those guys should be used in a one-two punch. Forte probably will be starting, and Langford gets maybe 30 percent of the work off the bunch. So if you could flip him into a viable receiver, like one of the three you mentioned, I think that’s a deal you should pursue. Also would be nice to pick up Coleman as an insurance policy.

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Question 4

Any additional advice for those of us still hanging onto Andrew Luck? I have him in a 2-QB league and there's a roster limit of 3 QBs. Drew Brees is out on bye. So I have Blake Bortles plus no one in the 2nd QB slot. I am 8-2 and there are two teams in my division that are 6-4. My choice is basically to drop Luck and pick up a backup to play this week, or hang tight and roll the dice on losing a game with a short-handed lineup. The following QBs are available: Alex Smith, Mark Sanchez, Matt Hasselbeck, Teddy Bridgewater, Blaine Gabbert.

Andrew Napoli (Springfield, VA)

Smith and Sanchez have some fantasy ability. But you have to factor in that you’re 8-2. Your team will be in the postseason, and it would be awfully nice to have Luck to work with in those games. I think you need to hold onto him, hoping a month from now you’ll be getting top-5 quarterbacking numbers out of him.

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Question 5

What is your take on the tight end situation in Chicago? I sat Bennett last week, so I wasn't upset by Miller's big day, but it seems that he may no longer be a must-start in a flex spot that I can fill with LaFell.

david hogshire (Plymouth, MN)

They’ve had some wide receiver injuries, particularly with Eddie Royal. I think that’s played a role in them using Zach Miller more. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Miller was in that role at San Diego and Bennett caught a season-high 8 passes. Every team in the league is completing some passes to secondary targets – running backs, second tight ends, third and fourth wide receivers. Bennett thus far is averaging about 5 catches and 44 yards, with 3 TDs in nine games. That’s about what he is. If Miller averages 20-30 yards in the final seven weeks of the season, I don’t think that means Bennett suddenly turns into an afterthought in the offense.

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Question 6

I know you long for kicker questions, so here you go. I thought I was lucky a couple weeks ago when someone dropped Brandon McManus. Of course he promptly goes for 6 and 1 the last two weeks. I am in first place and would like to hang on to the points title as well as a first-round playoff bye, but there's also the title hope focus on the playoffs in Weeks 15-16. In light of the Manning debacle, are any of these guys worth picking up over McManus and if so, who's your favorite 2 or 3 from Santos, Bryant, Carpenter, Nugent, Bailey, Gould, Novak, Prater, Lambo, Franks? Thanks.

Russ D (Jamison, PA)

Santos, I think. Kansas City is on the upswing. It also has an offense that has a proven record of not being able to finish drives. That was highlighted in the games with 7 and 5 field goals at Cincinnati and at Denver. If you look at just Weeks 15-16, I will take Santos at Baltimore and home against Cleveland over Denver at Pittsburgh and home against Cincinnati.

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Question 7

Who do you think will be the better back for weeks 11-16, DeAngelo Williams or Charcandrick West?

TOM HOFFMAN (Blaine, MN)

I’ve got West a little higher. In a PPR format, I think he’s about a point per game better. I think he’s a little more involved as a pass catcher. He’s younger. Pittsburgh has a bye this week, so Williams will play one fewer game. Kansas City has three games coming up against San Diego and Cleveland, which have two of the very worst defenses against the run.

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Question 8

What is your rest-of-the-season prediction for Langford, if in fact he keeps putting up these numbers? Back to the bench? Committee?

Bill Petilli (Harrison, NY)

Matt Forte didn’t practice Thursday, so he doesn’t look particularly likely for the Denver game. Let’s see what he does at practice today. I expect Forte will be in the starting lineup in Week 12, and that in the final six weeks of the season it will be Forte getting most of the work, with Langford picking up maybe 30-40 percent of the load off the bench.

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Question 9

What's the likelihood that the Colts lose the 2-6 games Luck will miss, and then, as they've shown they will this season, they lean overly-cautious with him and figure there's no point in playing him again this year?

Theodore Gaskell (Jacksonville, FL)

I see games on the schedule they can win without Luck – home against the Bucs, Texans and Titans, and a game in Jacksonville. As poorly as the Falcons have played recently, I’m not ruling out the possibility they’ll win this week. And with that 2-6 week timeline on Luck, keep in mind that he’s already a week in – they had a bye on Sunday. It would not surprise me if Luck was starting in Week 12. Not saying that will happen, but it’s possible. I would not be looking to dump Luck in a traditional fantasy league.

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