ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday mornings. This is the final question of the season. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What is your preliminary top 10 for the 2017 season?

MICHAEL NAZAREK

  1. David Johnson. Until he got hurt in Week 17, he was dominating both on the ground and via the air, and nothing will change with both Palmer and Fitzgerald expected to play at least one more season.
  2. LeVeon Bell. He rivaled Johnson in terms of consistency, and assuming his groin injury will be fully healed by training camp, Bell is right there with Johnson, especially in PPR leagues.
  3. Ezekiel Elliott. The best pure runner in the top 3, but Elliott only caught 32 passes in 2016, making him the No. 3 guy.
  4. Antonio Brown. Brown caught 106 passes for 1,284 yards and 12 scores in 2016. He may not be the No. 1 WR by a big margin, but he's still the top guy right now.
  5. Mike Evans. Evans rebounded in his third season, catching 96 passes for 1,321 yards and 12 scores, inching himself closer to Brown in PPR leagues.
  6. Jordy Nelson. After a relatively slow start, Nelson finally regained his form after a torn ACL in the summer of 2015, to finish with 97 catches for 1,257 yards and 14 scores in 2016. There's no reason to think he will slow down in 2017.
  7. LeSean McCoy. He will be 29 years old in July, but he's still an amazing talent, a player whom totaled 1,600+ yards with 14 scores and 50 catches in 2016.
  8. Odell Beckham Jr. He caught all 10 of his scores in the final 12 games of 2016, but still finished with 101 catches for 1,367 yards!
  9. Julio Jones. Technically, he had a down year with only 83 catches and 6 scores, but still managed 1,409 yards in 14 games due to a toe injury. If he can stay healthy, he's still a top-3 WR talent.
  10. A.J. Green. He had his 2016 season cut short, but still managed an average of nearly 19 points in PPR leagues. When healthy, a top-3 WR talent.

Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program 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 via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

L'ROY ANTHONY HALE

My early draft strategy is to grab a stud running back in Round 1 with Bell, Johnson and Elliot a virtual coin toss at this point. If one of them is gone, I am targeting a top-tier wideout. In the first 4-5 rounds, I am going to take the best running back or wide receiver on my board and focus on building depth at these positions. I am likely holding off on a quarterback until after Round 5, unless a top-3 one is sitting there in Round 3 or 4. There are no tight ends I want in the early rounds, the top players come with injury risks (Gronkowski, Reed, Eifert, etc.), so I will wait until middle of the draft to address this position.

  1. LeVeon Bell
  2. David Johnson
  3. Ezekiel Elliot
  4. Antonio Brown
  5. Julio Jones
  6. Odell Beckham Jr
  7. Mike Evans
  8. A.J. Green
  9. Melvin Gordon
  10. Jordy Nelson

Hale is the Founder and President of www.Fantasy Gives, a 501c3 charitable organization that provides financial support to non-profit groups through fantasy sports.

IAN ALLAN

In a typical fantasy league, you want to take a running back or wide receiver in the first round, and I see eight that are worthy of selecting in the first round: Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson, LeVeon Bell, Melvin Gordon, Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Julio Jones. Those guys in some order. Then you’re into the maybe area, where guys might be worth putting in the top 10 — Jay Ajayi, Devonta Freeman, Jordy Nelson, Jordan Howard. Somewhere in there, you reach the point where you feel it’s time to just shore up the quarterback position instead. Preference is to not select a quarterback early, but you look pretty silly if you bust on a top-15 pick rather than taking one of the franchise quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck probably will be my top 4 quarterbacks, though there are also some other good ones).

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.

SAM HENDRICKS

  1. David Johnson. Hopefully his injury at the end of '16 is not too bad.
  2. Ezekiel Elliot. No sophomore slump for this stud.
  3. LeVeon Bell. What could an injury and suspension free season look like?
  4. Antonio Brow. Questions none.
  5. Odell Beckham Jr. Jury may still be out on him and stud quality.
  6. LeSean McCoy. Better than many think.
  7. Julio Jones. Very boom or bust but what the heck.
  8. Mike Evans. Finally showing us what he can really do.
  9. DeMarco Murray. Surprise....not really.
  10. Jordy Nelson. Scary good when not hurt. Honorable mention for a baker's dozen: A.J. Green, Dez Bryant and Melvin Gordon.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 25 year fantasy football veteran who participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He is drafting live in the FFPC in Vegas this year. He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.

ALAN SATTERLEE

  1. Ezekiel Elliott
  2. David Johnson
  3. LeVeon Bell
  4. Odell Beckham Jr.
  5. Antonio Brown
  6. Julio Jones
  7. Mike Evans
  8. A.J. Green
  9. Dez Bryant
  10. Melvin Gordon

Satterlee is a co-owner and senior writer for Dynasty Football Warehouse. DFW is comprehensive site covering dynasty, redraft, IDP and Daily formats. DFW has a large writing crew with many people from the DFW community contributing to the insights and discussion. He is also the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast.

DAVID DOREY

  1. LeVeon Bell
  2. David Johnson
  3. Ezekiel Elliott
  4. Antonio Brown
  5. Odell Beckham
  6. LeSean McCoy
  7. Julio Jones
  8. Melvin Gordon
  9. Devonta Freeman
  10. Mike Evans
  11. Jordy Nelson
  12. DeMarco Murray

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.

ANDY RICHARDSON

  1. David Johnson. He is the offense, and a little less mileage on him than the next guy.
  2. LeVeon Bell. Best running back in the game and a huge part of the passing game.
  3. Julio Jones. Best wide receiver in the best offense.
  4. Odell Beckham Jr. If he grows up a little should dominate league.
  5. Ezekiel Elliott. I'm expecting a slight step back in Year 2.
  6. Antonio Brown. Great wideout, but dud games sneak in.
  7. LeSean McCoy. Underrated talent, and offensive changes should only mean team leans on him more.
  8. Devonta Freeman. Centerpiece of league's best offense.
  9. Melvin Gordon. Bust potential, but young and talented in a solid offensive system.
  10. Aaron Rodgers. Never take a first-round quarterback? Granted you're behind the eight ball if you draft one, but...He's the only one I'd consider. Seems like the absolute safest pick to dominate at the position.

Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts 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.