ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What advice would you give a friend on the eve of the fantasy playoffs?

DAVID DOREY

My advice to someone in the playoffs is simply start your studs. Matchup considerations should almost entirely go away in the final weeks of the NFL because there the best players come through for their team. This is when they earn their money trying to make their own playoffs. This is "go time" in the NFL and in fantasy, always start your studs.

Dorey has been dealing out all the rankings and projections for The Huddle since 1997 and wrote up a preview of every game for the last 21 years. His specialty is schedule strength and he’s been in countless magazines, podcasts, and radio shows. He is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level.

MICHAEL NEASE

All of us that make the playoffs feel a momentary exultation. Right after those waves of joy first pass over us, we are plagued with an anxiety that creates a knot in our stomachs. Pause for a second and remember how you got to be in the playoffs. Take a deep breath and relax. Over the course of the season, starting with your draft, you have managed your team week after week and did well enough to jump past most other owners in your league. At this point, waivers are just about out of useful roster additions. It is time to look harder at player injuries, match ups and recent playing results. Who can you count on? Who is consistent? Now is not the time to give a lineup slot to someone that has as much of a chance to score 8 points, as he does to score 28? Simply keep plugging away as you have been already. Do your best and focus on your lineup. Fill those slots with the players you think give you the best chance to win. Only make late changes for injuries. Never make lineup changes at the last minute on a hunch. OK, exhale and submit your winning lineup. Enjoy watching it play out. and above all, have fun!

Nease is a member of the FSWA and has been playing the game since 1985, while also writing about it since 2001. He is a writer for Big Guy Fantasy Sports. Over the years he has sampled about all the playing scenarios that fantasy football offers, including re-drafter, keeper, dynasty, auction, IDP and salary cap leagues. You can contact Mike at mnease23@yahoo.com anytime and during the football season follow him @mike-insights.

SCOTT SACHS

I would advise to "dance with what brung you". Don't be guilty of over-analysis paralysis. Play your studs, ignore matchups, and pay no attention to home/away. Worry about those factors only if there is true injury concern, or you have multiple player options that are necessary to use as fill-ins.

Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering LIVE Talk & Text consulting. He has multiple league championships including two perfect seasons. Sachs is a past winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll and a 2-time winner of the Experts Auction League.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

Play the guys you think will do the best. That sounds obvious, but some owners will get tripped up by draft capital, reputations, name players. If you think an out-of-nowhere guy is the better pick, follow your common sense. I cringe when I see Friendliest Lost come into play - the cockamamie idea that you should make starting decisions based on what potential loss would sting the least. All losses sting. Play to win, gamers. "Always start your studs" is a misleading idea - once you're not sure if someone should be started, are they a stud anyway? Don't be afraid to think.

Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for over 20 years and writing about it for 18. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.

MICHAEL NAZAREK

Always start your studs no matter the matchup.

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 mobile-friendly 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. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.

ANDY RICHARDSON

I'm going to say not to overthink things. Some of the questions I see don't seem rational -- people ignoring a season's worth of data just because they're thinking about everything and suddenly giving weight to stuff they would ordinarily ignore. I saw questions from people about whether they should sit Lamar Jackson, because the Jets are bad and the Ravens should be able to win without Lamar doing much. Why would they do that? Why would you consider sitting down the main reason you're in the playoffs? The answer is you wouldn't, unless you're overthinking things. Stick to the same process that got you to this point in the season in the first place. If it doesn't work out, at least you know you didn't beat yourself by doing something crazy you wouldn't have done the first 14 weeks of the season.

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.