To put it simply, the top experts we tracked were on their game last week. Once again, the bulk of the advice they handed out in our weekly roundup vs. the field was on target (Fred Davis is the only clear miss).
Before we get to the top experts’ week 9 advice, here’s a quick recap of last week’s players they liked & disliked compared to the field, and how each player ultimately performed.
Week 8 Rewind
| Players “Liked” | Points Scored | Players “Disliked” | Points Scored |
| Knowshon Moreno (DEN) | 7.4 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis (NE) | .9 |
| Javon Ringer (IND) | 10.2 | Chris Johnson (TEN) | 5.1 |
| Jeremy Maclin (PHI) | 11.4 | Vincent Jackson (SD) | 4.9 |
| Tim Tebow (DEN) | 13.2 | Dez Bryant (DAL) | 2.8 |
| Alex Smith (SF) | 13.3 | Fred Davis (WAS) | 9.4 |
| Heath Miller (PIT) | 8.5 | Dan Bailey (DAL) | 1 |
| New England D/ST | 7 | ||
| Jacksonville D/ST | 6 | ||
| Lawrence Tynes | 8 |
Week 9 Likes/Dislikes
Now let’s check out where our top 2 experts (by position) disagree with the remaining experts this week. As always, the players the top experts “like” are highlighted in green while the guys they “dislike” are marked in red.
RB
Top Experts: Pat Fitzmaurice (ProFootballWeekly) and Staff Composite (SI.com)
Willis McGahee (@ OAK)
Top 2: RB #18
The Field: RB #30
Pierre Thomas (vs. TB)
Top 2: RB #30
The Field: RB #23
Welcome back, Willis McGahee. After missing last week with a hand injury, he’s back in time for a nice match-up at the Raiders. Our most accurate RB experts like him as a top 20 back this week while the remaining experts put him 30th. With Moreno in the fold and Tebow taking some runs, it’ll be interesting to see if McGahee gets enough work to justify this ranking. Pierre Thomas made for a great fill-in last week @ St. Louis. That game didn’t exactly go as expected, but Thomas still snagged 9 fantasy points—not bad for a bye week filler. Even with Mark Ingram out, the top experts don’t endorse Thomas this week vs. the Bucs.
WR
Top Experts: Michael Fabiano (NFL.com) and Staff Rankings (Fantasy Football Freaks)
Larry Fitzgerald (vs. STL)
Top 2: WR #11
The Field: WR #7
Antonio Brown (vs. BAL)
Top 2: WR #36
The Field: WR #30
It’s not often we see Larry Fitzgerald outside the top 10 at his position. The top WR expert consensus slots him 11th at home against the Rams. The Rams defense doesn’t get much credit, but they have had tough match-ups this year (PHI, NYG, BAL, GB, DAL, NO). They did an extraordinary job with the Saints last week, and they held Colston to 50 yards on 3 catches. Add in the immortal John Skelton likely subbing for an injured Kevin Kolb, and that’s probably why Fitzgerald is ranked lower than usual. Antonio Brown has been a fun story the last couple of weeks, but the most accurate experts don’t expect much out of him this week in Baltimore.
QB
Ross Miles (ProFootballFocus) and Staff Rankings (FFToolbox)
Tim Tebow (@ OAK)
Top 2: QB # 9
The Field: QB #13
Matt Ryan (@ IND)
Top 2: QB #11
The Field: QB #7
Matt Cassel (vs. MIA)
Top 2: QB #18
The Field: QB #11
The Colts pass defense is nothing special (they have 0 interceptions in the last 5 weeks). So why do our top QB experts have Matt Ryan as low as QB # 11 this week? Well, the Colts run defense is also underwhelming (they give up an average of 144 yards per game on the ground). This could be one of those games where Turner goes nuts and the Falcons don’t need to throw. You shouldn’t be surprised to see some disagreement over Tim Tebow once again. For the 2nd straight week, he salvaged an otherwise poor fantasy performance with a late TD drive. The top experts rank him 9th, indicating that they expect a better performance at Oakland this week. Matt Cassel led the Chiefs to a big win over San Diego on Monday Night Football, but the top expert consensus doesn’t like him this week against Miami.
TE
Pat Fitzmaurice (ProFootballWeekly) and Sigmund Bloom (FootballGuys)
Zach Miller (@ DAL)
Top 2: TE #12
The Field: TE #31
Jason Witten (vs. SEA)
Top 2: TE # 8
The Field: TE #3
TE rankings tend to be fairly similar from expert to expert, but that’s not the case this week. Our accuracy leaders must know something I don’t because they rank the always-dependable Jason Witten way down at #8 this week. On the other end, the TE specialists rank Zach Miller 12th compared to the remaining experts who place him outside the top 30. Miller has 10 catches for 99 yards… on the whole season! (5 games played).
D/ST
Michael Beller (SI.com) and Staff Composite (SI.com)
New York Jets (@ BUF)
Top 2: D/ST #2
The Field: D/ST #12
Atlanta Falcons (@ IND)
Top 2: D/ST #13
The Field: D/ST #8
As hot as the Bills offense has been, our best D/ST experts have no reservations about using the Jets D/ST this week at Buffalo. They also don’t like the Falcons match-up against Peyt… I mean, Curtis Painter and the Colts.
K
Kevin Roberts (NFL Soup) and Pat Fitzmaurice (ProFootballWeekly)
Matt Bryant (@ IND)
Top 2: K #1
The Field: K #8
Stephen Gostkowski (vs. NYG)
Top 2: K #2
The Field: K #7
The Falcons should have no trouble moving the ball this week at Indianapolis. I’m a bit surprised that the field of experts ranked Bryant as low as 8th. The Patriots offense has been good, but not great lately. Our top kicker experts expect the Patriots offense to click this week.
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I’ll be back again next week with another breakdown of the players the top experts like and dislike. In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for our (free) Beat the Expert contest vs. Chris Wesseling (Rotoworld). There’s a $1,000 prize pool at stake and Chris is playing to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research.
Best of luck this weekend!
