EXPERTS CONTEST UPDATE

Ross Mandel from the “NFL Draft Bible” took the top spot in the fourth week of the 411fantasy.com “Experts Contest.”  Among his selections, he correctly placed the following players in the top-5 in their respective positions: Steve Slaton, Matt Forte, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Steve Smith of the Giants, Chris Cooley and Antonio Gates.

Slaton and Forte had struggled in the first few weeks. Here’s what Mandel had to say about the two backs:

“Forte looks like he’s back–that breakaway speed was evident on a few runs on Sunday, and that was good to see as a fantasy owner. He’ll continue to prosper as long as Jay Cutler is leading the passing game. There’s simply more room for him to run with a competent quarterback under center. I’m fine with having Forte as an automatic start once again.”

“Slaton, however, is struggling. He’s not getting any blocking, is fumbling the ball, and can’t seem to get a big game going in that offense. That 3.3 yards per carry average is scaring me and I’m not sure how that’s going to improve this weekend against Arizona’s defense, which is yielding fewer than 80 yards per game on the ground. Houston needs to figure out who they are offensively before I can endorse Slaton as a weekly starter. ”

Mandel also called the top-rated defense for the week: San Francisco. In an email, this is what Mandel had to say about his selection:

“I picked the Niners because I’ve seen them play aggressively on D all season. They’re a team that tries to score on defense…and the Rams offense was clearly one which was primed to help them out. I go with what I see, not reputation. This unit is a top-five unit defensively, and will put fantasy points up on a weekly basis. Some teams, like Washington, have good defenses, but they’re not good scoring-wise for fantasy football. San Francisco’s is a fantasy scoring defense.”

Steve Sheiner, FanBall was second and a trio of experts tied for third: Jeff Thitoff of 411fantasy.com (yours truly), Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sports) and James Rathbone  (Fantasy Football InDepth).

The group tied for sixth included Adam Conn (411fantasy.com), Jared Smola (Draft Sharks), Justin Shamlall (Fantasy Football InDepth) and Patrick Welsh (Fantasy Pros 911).

Rounding out the top-10 were these experts, all tied for 10^th: Adam Helbling (411fantasy,com), 2008 runner-up Paul Bourdett (Roto Experts), this year’s overall leader Michael Jones of Football Diehards and Tony Holm from Fantasy Sharks

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Michael Jones, Football Diehards

2. Adam Conn, 411fantasy.com

3. Jeff Boggis, Fantasy Sports Empires

4. Jared Smola, Draft Sharks

5. James Rathbone, Fantasy Football InDepth

6. Steve Sheiner, FanBall

T7.Michael Cooper, Cooper Sports Radio; Eric Karabell, ESPN;  Russ Bliss, Fantasy Football Starters; Ginny Loveless, Football Diehards

T11. Jeff Thitoff, 411fantasy.com; Paul Bourdett, Roto Experts; Justin Shamlall, Fantasy Football InDepth; Tony Holm, Fantasy Sharks; Peter Davidson, Fantasy Phenoms

16. Ross Mandel, NFL Draft Bible

T17. Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports; Brad Evans, Yahoo; Mike Gilbert, Roto Experts

Here’s the sheet for WEEK FIVE. Want to compete against the experts? Fill it out and submit…no amateur has defeated the 411 team yet.