Somber times ahead with the Super Bowl wrapping up Sunday. It'll be seven months before we see our favorite teams and players strap up again for meaningful football...a long and sad wait to be sure. While we love the effort, the XFL and USFL aren't really as appealing an alternative to scratch that itch either...the dark days of football fandom.
Regardless of the wait, we're still grinding for y'all on the NFL front! With the '22-23 campaign still so fresh in our minds, here's some hot takes we're riding into next season for each team:
AFC
Buffalo Bills: Dawson Knox will have more touchdowns than Stefon Diggs...if Diggs isn't traded. The tight end had six last season, down slightly from his total previous year. Buffalo's WR1 had eleven, but seemed to disappear a bit down the stretch. I'm predicting a bit more methodical of an offensive approach by the Bills next season, with Josh Allen looking toward Knox more in the red zone.
Miami Dolphins: Tua will not be their starting quarterback at any point next year. Maybe not the boldest take here, but the Dolphins QB suffered three concussions over the last five months and is still in concussion protocol, despite not having played in over six weeks. I'd be absolutely stunned if he doesn't have a full squad of people around him urging him to consider retirement. The sad reality of the situation is that the decision may not even ultimately be up to him. Really unfortunate development for an promising, young player.
New England Patriots: Mac Jones will be benched for poor play at some point. Bailey Zappe showed that he's probably not a long-term solution under center, but he was still more than capable of providing a spark for the offense in a pinch. Zappe won't steal Jones' job outright, but he'll allow Belichick to hold him accountable for his performance.
New York Jets: The Jets will have two 1,000 yard receivers. Garrett Wilson will undoubtedly be one of them, but we'll let you readers determine who the second will be. Corey Davis is on the last year of his deal and put up 984 in Tennessee the last time he was an impending free agent. Elijah Moore is also plenty talented enough to push for 1k. Will Aaron Rodgers be throwing them the ball??
Baltimore Ravens: Their leader in receiving yards isn't on the roster yet. Again, maybe not that bold considering tight end Mark Andrews led the team with just 847 yards, but the Ravens cannot be content with the current state of their wide receiver room. Rashod Bateman has shown some promise, and Devin Duvernay is an adequate gadget guy, but they need to add some talent at the position. Will Mike Evans or Deandre Hopkins be in play via trade? Or perhaps a much less exciting DJ Chark or Marvin Jones addition in free agency. Whoever they acquire, let's hope Lamar Jackson is the one passing to them...
Cincinnati Bengals: 2023 will be Joe Mixon's last year on the team. Maybe even sooner with his recent menacing charges, dropped or not. The 7th year running back has had some iconic moments in Cincinnati, but is inconsistent and due $12 million dollars at a non-premium position. It'll only cost the Bengals 2.7 mil in dead cap to cut him after the season-- money I'm sure they'd much rather send Jamarr Chase or Joe Burrow's way at this point.
Cleveland Browns: Kevin Stefanski will be fired midseason amongst Deshaun Watson's struggles. Cleveland's head coach came on very strong in 2020 but has regressed in the two subsequent seasons, despite more talented rosters. It was surprising that there's not more chatter about him being on the hot seat. If the Browns come out of the gate slow, expect that noise to accelerate quickly, eventually leading to a pink slip.
Pittsburgh Steelers: George Pickens and Najee Harris will have double digit touchdowns. They combined for just eleven last year, meaning this would be a big jump for each, but improved play by Kenny Pickett and some upgrades on the offensive line would go a long way in elevating the two Steelers stars. Pickens will be a productive keeper for many dynasty owners.
Houston Texans: The Texans secure a wild card spot. This team was uber-competitive down the stretch last season, despite a wholly untalented roster, nothing to play for and a platoon of Davis Mills, Jeff Driskel and Kyle Allen at QB. Armed with the 2nd and 12th pick, a successful draft could really boost Houston's outlook. They hit some home runs in 2022, with Derek Stingley Jr., Dameon Pierce and Jalen Pitre paying immediate dividends. A little more success at the top of the draft this April and Demeco Ryans' defensive expertise will propel them to a postseason berth.
Indianapolis Colts: Indy will end up in the basement of the AFC South. The only reason they weren't this season was because of how bad the Texans were. Their top heavy roster has a ton of holes to fill, including quarterback. With limited cap space too, there's no way the Colts can bring in the necessary reinforcements to get back on track.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Travis Etienne will combine for over 1,700 all-purpose yards. The Jags' versatile running back is coming off a season where he took 255 touches for 1,441 total yards, and that was with James Robinson as the lead dog for six games. Calvin Ridley's return to the field will help elevate Trevor Lawrence's play even further, preventing opposing defenses from stacking the box, giving Jacksonville's RB1 plenty of space to work. I truly think 1,700 yards could be Etienne's floor.
Tennessee Titans: Derek Carr will be their starting quarterback. In my opinion, Carr is average at best...but there's some NFL GM's that seem to feel differently. Somebody will pay up to kick the tires on the soon-to-be former Raider, and I could see Tennessee being that team. The Titans could eat $18 million in dead cap to move on from Ryan Tannehill this offseason, which I think they want to do. Perhaps a QB swap could be in play? It may be appealing to Vegas to obtain a viable, short-term starter for their rebuild.
Denver Broncos: Jerry Jeudy will be traded to try and recoup some draft picks. The Sean Payton trade was an expensive and surprising splash for the disappointing team. Payton's a great coach, and the Broncos have a talented roster, but they already have a ton of money allocated to Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and Russell Wilson. With minimal draft picks for cheap replacements, just how much can they splurge on the offense? If Hollywood Brown got the Ravens the #25 pick, Jeudy would fetch them at least one first rounder.
Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs will lead the league in interceptions. They've got some nice, young corners in La'Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie who'll benefit from good game scripts every week. After posting middle of the pack INT numbers this season, expect them to jump to #1 next year.
Las Vegas Raiders: Aaron Rodgers will either be a Raider or Davante Adams will be dealt. Wide range of emotions on deck here for the Raiders faithful. Would Rodgers be willing to go out to the City of Sin to reunite with his old WR1? Would GM Dave Ziegler be willing to pay the price it would cost to acquire the three-time MVP? It would definitely feel like Super Bowl or bust at that point.
The alternative would be recouping some high picks for Adams. #17 didn't skip a beat going from Rodgers to Carr, but would absolutely want no part of a rebuild. A team like Chicago or New England may be willing to pay a premium to get a true read on the status of their young quarterbacks.
Los Angeles Chargers: Brandon Staley will be fired midseason. Maybe a little redundant from Browns take, but I didn't think he should've been retained regardless. His in-game decisions have been consistently poor, from clock management to personnel usage, undeniably costing them a playoff victory against Jacksonville. If the Chargers hit a rough patch in 2023, expect Staley to hit the unemployment line.
NFC
Dallas Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott will be cut or relegated to third string behind Tony Pollard and a rookie. He was a touchdown machine for the Cowboys, but was really inefficient outside of that, only catching 17 passes while averaging 3.8 yards per carry. He was visibly the worse back in Big D. He's come out saying he'd be willing to take a pay cut to stay with the team, but the choice may not be up to him. You can feel the tears welling up in Jerry Jones' eyes already.
New York Giants: The Giants won't have a single receiver or running back eclipse 1,000 yards in their respective categories. Daniel Jones was a nice story, but he was rarely a threat in the passing game. They don't have a ton of talent at the position on the roster, nor an appealing situation to lure a free agent receiver to, so I'm struggling to see who would accomplish this statistical feat.
I was on the record as a Saquon hater in the preseason, at least for fantasy purposes, and I walked back my words. He had a strong season, but it was the first time we saw him avoid injury since his rookie year. Something tells me that won't be the case in 2023 and that we'll see some regression to Barkley's rushing yards. And that's assuming he even resigns in New York.
Philadelphia Eagles: Devonta Smith will have more receiving yards than AJ Brown. Certainly not an earth-breaking assumption here given the talent level of both players, but Devonta really came on strong down the stretch. He finished this most recent season with more catches and about 300 less yards than his counterpart Brown-- numbers we think he'll improve upon after another offseason of work.
Washington Commanders: Sam Howell will start all season for the Commanders, barring injury. The fact that Howell didn't start more of the games down the stretch for Washington is a monumental failure by their coaching staff...adding to their long list of previous fuck ups. The UNC alumni looked sharp in his tiny sample size, certainly piquing an interest within the organization. DC has a solid roster with a big hole at QB. If they can fill that void on a rookie deal for foreseeable future, it'll really raise their ceiling.
Chicago Bears: Justin Fields makes a Jalen Hurts-type leap with an upgraded supporting cast. I'm not predicting MVP talk just yet, but a concentrated effort by Ryan Poles and the Bears' front office to surround him with better weapons will reveal the level of talent Fields brings to the table. His top receivers from a year ago were Darnell Mooney and tight end Cole Kmet, with no pass catcher recording over 544 yards. Anemic is a nice way to put it. They're armed with the #1 pick and the most cap space in the league, priming themselves for some major improvements.
Detroit Lions: Aiden Hutchinson and the Lions lead the league in sacks. Detroit found themselves smack in the middle of the NFL ranks last season and hold the sixth pick overall in the upcoming draft. Given some of the hype surrounding the top quarterbacks, a talent like Jalen Carter or Will Anderson falling to them isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Pairing Hutch with a top tier talent on the D-Line will cause headaches in the NFC North for the next 5+ years.
Green Bay Packers: AJ Dillon finally overtakes Aaron Jones as the team's leading rusher. Dillon was already the preferred work horse in the red zone, but a shift to Jordan Love under center should open up a more run heavy approach to ease their young quarterback into things. Jones is awesome, and he's not going anywhere, but this'll be Dillon's year to slot in as the true RB1 in Green Bay.
Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings regress to a .500 team. The negative point differential says it all: Minnesota was a good enough team that did enough to win thirteen games. But they got obliterated by quality teams like the Cowboys and Eagles in their few meetings, suggesting that they were more of an enigma than a force. That'll come to light next season as they play a much harder schedule, crashing back down to Earth.
Atlanta Falcons: Jimmy Garoppolo is their starting quarterback. Lots of cap space, a decent running game, Kyle Pitts and Drake London are all a few reasons why this job would be interesting to any free agent quarterback. Toss in a terrible division plus a reputable offensive mind in Arthur Smith, and I love Atlanta as a dark horse landing spot for Jimmy G.
Carolina Panthers: Brian Burns leads the league in sacks. The second year man out of Florida State racked up 12.5 a year ago for a Panthers team that was rarely ahead. A more productive campaign by the offense would go a long way in helping Burns' manufacture game scripts that allow him to pin his ears back and get the QB. If you didn't know his name yet, learn it now, because the kid's a future star in this league.
New Orleans Saints: New Orleans will have the worst scoring offense in the league. There's been a ton of chatter about Garoppolo ending up in the City of Easy Living, which would have us walking back this take. But if the Saints end up running it back with Andy Dalton and/or Jameis Winston under center...it'd be hard to be excited about this offensive unit. Chris Olave's an awesome piece, but Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara ain't getting any younger. Do or die time for the remnants of Sean Payton's final offenses in NOLA.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa will finish last in the NFC South. They were really only a game and a half out of the divisional basement as it was with Tom Brady at quarterback. Now that they're onto...Blaine Gabbert...or Kyle Trask...or somebody else taking the majority of their snaps, I just don't see them being a competitive team in the year ahead. Hold onto that Lombardi Trophy tight Bucs fans, the forecast looks grim.
Arizona Cardinals: Kyler Murray will legitimately be on the trading block. The polarizing quarterback has a massive new contract, a new head coach and GM. Will they be content banking their futures on the immature 25 year-old as he rehabs from a major ACL surgery? My feeling is that they'll at least hold court for serious negotiations as they attempt to reset a roster that looked top notch so recently...
Los Angeles Rams: Cooper Kupp will lead the league in receptions again. I'm assuming Matthew Stafford will be throwing him the ball as well, not Baker Mayfield, but I was tempted to include the latter in this bold prediction somehow. Kupp was having a great season prior to his ankle injury and should be 100% ready to pick up where he left off come training camp.
San Francisco 49ers: Trey Lance will eventually be benched, for a returning Brock Purdy or a QB not currently on the roster. It become glaringly obvious that the #3 pick overall was underperforming prior to his season-ending injury. Had Purdy not torn his UCL in their last game, he'd easily walk into the starting role. But because of the rehab time he'll need, Lance will get another shot at QB1. Expect Kyle Shanahan to lose his patience with the young quarterback, eventually leading to him on the bench for Purdy or a CJ Beathard/Nick Mullens type. Big swing and a miss by the Niners.
Seattle Seahawks: Kenneth Walker will have a dozen+ touchdowns. Most of them will be on the ground, but expect Walker to take a little jump in the passing game as well. He was a force to be reckoned with once he got his footing underneath him and should be a dynamic part of the Seattle offense for years to come. Look for him to start shooting up fantasy boards now.
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@Choppinglines
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