Tag: bold predictions

ESPN 2023 predictions: Saints’ easy schedule could lead to No. 1 seed in the NFC

ESPN’s bold predictions for 2023 suggest the New Orleans Saints’ easy schedule (on paper) could lead Dennis Allen’s team to the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC:

Well that’s interesting. ESPN senior NFL national reporter Dan Graziano broke down his predictions for all 32 teams going into the 2023 regular season, and he sees a scenario where the New Orleans Saints are competing for the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC. That’s pretty high praise.

But here’s the catch: Graziano doesn’t see the Saints getting there for their own merits. Their very-favorable schedule is an advantage other teams around the conference don’t enjoy, with an abundance of unproven rookie quarterbacks and squads that weren’t exactly impressive last year. If the Saints do reach the postseason, Graziano is suggesting they won’t go much further after running into more formidable opponents:

“Please don’t get this twisted. I do not believe the Saints will be the best team in the NFC. I do not think they’re in that conversation with the Eagles, 49ers, Cowboys, Seahawks and others. But they do play in the NFC South, and their schedule is — on paper, at least — cream-cheese soft.

New Orleans plays four games against teams whose current projected starting quarterbacks are rookies (Texans, Colts and Panthers twice). It plays three games against teams whose current projected starting quarterbacks are first-year starters (Packers and Falcons twice). The rest of the Saints’ schedule includes just three quarterbacks who finished last season in the top 15 in Total QBR (Giants, Lions and Bears). They play seven games against teams that finished in the bottom seven last year in defensive efficiency and only two (Buccaneers and Patriots) that finished in the top 12.

The Saints believe that they’ve upgraded at quarterback with Derek Carr and that their defense is still among the league’s best. If they’re right, they should be able to pile up more wins than an offseason assessment of their overall roster might predict. And with the Eagles playing in a division with two other 2022 playoff teams, and the Niners likely getting challenged by the Seahawks in the NFC West, the Saints could sneak in as the conference’s top seed when all is said and done.”

Objectively speaking, the Saints are in a better spot than those Super Bowl contenders. They’ll be fighting off two teams in their division without quarterbacks (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons) and a third NFC South rival that’s installing a new coaching staff and first-year passer. Comparatively speaking, New Orleans has the best chance of earning the division crown.

Here’s the part where we take issue with Graziano’s take on those NFC powerhouses. The Saints beat two of them last year, outscoring the Seattle Seahawks 39-32 and burying the Philadelphia Eagles (without superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts, we’ll admit) 20-10. The 49ers couldn’t even score two touchdowns on them and needed help from Andy Dalton to beat the Saints in Francisco 13-0. Dallas won their last meeting in 2021 with Taysom Hill throwing four interceptions.

If Carr can play better than guys like Hill and Dalton while the New Orleans defense meets its usual standards, they can compete with any of those teams. They’ve done it before. That’s the expectation for Dennis Allen and his coaching staff and players. They’ve got no room for excuses after upgrading at quarterback and keeping their best players on the roster this summer. If Allen can’t win games and get this team to the playoffs with such a weak schedule drawn up for them, that has to be the end of the line for him. Hopefully things go as well as hoped and the Saints won’t have to search for a new head coach in three or four months.

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6 bold predictions for Chiefs rookies ahead of training camp

Our @goldmctNFL gets bold with a few predictions for #Chiefs rookies in 2023 prior to the start of training camp.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ rookies selected in the 2022 NFL draft made an outsized contribution to the team’s Super Bowl LVII win.

That’s not typically the norm in the NFL. As a result, it may have left some unrealistic expectations for the team’s incoming class of rookies via the 2023 NFL draft and undrafted free agency.

We’re leaning into some of those unrealistic expectations, pushing for the ceiling for some of those rookies for the 2023 NFL season. Here’s a look at six bold predictions regarding the rookie class with training camp on the horizon:

Chad Johnson predicts sky-high passing numbers for Saints QB Derek Carr

Chad Johnson predicts sky-high passing numbers for Saints QB Derek Carr. Ochocinco has high expectations for Carr’s next chapter | @ClutchWDN

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Former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has the chance to prove his doubters wrong this upcoming NFL season. As one of the newest additions to a new-look New Orleans Saints roster, he has all the weapons in place to make some noise this season.

Former NFL wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson also seems to believe this is the case, as he took to Twitter this afternoon.  He took the time to respond to an NFL post asking fans to predict Derek Carr’s stat line this season with the Saints.

He would go on to respond with the following prediction:

This prediction is not only one that reflects a positive opinion of Carr, but the belief that there is truly something special brewing in the bayou. Taking these numbers out of context is impressive enough, but let’s take a look at how they look compared to the league leaders last season.

First up, let’s address the passing yards projection. Johnson predicted Carr at 4,700 passing yards, which would have ranked third in the league last year. The only two quarterbacks who surpassed this mark last season were two of the best in the sport, those being Patrick Mahomes (5,250) and Justin Herbert (4,739). This would also nearly surpass Carr’s career high in passing yards, which came in 2021 with 4,804 yards. If he had played in every game this season, he would have been on track for 3,991 yards for reference.

In terms of the interceptions projection, Johnson is predicting that Carr would tie his career low in this statistic. The lowest number of interceptions he has ever thrown in his career in a season was six back in 2016. Since then, he has thrown at least eight every season, with 14 the last two seasons each. Despite this being a very low projection, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility based on his career. In terms of the league, this is predicting Carr among the elite, with Jalen Hurts only throwing six interceptions last season, as well as Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray throwing seven in limited seasons.

Finally, the passing touchdowns thrown statistic, where Johnson predicted 38 for the New Orleans signal caller. This would surpass the career high for Carr, in which he threw 32 previously in the 2015 season. On average, he typically throws right around 24 passing touchdowns in a season, so this is somewhat of a bold prediction for sure. Among other quarterbacks this season, that would have placed him second behind Patrick Mahomes (41), and three touchdowns above Joe Burrow and Josh Allen who each had 35.

So, overall, is this a bold prediction? Absolutely. However, with the weapons Carr now has in New Orleans, with a quality offensive line to protect him and a top-tier defense to get him the ball back, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Hopefully this does come to fruition, but we will have to wait and see as the season unfolds if this will be the case.

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Bold Vikings predictions: Purple Access

With the NFL abyss upon us, Purple Access gives you bold Vikings predictions for the 2023 season.

We are heavy into the NFL sports abyss, it’s a perfect time to look forward to the upcoming season. With training camp coming up in about a month, what can we expect from the Minnesota Vikings?

On the latest episode of Purple Access, hosts Declan Goff and Vikings Wire’s own Tyler Forness and Judd Zulgad each make two bold predictions for the upcoming season.

  • Josh Oliver becomes a standout
  • Brian Flores leads a defensive resurgence
  • Greg Joseph becomes a reliable kicker
  • Safeties get to the quarterback

All of that and more on the latest episode of Purple Access.

Anthony Richardson, Shane Steichen included in SI’s 2023 bold predictions

The rookie QB and first-year HC got a shout out in SI’s bold predictions for 2023.

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Sports Illustrated put together a list of 100 bold predictions for the 2023 season, and Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson and head coach Shane Steichen were among those included.

Starting with Richardson, Sports Illustrated made a “bold prediction” that the Florida product would win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award with a bit of a caveat.

5. Anthony Richardson will win Offensive Rookie of the Year, but …

Bryce Young will lead all rookie passers in quarterback rating. If Richardson, who plays a more all-encompassing style of football than Young, plays an entire season, there is no way he won’t amass a more glamorous statistical profile than Young, who is more of a traditional pocket passer. That said, much like when Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck entered the league in 2012, we may come away with an initial preference toward one quarterback while also recognizing the long-term value of another.

It’s very possible Richardson puts together a strong enough campaign on the ground to put him in the conversation for the award and if he’s further along as a passer than we expect to begin the season, there’s a chance he’s a solid underdog to keep an eye on.

As for Steichen, Sports Illustrated made the “bold prediction” that the first-year head coach would win a pretty big award leading a team that went 4-12-1 during the previous campaign.

10. The Colts’ Shane Steichen will win the Coach of the Year award

It’s easier to be considered for this award when you’re starting from a bad place. The Colts were one of the worst teams in the NFL last season and endured the optical hit of a Week 10 change to Jeff Saturday on the sidelines. During Saturday’s tenure, the Colts lost seven straight games and surrendered the biggest comeback loss in NFL history. This is a quick way of saying that the pump is primed for a turnaround.

Steichen is an interesting candidate to win the award, but it’s so early in the offseason that we have no idea how the Colts are actually going to perform in 2023.

Richardson, along with two other rookies, was included in another “bold prediction” but one that we may take a bit of exception to.

19. The single-game record for most times getting sacked (12) will be broken

Right now, the record is shared by Bert Jones, Warren Moon and Donovan McNabb. One of the non–Bryce Young rookie quarterbacks will carry that dubious distinction heading into the 2024 season. Anthony Richardson, Will Levis or C.J. Stroud … look out. You’re in for at least one very painful afternoon this season.

The reason we would take exception to this “bold prediction” is due to the fact that one of Richardson’s best qualities from college was his ability to avoid sacks. That’s not to say he won’t face a more difficult time doing so in the NFL, but his elusiveness in the pocket is one of his best traits.

Regardless, bold predictions are a fun exercise to see where the outlets view the range of outcomes for the Colts and their players.

Maybe we should check back to this article in January to see just how bold these predictions were.

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Cowboys’ rough start, Zeke’s return among 100 bold predictions

From @ToddBrock24f7: Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr weighs on on everything from how many Ws the Cowboys will notch to their kicker leading the league. Really.

Everybody loves a big list. And everybody loves bold predictions.

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated has loads of ideas on what the 2023 season could bring. From award winners (Joe Burrow for MVP; Myles Garrett for Defensive Player of the Year) to broken records (some QB will be sacked 12 times in a game), and from answering the major questions (Bengals over 49ers to win Super Bowl LVIII) to calling some pretty random shots (a faux-Andy Reid streaker makes an appearance in the Frankfurt game), Orr covers all the bases in this list of 100 bold predictions for the upcoming NFL campaign.

There’s even a Taylor Swift Super Bowl halftime show that will all but cause every television on the planet to explode in perfect synchronicity.

Here are his six predictions that most directly affect the Cowboys.

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Post-spring edition: 10 Michigan football bold predictions

If these come true, #Michigan will be amazing! #GoBlue

Spring ball is behind Michigan football, and fans now look forward to fall camp.

But there were plenty of talking points in spring: The battle for the No. 3 running back spot, the competition at cornerback and the third option at wide receiver?

Some questions have been answered. Some will not be until Jim Harbaugh trots out the starters during the home opener against East Carolina on Sept. 2.

In this article, we are going to make 10 bold predictions heading into the fall. The predictions aren’t in any sort of order, but just 10 predictions in general.

10 bold predictions one month out from the 2023 NFL draft

One month away from the 2023 NFL draft kickoff, here are 10 bold takes on what will happen

We are exactly one month away from the start of the 2023 NFL draft in Kansas City. What exactly is going to happen on April 27th-29th in the draft?

Those are mysteries, of course. We’ll find out in due time, but that won’t stop the speculation.

In that spirit, here are 10 quick, bold predictions on what will happen next month in the draft.

10 bold predictions for the 2023 NFL offseason

There are plenty of quarterbacks and receivers on the move in Jarrett Bailey’s bold predictions for the 2023 NFL offseason.

With the NFL Scouting Combine less than two weeks away, and free agency starting in less than a month, there are several storylines that are developing behind the scenes by the day.

As we slowly but surely begin the trudge to training camp, here are 10 of my boldest offseason predictions around the NFL.

4 bold predictions for Bears vs. Vikings

The Bears are going to throw the ball quite a bit with Nathan Peterman and score a safety in our bold predictions against the Vikings.

The regular season finale is upon us and the Chicago Bears will take the field one final time as they face the playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. This might feel more like a preseason game for Chicago, however. The Bears (3-13) are losers of nine straight and are simply playing for a draft pick at this point. They will be without a few key offensive starters, namely quarterback Justin Fields, who was ruled out with a hip injury. That means Nathan Peterman will make his first start as a Bear this weekend.

For the Vikings (12-4), it’s unclear how much playing time they will give their starters. They’ve already locked up a spot in the playoffs in the wild card round and would only be playing for seeding. Still, they could be looking for a convincing win after they were shellacked by the Green Bay Packers last week.

With so many unknowns, it’s the perfect opportunity to make some bold predictions.