As the stop watch begins, the man rapidly scrolls through his notes. He sees the black, bold letters on the sheet of paper: Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, and Marshawn Lynch. With thoughts rambling through his head at the speed of a freight train, he slowly raises his pale right arm into the air shouting, “I pick Adrian Peterson!”
With the start of the football season just around the corner (Baltimore and Denver play on Thursday), you probably have entered into a fantasy football league. You have already had your draft and you are pondering who will actually do well and who was a bad pick. You are telling your friends out-of-proportion stuff like Alex Gurun at lunch proclaiming, “Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, and Colin Kaepernick will have worse seasons than Andrew Luck.”
Bold predictions are meant to be out of the ordinary, and out of the blue.
In this article, I will be making bold predictions in order of average draft position according to ESPN, with about two players in each section until I get to later rounds where I will spread them out.
Players drafted 1-10:
Ray Rice (Baltimore Ravens) will be the best running back in terms of fantasy points, at the end of the season. My reasoning for this is the lack of proven talent in the skill positions. Baltimore’s best receiver is a young, inconsistent receiver, whom I will talk about later. With this uncertainty he might be carrying the load as well as catching the ball, which is great points in ppr leagues.
Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions) will have more total touchdowns than a top 10 running back. My reasoning for this is that Calvin got tackled inside the 2-yard line five times, and more times inside the 5-yard line.
That stat will have to give this year and I like him to be a double-digit touchdown receiver, if he doesn’t get injured.
Players drafted 11-20:
Steven Jackson (Atlanta Falcons) will be a top 5 running back. My reasoning is by the simple fact that Michael Turner got 10 touchdowns inside the red zone last year and he is straight-up awful. With an even better running back, Jackson will be getting more touchdowns than Turner and over 1000 yards.
Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos) will have a better season than last year. With the addition of Wes Welker and being in the system for a year, Peyton has the potential to be a first rounder in next year’s draft.
Players drafted 21-30:
Steven Ridley (New England Patriots) will be a top 5 running back. With the arrest of Aaron Hernandez, Gronk being Gronk, and Wes Welker’s departure after being intimidated by Bill Belichick, Ridley will be seeing a lot of touches, just as in the situation in Baltimore. He is easily a double-digit touchdown running back and they play teams twice such as the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills with defenses he destroys.
Andre Johnson (Houston Texans) will not be the bust everyone thinks he will be. In my opinion, he will rise again to the early to middle second round because let’s face it; Arian Foster is going to get hurt this season. With his work load’s after the past few years, he will get injured and more pressure will be put on Matt Schaub to perform, and his primary target is Andre Johnson.
Players drafted 31-40:
Like Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) will rise back into stardom. After a very sub-par season, Larry is looking to bounce back. After getting receptions from the likes of Kevin Kolb and John Skelton, he now has a decent quarterback in Carson Palmer. If he can perform even relatively close to when Kurt Warner was there, he will be money in fantasy leagues.
Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) will beat out Tom Brady in points this season. With a much better supporting cast than Tom Brady, I think Matt Ryan will make the jump this year, and this is the perfect time to do it with the best supportive cast he has ever seen.
Players drafted 41-60:
Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) will be the Matthew Stafford of old. Like I said previously, Calvin Johnson will be catching more touchdowns this year than last and that will help out his points and his confidence massively. Also, with a dynamic back in Reggie Bush, those dump-off passes might result in big gains and touchdowns. Lastly, and most importantly, I think he has learned from his many interceptions last season and will improve as a quarter back.
Players drafted 61-80:
Torrey Smith (Baltimore Ravens) will be a top 15 receiver when it is all said and done. He is the number one receiver in Baltimore and Ray Rice can’t handle all the work. He is a freak athlete and a huge deep ball threat. Guess who likes to “air it out long?” His quarterback, Joe Flacco.
Greg Jennings (Minnesota Vikings) will drop off big time after this year. He has had a history of frequently being off the field and had some trouble in Green Bay. Now in a rush orientated offense he will do even worse.
Players drafted 81-100:
Miles Austin (Dallas Cowboys) will be, at worst, a fifth round pick next year. Believe the myth or not, this is Miles Austin’s contract year and that means an increased level of intensity for a delivery of a big contract. Also, with Dez’s presence on the field there is a high probability that Dez gets some kind of double team, leaving Miles in an ideal situation. Look out for him in Dallas’s passing offense.
Players drafted 101-130:
Emmanuel Sanders (Pittsburgh Steelers) will have a better season than his teammate Antonio Brown. Emmanuel Sanders is a big target when going vertical, and I think he has potential to become close to the number one target.
Kenbrell Thompkins (New England Patriots), with hardly a supporting cast of receivers besides the injury prone Danny Amendola, has a chance to be a rising star. He has developed a nice relationship with Tom Brady, reports ESPN. Furthermore, he is coming off a solid preseason from being an undrafted rookie, to entering the starting lineup. Not only that, he recorded solid stats as well.
Quick Hits: Bilal Powell (New York Jets) will come up on fantasy owner’s radars after week 5. Not only was he named the starter for the Jets, but is also a fatal threat in the backfield and is a running back with horrific quarterbacks starting.
EJ Manuel (Buffalo Bills) will become a solid backup, maybe even starting quarterback in standard leagues.
Knowshon Moreno (Denver Broncos) will get the same amount of minutes as Montee Ball.
DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans) will have 900 yards receiving and 6 touchdowns.
Jermaine Gresham (Cinninnati Bengals) will be a viable tight end throughout the season, meaning he will reach the top 5 tight end list.
Patriots will have a top 5 defense because they play Buffalo, Miami and the Jets twice.
Golden Tate (Seattle Seahawks) will be better than Sidney Rice.
Vernon Davis (San Francisco 49ers) will be the 8th best tight end.
Lamar miller (Miami Dolphins) will be a top 30 running back.
Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys), fantasy-wise, will be better than Robert Griffin III.
Danny Woodhead (San Diego Chargers)will be a top 7 ppr running back.
And finally, Matt Prater (Denver Broncos) will be the best kicker in the league.
Who do you think will rise up this NFL season?
