Hot Takes for the Upcoming Season

(I would like to preface this article by saying absolutely nothing in here was created by AI. This makes me better than Yahoo Sports that has laid off employees and is using AI to create their articles.)

The offseason is finally winding down, preseason games are starting, and some members of this league are overreacting to those games. Before the offseason grades are released I felt like it was time for me to drop some hot takes about each team that you can laugh at me later for being so wrong. These takes will progressively get hotter so by the end I hope no one agrees with them.

Skattebeast - The Wide Receiver group holds this team back from the Playoffs

This is the coldest take of the bunch mostly because this team was not voted very highly in the power rankings. Coming in 8th this teams biggest weakness is the wide receiver position. Terry Mclaurin just had a career year with Jayden Daniels, and recently signed a 3 year extension worth 96 million. This extension was very important to get done, because now Terry can solely focus on football and winning games, but it comes with a drawback. Mclaurin missed several weeks of very valuable practice with the offence, which helps get players into playing shape, but also builds chemistry among all position groups. If Mclaurin has a slow start to the year, it could be very detrimental to the success of this team. Aside from Mclaurin, this team rosters Khalil Shakir, Jameson Williams, and Tetairoa McMillan, which all come with their share of problems.

Khalil Shakir provides a good high floor for this team, but a very low ceiling with his role on the Bills. Shakir gets a lot of manufactured catches within the offence but doesn't win targets like most receivers do. This will lower his ceiling as a fantasy receiver but with very little change in the wide receiver room for the Bills, Shakir is expected to have that high floor week to week but without that ceiling, it really limits the success of this team.

Jameson Williams is a big play machine for the Detroit Lions, and sometimes is given end arounds because he is electric with the ball. Unfortunately for Jamo, Ben Johnson the offensive guru has left the team, leaving Jared Goff to run the offence with a lesser offensive play caller.

Jared Goff has performed mostly well with Ben Johnson as OC, but with someone else the offence could look very different, and Goff might have to do more. I do not believe that Goff can do more than what he did last year, and I think all of the Lions receivers will suffer, including Jamo. I think Jamo will be an inconsistent fantasy player this year, leading this owner to be unsure if they should start him every week or not.

Lastly, Tetairoa McMillan was the 3rd overall pick in the rookie draft, coming with high expectations. As mentioned in the X-Factor article, if McMillan works out, this team will reach their desired success this season because of how limited the wide receiver position is on this roster. But you can never be certain about rookies and how they will perform in the NFL. McMillan will hopefully be a reliable target for Bryce Young, but with Young's own struggles in the NFL, there are definitely some concerns if McMillan is in the best situation to produce for fantasy.

This is an overall good team but the depth at the wide receiver position worries me, and I believe it will be the downfall for this team this year unless they make a midseason move or someone outperforms my expectations. This is the coldest take of the bunch simply because this team was not rated highly by the league and not as likely to make the playoffs.

CMC Revenge Year - Alvin Kamara and Davante Adams are top 10 at their positions (Bonus: Courtland Sutton is a top 15 wide receiver)

This is really a 2 for 1 take (with a bonus for 3 in 1) which might seem fairly hot (maybe you think it's cold I have no way of knowing) but here's why it is a reasonable take. These guys have consistently been elite fantasy players for nearly a decade. The situation for these guys hasn't really changed much, but for Adams it has gotten drastically better. While they are each reaching ages where their abilities are likely to decline, I will bet against father time and bet on the proven fact that these elite players are elite.

Alvin Kamara may not be an elite running back anymore, and I personally have doubted his abilities just this past season, but there isn't much going against him this year. Kamara will still lead the backfield as the Saints only added Devin Neal in the 6th round of the NFL draft, and Kendre Miller has yet to prove that he can stay healthy and play in games. This means that Kamara is guaranteed to receive a large majority of the carries and receiving work in the backfield. That receiving work is really where Kamara gets most of his points as he is a reliable target and can often get plenty of yards after the catch. The Saints will be forced to rely on Kamara in the receiving game for two reasons, the team sucks and will be losing forcing them to pass more, and the Quarterbacks on the Saints also suck and are more likely to dump the ball off to the Running back for easy yards. The only thing holding Kamara back from reaching the top 10 in points is the offensive line. Losing an All-Pro tackle in Ryan Ramczyk is devastating for the team and replacing him with rookie Kelvin Banks Jr. could be a problem. Kamara though, has tremendous patience and vision behind the line of scrimmage and can read blocks with the best of players. I don't think the dip will be too crazy. Kamara in my opinion is poised for another fantastic fantasy season and don't be surprised if he eclipses the top 10 in points for the 7th time in his career.

Davante Adams has been just as dominant as a fantasy player with 5 finishes inside the top 10 at wide receiver and should be in for another. Adams has played with one of the best Quarterbacks of all time for the majority of his career but since leaving Green Bay has been cursed with Derek Carr, Aiden O'Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew, and old Aaron Rodgers for his Quarterback. Adams has since signed a deal with the Los Angeles Rams and now gets to play with Matthew Stafford who has been an elite QB for much of his career and has supported some of the greatest wide receiver seasons of all time. Adams looks to be the number 2 receiver in this offence behind Puka Nacua but, Stafford can easily support two receivers in the same offence (see Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua), and Adams has not lost his abilities just yet.

While his 2024 season was not the most eye popping season he's ever had, Adams is still the exceptional route runner he's been his whole career. Adams should have absolutely no problem earning targets on this team, and should have no problem being in contention for top 10 in points for wide receivers.

Lastly, my bonus take being that Sutton will be top 15 has a simpler explanation. Sutton had a good year last year with 80 catches and over 1000 yards receiving with rookie Bo Nix at QB. Early in the year Nix was given a simple offence to run, not throwing the ball down the field a lot, but as the season progressed the coaching staff trusted him more and more. This allowed Nix and Sutton to increase their chemistry and connection on the field allowing for Sutton to have 4 different top 10 finishes after week 8 (includes a bye week) and averaged 19.77 points during that time. With their increased connection on the field and the lack of target competition, Sutton should have an even better season than last.

Obviously not the hottest take to bet on good players playing well, but betting on all three happening at the same time is where it gets a little spicy. Also I would just like to point out how loaded this team is with talent if Sutton sits on the bench most weeks.

Welcome to the Naberhood - Amon-Ra takes a step back as this team misses the playoffs

This might be where my takes start to get some disagreements from some leaguemates. Welcome To The Naberhood made great strides last season improving to 5 wins and was on the edge of making the playoffs being the first team out. While this team looks to finally break their way into the playoffs this season, I think they will fall short due to Amon-ra St. Brown taking a step back in his production.

This prediction is less about Amon-Ra and his abilities as a wide receivers, and more about Jared Goff and the offensive scheme. The Lions lost 8 total assistant coaches in the offseason including several offensive assistants (Offensive Coordinator, Wide Receivers coach, Assistant Quarterbacks coach, Tight Ends coach, and even the Pass Game Coordinator). That is a lot of brainpower simply walking out the door, and I think Goff will be affected the most. You would hope that the team will keep the scheme the same, but no one knows that scheme better than Ben Johnson and with him gone, it will be difficult to replicate it. A new scheme for Goff could throw him off, and him being of lesser talent (not a big goff fan here) could lead to a significant drop off in offensive production. This will affect every single offensive player including Amon-Ra. St. Brown has put up back to back top 3 finishes, but with this step back he could finish outside the top 10 for wide receivers.

Amon-Ra is still a fantastic talent and one of the best wide receivers in the NFL but unfortunately, he plays with Jared Goff and is on a team that lost several offensive coaches. These two factors lead me to believe that he will take a step back, and Welcome to the Naberhood will miss the playoffs once again.

Tony Dorsett - Omarion Hampton and Treveyon Henderson struggle and finish outside the top 20

The reigning champion snuck away from the draft, selecting two of the top three ranked running backs from that class looking to have an unstoppable group. Omarion Hampton and Treveyon Henderson will be joining Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, James Conner, and Brian Robinson to create a super team at the running back position. Unfortunately for this team, I believe that both Hampton and Henderson will not live up to expectations this season (this season only), and both finish outside of the top 20 in points. Similar to the Amon-Ra take, the reason these two players will not live up to immediate expectations is due to their team structure and situation rather than the level of talent these players have.

Omarion Hampton was drafted 22nd overall to the Chargers and was poised to have a fantastic rookie season. Hampton was a very highly regarded prospect who will fit right in to the Chargers run heavy offence with two elite offensive tackles anchoring their run and pass blocking. This would have been a recipe for success until Right Tackle Rashawn Slater ruptured his patella tendon during practice and will miss the entire upcoming season. Slater is a multiple time pro-bowler and is truly one of the all-around elite tackles in the NFL. Per PFF he ranks 2nd among tackles in pass-blocking grade, and ranks 5th in run-blocking grade, losing him will be devastating for the Chargers run game. Slater's replacement, Trey Pipkins, is below average in run blocking with a 63.7 grade which ranks 60th among guards, and 45th among tackles, going from elite down to below average will completely remove one side of the rushing scheme. Hampton will have a tough time overcoming the drop off in run-blocking ability from his offensive line, and I feel that he will be severely limited in his rookie season. With that, I believe that Hampton will finish outside of the top 20 in fantasy.

Treveyon Henderson was a part of an electric duo at Ohio State with Quinshon Judkins as the agile receiving back that could break off huge plays at any moment. The biggest drawback that Henderson faces, is his inability to be a workhorse running back. Henderson never eclipsed 200 rushing attempts during his 4 year college career. Henderson will not be able to take the beating that some NFL running backs take year after year and the Patriots will have to protect him a little during the year by limiting his touches. While Henderson averaged 6.4 yards per carry in his college career, he is going to a team with two question marks at the offensive line. Will Campbell was the Patriots 4th overall pick to be their franchise tackle, who will be given a chance to start at tackle, but with his small arm length would be better suited for a guard spot. Even if Campbell is unsuccessful at tackle, it is increasingly likely that the guard spot next to him will be even worse. Cole Strange has been a terrible offensive lineman his entire career and his blocking grades are abysmal (sub 50 run block grade in 2/3 seasons). The other option instead of Strange would be to start rookie Jared Wilson instead, who is another question mark if he will be productive or not. With Henderson being used to top end talent at Ohio State, it could prove difficult for him to be successful or productive behind this offensive line. While Henderson is likely to grab a large portion of the RB targets, it will not be enough for him to be a top 20 fantasy running back this season.

While this team will certainly be competing to defend their championship, the team will be held back by the two first round rookie picks that will underperform their expectations.

Addicted to Coke - Terrance Ferguson will finish as a top 10 Tight End

Some people in this league might not be fully aware of who Terrance Ferguson is. As an Oregon Duck fan I watched plenty of Ferguson in college and I believe he is the real deal in the receiving game. Ferguson got drafted to the perfect team in the Rams because they have a clear need for a receiving tight end, and have a fantastic quarterback that can get him the ball. In his last season at Oregon, Ferguson flashed many strengths in the receiving game. Ferguson was able to create good separation on short and intermediate routes with strong cuts, reliably found open spots in zone coverage for easy catches, and had good hands to catch passes away from defenders. Ferguson projects to be a very reliable receiving tight end for the Rams.

There are two main things that are holding Ferguson back from reaching top 10 potential this year. Tyler Higbee is ahead of him on the depth chart, and there are two other top tier receivers that will limit the targets Ferguson gets. Tyler Higbee still isn't 100% back from his torn ACL and MCL that he suffered in the 2023 wild card game, and combining that with Higbee turning 33 soon does not bode well for his future on the team. Ferguson being a 2nd round draft selection gives him an early boost as team want to get their early draft picks involved as much as possible. I don't think Ferguson will have much trouble passing Higbee in the depth chart and on the field. Now the other issue is that the Rams also have Puka Nacua and Davante Adams who will eat up a majority of the targets. But I don't think that will completely kill Ferguson's chances at being a top 10 tight end. Tucker Kraft was 10th last season putting up 50 catches, 707 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Those are solid numbers, but definitely achievable for Ferguson. There have been dozens of trios with at least 700 yards and Ferguson is certainly a good enough receiver to get to that number.

PoohShiesty9 - Will Miss the Playoffs

This is certainly where the takes turn up the heat. This team was the champion in year 1 and was in the playoffs again last season going 8-6. You might be thinking this is a crazy take considering the amount of top end talent on this team. And you'd be correct, with Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, Lamar Jackson, and even Brock Bowers this team should be a powerhouse this year. But alas this team has several holes that will inevitably hold them back from even making the playoffs.

The most glaring weakness on this team is the running back position. Kyren Williams is a talented back that has finished in the top 10 for running backs in each of the last two seasons. Kyren anchors a group that features several question marks at best. Travis Etienne is in a murky situation with Tank Bigsby challenging him for the starting role last season, and recently drafted Bayshul Tuten showing flashes during training camp and preseason games. Etienne was once a top 3 fantasy running back but currently finds himself with an uncertain role with two others competing for the starting role creating a question mark at RB2 for this team already. The position gets even worse on the bench with Roschon Johnson, Ray Davis, and Austin Ekeler providing very little for this team. Roschon Johnson competes with rookie Kyle Monangai for the RB2 on the Bears, making him another question mark for this team. Ray Davis was fairly productive in his couple starts last year and provided some good work in the passing game, but with James Cook receiving a contract extension, it is unlikely that the Bills feature Davis more than last year. Lastly, Ekeler was actually quite productive last year on the Commanders in the pass catching role but suffered a concussion in week 12 that knocked him out for 4 games. The 30 year old will likely be in the same role but with his diminishing athleticism, there are questions about how productive he could even be as he ages. Kyren will have to do some heavy lifting for this running back group to be serviceable with two complete question marks and an aging running back who could provide a couple decent weeks.

The other weakness this team faces is depth at the wide receiver position. Justin Jefferson and Nico Collins are tremendous talents, but there seems to be more question marks after those two. Tyreek Hill has had his first down year after five (5) consecutive top 6 fantasy finishes. But I have various concerns about him as a player and the team he is currently on. Tyreek seemed to check out of football once Tua went down last year, and even after the season Hill told the media "I'm out." While he later went back on that statement, surely that comment was not good for team morale and chemistry which is hard to regain. Tyreek is also 31 and players almost never bounce back to elite.

Tyreek's 2024 success rate against man dropped drastically from an average of 76% from 2018-2023 and his success rate against press coverage from 82% the last two seasons down to 72% this past season. On their own these numbers aren't necessarily bad, but for a tier 1 elite talent that Tyreek used to be, this is the first sign he is passed his peak. I do not believe that Tyreek will return to form this year and could pose a problem for this team.

In addition to Tyreek Hill, this team still has question marks with Jerry Jeudy, Travis Hunter, and Cooper Kupp. Jeudy just had a very good season, but Jameis Winston is no longer on this team, and the Browns don't even know who their starting quarterback is. Really leaves me questioning how productive Jeudy can be as a wide receiver one on a team with very poor quarterback play. Travis Hunter is a unicorn of a rookie attempting to play wide receiver and cornerback which will limit the total amount of offensive snaps he will play. While Hunter is a tremendous talent, the big question surrounding him is how often he is on offence and how many points he can get during that limited time. Lastly, Cooper Kupp signed back home in Seattle, and unfortunately has to catch passes from Sam Darnold. I am not a big fan of Darnold and believe that he will not succeed in Seattle. Kupp will eventually suffer from this below average quarterback play, and with this injury concerns/history, Kupp remains a big question mark for this team.

Despite this teams high end and elite talent, their lack of startable running backs and lack of depth at the wide receiver and flex spots, will hold this team back. There are too many question marks for this team and I believe they will miss the playoffs this year.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day - Emeka Egbuka leads the Bucs in Yards and Receptions

My team doesn’t have a lot of very good players so my take was always going to be fairly hot. A rookie leading their team in yards and receptions is a little rare but in Egbuka’s case it might seem even more unlikely due to the situation around him. Mike Evans is an automatic 1000 yard receiver (11 consecutive seasons), Chris Godwin was the WR1 through 7 weeks last season in the slot, Jalen McMillan was showing some good promise in the last few weeks of the season, and the backfield of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White will eat up some targets as well. But here’s what Egbuka has going for him.

The most obvious point is that two wide receivers on this team are recovering from significant injuries. Chris Godwin is still recovering from his dislocated ankle from last season and Jalen McMillan is on the IR with a strained neck. Currently, Godwin was taking off the PUP list (physically unable to perform), which allows him to start practicing with the team but he is still several weeks away from getting into games. The reports are saying Godwin won't be able to fully practice with the team until early October and might not play until at least week 6. This provides Egbuka with early opportunities to start in the slot, where he fits the best. This is the most significant because Mike Evans plays on the outside at the X receiver position and those two will not necessarily affect each others opportunities. They can co-exist essentially. Mike Evan is projected to take a small step back with sportsbooks projecting 950 receiving yards, and Egbuka in the slot is projected 850 yards by sportsbooks. I think Egbuka will pass Evans in yards and receptions because of the role that Egbuka will play. In the slot Egbuka will easily get more receptions because his catches are closer to the line of scrimmage while Evans will be more of an intermediate and deep threat. In the first 7 weeks of the 2024 season, Godwin (the slot receiver) had more receptions (50) and yards (576) than Evans did in those same 7 games (26-335). I fully believe that this scheme will continue this season with Egbuka starting in the slot and garnering the most receptions and yards on the team.

Just a few other small things of note, Egbuka was a very good prospect coming out of college, and even set the school record for most receptions and yards in his college career. Baker during training camp even had high praise for Egbuka saying "He stays on the ground, runs through the catch, gets yards after the catch, and reminds me of Amon-Ra St. Brown. He just does everything the right way." This is the exact type of praise you want from the quarterback that just threw for 4500 yards and 41 touchdowns the previous year. Egbuka should be in for a huge rookie season.

Mahomies over Mahoes - Makes the Playoffs

This take is definitely one of the hotter ones especially since this roster was the 9th ranked roster in this league. But I feel like this team could sneak their way into the playoffs with the roster as constructed. This team will succeed for two simple reasons this year. Consistent high floor players, mixed with playing the worst team in the league twice.

Starting off with the mix of players, Patrick Mahomes had a down year last season, same with Travis Kelce but I think Mahomes give you a solid floor every single week. Fantasy finishes can be deceiving sometimes because Mahomes put up 294 fantasy points in back to back season but dropped from QB8 in 2023 to QB 11 in 2024, but his 23 season didn't feel as bad as 24. Mahomes averaged 18.3 fantasy points and while not amazing, he provides a safe floor with good upside when Rashee Rice returns for week 8. Kelce is a different story, he might be completely washed, and this could even be Kelce's finals season. But that's okay this team has two other solid tight ends.

The running back group is fine, but Ashton Jeanty is doing some heavy lifting. Jeanty is poised to lead the Raiders in all rushing categories and should get plenty of touchdown opportunities in this improved offence. He provides a nice floor with a fairly high ceiling for this team as a great RB1. I have not been quiet about my dislike for D'Andre Swift, I do not think he is a good player at all. But, the Bears seem to believe in him as they didn't draft any running backs, and Swift looks to be the main back for what is projected to be a pretty good offence. Swift was RB19 last season and with a better offence, and several quality additions to the offensive line he very well could rise and create a great duo for this team. The other running back of note on this roster is Jaylen Warren who will be sharing touches with rookie Kaleb Johnson. I predict the split will be similar to the split Warren shared with Najee Harris last year, which means Warren will be limited to a few rushing attempts and a large majority of receiving work out of the backfield. He could be an okay start during bye weeks but unless Kaleb goes down with an injury, it is hard to see Warren as a productive enough player to start multiple weeks.

The wide receiver group for this team is pretty good to me. Tee Higgins was fantastic last season averaging 20.1 fantasy points (ranked 6th among all receivers). This even beat out other elite players like Nico Collins, CeeDee Lamb, and Malik Nabers. Higgins benefits from the Bengals brutally bad defence forcing the offence to pass more often, which means more opportunities for him. He could very easily be a WR1 for this team with a high ceiling that isn't even capped that much with Jamarr Chase on his team. This team also starts Devonte Smith, who was underwhelming last season finishing outside the top 20 in points, but missed 4 games and actually finished inside the top 20 in points per game. If Smith stays healthy, I believe he will have a season people aren't expecting and will help propel this team into the playoffs. Lastly, George Pickens should be better. He's in a situation where he isn't the main focus of the offence which will actually benefit him. Teams will be more focused on stopping CeeDee Lamb, and put lesser defenders on Pickens giving him better opportunities. Dak Prescott is easily the best QB that Pickens has played with which will increase the quality of targets he receives. This WR group is quite underrated if you ask me.

Lastly, the schedule is a little on the tough side but with the 6th seed sneaking into the playoffs last season with a 6-8 record, anything can really happen. This team get's a lucky schedule by playing the lowly Rome Wasn't Built in a Day twice giving them two easy matches. With those two wins, these team should have no problem going at least 4-8 in their remaining games, and can sneak into the playoffs.

Njigbas in Paris - Isaiah Pacheco finishes as a top 10 running back

This explanation will be a little simpler than some of the other ones but is still quite the hot take. FantasyPros says that Pacheco is currently being drafted as the RB24, which means I am predicting him to beat his adp by 14 spots.

First off, Pacheco doesn't have much competition on the Chiefs, as Kareem Hunt and 7th round rookie Brashard Smith are not nearly as talented as Pacheco is. Pacheco will get a majority of the rushing attempts and the targets from the backfield giving him really good volume already. Pacheco was very good in 2023 finishing as the RB15 despite ranking 22nd in carries that season and in 2024 pre-injury Pacheco averaged 17.95 fantasy points. The major thing that Pacheco has going for him is the Rashee Rice suspension. For 6 games the Chiefs will be leaning on their rushing attack to provide offence for them, this means that they will be leaning on Pacheco to help them move down the field. This is simple to me, Pacheco will finish as a top 10 running back.

The Pollard Express - Jamarr Chase Repeats as Triple Crown Winner

This is likely to be my hottest take of the bunch, but it has a simple reasoning just like the last take. The main point is that the Bengals defence is really bad again. They added money to Trey Hendrickson's current contract, and draft Shemar Stewart in the 1st round of the draft but that is not enough to change how bad this defence is. The Bengals will be giving up a ton of points to opposing teams. The only way to win games will be to throw the ball to Jamarr Chase as much as they possibly can. There is very little change with this Bengals offence, which bodes well for Chase, and there are not many candidates that could pass Chase in any of the 3 stats. Chase won the triple crown by a wide margin last season, and with how bad the Bengals defence is, Chase will have to carry the offence once again, giving him a good chance at the triple crown again.

I truly hope you enjoyed this hot takes article as it took me many hours to write. Over 5000 words is the largest writing project I have ever took on, but I enjoyed it very much. I will be going over these hot takes in the middle of the season as an update, then a look back next offseason to truly laugh at how bad my hot takes were.