Revisiting Vendetta’s NFL Hot Takes Before The 2022 Season

Revisiting Vendetta’s NFL Hot Takes Before The 2022 Season

Before the 2022 NFL season began, I gathered some of the best and brightest at Vendetta Sports Media to put together a list of all our hot takes going into the season. It would be fun to revisit those hot takes here and see if some people were on to something, or if we were just plain wrong. I will link that post here if you want to check out the original version. Let’s wind back the clock a little and see how our NFL hot takes are doing.

Garrett Burroughs

#1) The Detroit Lions Will Make The Playoffs

Well, we’re starting off on the right foot here. I was very high on the Lions before the season began. I loved their draft class, they played very hard last season, and I believed they were ready to take that next step and show folks they were going to be an even harder out than they were a season ago. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Lions will be vying for another top 5 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

#2) Najee Harris Will Lead The League In Rushing

0/2, both not even being close. I stated that last year, Harris finished fourth in the league in rushing. If the season ended today, he would be 34th. He is currently behind three QBs and an RB in Breece Hall who tore his ACL on October 24th. Another big swing and a miss here.

Christopher Bagdonas

#1) Daniel Jones becomes a pro bowler with a much-improved offensive line/play calling.

Bagdonas gets half-credit here. With first-year HC Brian Daboll at the helm, this offense has turned the corner from a year ago and this Giants team is currently sitting at 6-2. The part that goes wrong is Daniel Jones becoming a Pro Bowl-level player. While he does currently have a career-high in completion percentage at 65%, only averaging 174 ypg through the air will not help your cause to get to a Pro Bowl.

#2) The Eagles surprise everyone and beat out one of Tampa/LA/GB for a top-three seed in the NFC.

Our first NFL hot take that is looking like it will hit. The Philadelphia Eagles are 8-0 this year, led by Jalen Hurts who has been playing out of his mind this season. It also helps that Tampa has zero identity right now, the Rams are in full Super Bowl hangover mode and Green Bay is a complete mess right now. While I do believe the Eagles might be slightly fraudy because their schedule hasn’t been exactly tough, they are still the best team in the NFL right now.

Jackson Law

#1) Dolphins win 10+ games this season

Jefferson Legal himself making these back-to-back NFL hot takes that are likely to be correct. The Miami Dolphins are one of the most high-octane offenses in the league, led by first-year HC Mike McDaniel. With the Dolphins sitting at 6-3 on the year, if this team can stay healthy you can almost guarantee they will hit the 10+ win total this season.

#2) Chargers finish last in the AFC West

Before the 2022 NFL season began, I did not think this was that hot of a take. Kansas City is, well, Kansas City, Denver made that splashy trade for Russell Wilson, and I was higher than most on the Las Vegas Raiders. This left the Los Angeles Chargers at the bottom of the barrel. However, the AFC West has been the most confusing division in football, leaving Kansas City out of that of course. The Chargers sit at 5-3 and with how poorly the Broncos and Raiders are playing right now, I don’t see the Chargers falling that far.

Alex Chick

#1) Raiders win the AFC West

Sticking with this AFC West theme, we turn to the Chickster, whose NFL hot take was that the Las Vegas Raiders would win the AFC West. I get it. You have to stand by your team no matter what. Vegas did pull off that huge Davante Adams deal. But he couldn’t have been more wrong. Vegas sits behind the god-awful Broncos as last in the division. With the injuries they have been suffering as of late, I don’t think it’s a hot take to claim Vegas might finish the complete opposite of Chickster’s prediction. If only they sold at the deadline…

#2) Panthers Trade a QB at the deadline

The Carolina Panthers QB situation is a mess. They go and trade for Baker Mayfield in the off-season, benching Sam Darnold. Only to bench Mayfield for PJ Walker, who looks terrible. I also did not think this was too hot of a take, as I thought this could’ve been a reality. However, the trade deadline has come and gone and all three of these guys remain on the roster. At least Christian McCaffrey isn’t stuck in Carolina anymore.

2022 Fantasy Football Breakout Candidates: Week 10

Anthony Miranda

#1) Steelers Have a Top Five Receiving Corps by End of Season

As a Steelers fan, I had high hopes this could actually happen. With a room of Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and rookies George Pickens and Calvin Austin, by season’s end, they could’ve been great. However, Pittsburgh fleeced Chicago for Claypool, Austin won’t play at all this season and Johnson/Pickens are seeing targets from Kenny Pickett but Pickett looks like the rookie he is. I think in a few years’ time this could be accurate, but for this season this is a miss.

#2) The Cincinnati Bengals Miss the Playoffs

Listen, if I would have wrote this during the first month of the year or so I would’ve said Anthony Miranda was a genius for this NFL hot take. But after a rocky start, the Bengals seem to be finding a little bit of a stride as of late. The Bengals are 5-4 right now but do sit outside the playoff picture behind the Patriots. Maybe Miranda was on to something after all.

Trey Daubert

Trey took the easy way out and didn’t list out hot takes, but instead threw a ton together. Here was his message in the roundtable post from before the season:

“I’m not sure what constitutes as a hot take anymore with the internet. I’ve seen everything and anything under the sun thanks to Twitter. Instead, call these off the top of the dome predictions — some of these are maybe bolder than others. JK Dobbins leads the league in rushing; the Falcons will be beyond terrible; George Pickens is way better than Drake London; Washington wins the NFC East; Eric Stokes is the best year-two player you’re not talking about; Denver will be really good; Trevor Lawrence is ready to explode, Carolina is better than you think; Dallas misses the playoffs; Mitch Trubisky obviously fails in Pittsburgh, and the Bills win the Super Bowl.“

Let’s go through this quickly.

• JK Dobbins will be lucky to be top-50 in rushing
• Falcons are confusing in their decision making, but are second in their division
• Drake London is playing better statistically than George Pickens so far this season
• Washington is 4-5 and last in their division
• Eric Stokes is good but is now on the shelf, likely for the year
• Denver is historically bad on offense with Wilson under center
• If exploding is 3-6 on the year, then Lawrence is definitely exploding
• Carolina is a dumpster fire
• If the season ended today, Dallas is the 5 seed in the playoffs
• Mitch did fail in Pittsburgh, but his replacement isn’t playing much better
• Buffalo is a favorite to win the Super Bowl

Lots of misses in there for the boss.

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