Fantasy Football: Hot Take Predictions for Every AFC West Team

Hot Take:

Noun

a piece of commentary, typically produced quickly in response to a recent event, whose primary purpose is to attract attention.’

It’s hot take season in the world of NFL journalism. Everyone has an opinion on each team. Some are good, some are bad, some are right, and some are wrong. Here, I take a look at each team and talk about a prediction I think may come to fruition. Many will disagree with me, some will agree. Have a read about these four teams and come to your own conclusion.

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#1 Denver Broncos

Case Keenum will improve on his QB14 finish from last season.

Most people think Case Keenum’s superb 2017 was just a flash in the pan and its easy to see why. In Keenum’s career up until last season, he hadn’t thrown for more than 9 TDs in a single season, with his best completion percentage being 60.9 in 2016.

In 2017, Keenum surpassed all expectations when he was called upon after an injury to Sam Bradford. Keenum finished the year with a 67.7 completion percentage as well as marking career highs in passing yards with 3547, 22 TDs and just 7 INTs. His play earned him a two year deal in Denver, where he will be John Elway’s guy for at least a couple of seasons.

So why do I think he can better his impressive form from last year? I think he will continue to perform at a high standard because of the weapons he has around him. Last year his success was down to his connection he had with Adam Thielen, as well as Rudolph and Diggs. This year he has two seasoned veterans in the WR corps, in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

Thomas had a down year in 2017 due to mediocre Quarterback play. He is usually a lock for 1000 yards receiving at least. Sanders also struggled in 2017, mainly due to injuries and the same QB woes. These two veterans should up their game again this year, and if not, they will be pushed hard by two exciting new rookies that the Broncos drafted this year.

Courtland Sutton, who many regarded as the best Wide Receiver in the draft, is likely to start for the Broncos in three-wide sets. The Broncos also drafted Daesean Hamilton, who is another great prospect for the future.

At Tight End, Keenum will have another exciting prospect in Jake Butt, who lost his rookie campaign to a torn ACL. Butt will be a welcome addition to the TE attack, with his size and good hands providing Keenum with another dependable option, just like Kyle Rudolph did last year.

Keenum was aided by a strong running back trio last year in Dalvin Cook, Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon. The Broncos RB room has lost CJ Anderson this offseason but managed to replace him through the draft with Royce Freeman out of Oregon.

Freeman, who is likely to beat out Devontae Booker for the lead role in this backfield, has the chance to become somewhat of the safety blanket for Keenum, who completed 85 passes to his running backs last season. All in all, I think Case Keenum has the weapons to succeed in Denver and continues his upward career trend, surprising us all again in 2018.

#2 Kansas City Chiefs

Sammy Watkins will outscore Tyreek Hill this season.

Hill finished the year as WR8 in full PPR leagues

Last season, Tyreek Hill was phenomenal for the Chiefs, showing he is much more than just a one trick deep ball pony.

Hill finished the year as WR8 in full PPR leagues. However, I think he will struggle to reach the same heights this season, for a number of reasons.

Hear me out. 2017 was a career year for his QB, Alex Smith. Smith produced above and beyond his normal capability and Hill was a large benefactor of this. This year though, he has a new QB throwing to him in Sophomore, Pat Mahomes.

Mahomes is a highly talented young player who could become a great franchise QB. However, he has only started one game in the NFL and I think he is being slightly overhyped. That being said, Mahomes is superb at throwing the deep ball, which coincides with one of Hill’s greatest assets, his speed.

In 2017 Alex Smith was the best deep ball thrower in the league, so it’s unlikely that Mahomes will be able to surpass his stats in his first year under centre.

That leads to another point. Hill will have competition on deep routes from a new recruit to this Kansas City offence. Sammy Watkins was signed to a huge three-year $48 million contract this offseason.

Watkins has had his trouble will health since entering the league, but the Chiefs clearly think he can be the x-factor in this offence. Watkins is again, great at catching the deep ball and as long as he can stay healthy, he is likely to take a lot of targets away from Hill.

Hill only had competition from Travis Kelce and Albert Wilson last year. Watkins is a far superior talent to Wilson and he will look to prove why the Buffalo Bills selected him ahead of receivers such as Odell Beckham Jr and Mike Evans.

Okay, so selecting him over those two guys was pretty rash, but that just shows that the talent is there. Watkins has had a full offseason in KC to learn the playbook and build rapport with Mahomes.

This is something he didn’t have the luxury of last year for the Rams. I can see Watkins getting back to his 2015 from where he recorded 1047 receiving yards and nine TDs. Unfortunately for Hill, this will be at the detriment to his stats. Never the less, keep an eye on this loaded offence as they will put up big points in 2018.

#3 Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers will win the SuperBowl.

Los Angeles Chargers v New York Jets

There, I said it! I think the Chargers will make it to the SuperBowl and Philip Rivers will finally get the ring he has been craving.

Before I get a torrent of abuse from fans from the other 31 NFL teams, let's take a look at the reasons for me saying such a thing.

First of all, the Chargers offence is absolutely stacked with talent. Philip Rivers is a great NFL QB who has only finished outside of the top 14 fantasy Quarterbacks on one occasion in the last 10 years.

He has a plethora of options to use in the passing game this year. Keenan Allen is an extraordinary talent who shed his injury-prone tag in 2017, after a stunning second half to the season. He is joined in the WR room by Tyrell Williams and the speedy Travis Benjamin.

They also have 2017 rookie Mike Williams back to full health after injury complicated his first year in the league. Williams was a top 7 pick in last year’s draft, and I see 2018 being a breakout year for him.

Losing TE Hunter Henry to injury was a big blow as he was projected to be a top six Tight End. I can see the Chargers re-signing veteran and Chargers legend Antonio Gates to a one-year deal to provide that RedZone threat.

In the backfield, they have Melvin Gordon who is a lock to be a top 10 Running Back, as well as Austin Ekelar who flashed at times in 2017.

If that doesn’t convince you, then let’s take a look at the other side of the ball, on defence. Last year the Chargers finished as the fifth-ranked defence in fantasy points. Their roster is packed with playmakers such as the underrated Casey Hayward, Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram and 2018 draftee Derwin James. James should help take this defence to the next level.

The fact that he fell to the Chargers at pick 17 is truly astonishing, as he has all the attributes to be a top Safety in this league. If you combine this playmaking defence with the high scoring offence then I genuinely think they will go very far in this year's playoffs.

#4 Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders will finish with the worst record in the NFL.

Oakland Raiders Introduce Jon Gruden

The Raiders will be bad this year, I don’t think anyone will disagree with that. This offseason they hired old-time NFL head coach Jon Gruden, whose methods are reportedly still stuck in the 80’s.

His recruitment has been interesting, signing veterans who seem to be nearing the sunset on their careers.

Those players include Jordy Nelson, who was poor last season without Aaron Rodgers, Doug Martin who couldn’t keep Peyton Barber at bay and Derrick Johnson who turns 36 this November.

Derek Carr, the Raiders franchise QB has struggled to impose himself on games like he did in the 2015 season, where he threw 32 TDs.

Carr has struggled with health and accuracy and won’t be too pleased that the Raiders hierarchy released their best RedZone target, Michael Crabtree, this offseason. Their WR corps is now led by Amari Cooper who has yet to break out and reach the heights that many predicted.

Behind him is Seth Roberts, the aforementioned Nelson and trade acquisitions Ryan Switzer and Martavis Bryant. Rumours are still circulating that Bryant may be facing another ban, and if so, this WR corps will be really depleted. One bright spot for the Raiders is Marshawn Lynch.

After taking a year-long sabbatical from the game, Lynch showed he still has gas in the tank despite being on the wrong side of 30. Lynch was fantastic in the second half of 2017 and will hope to continue that form through this season.

On the other side of the ball, in 2017 the Raider ranked dead last in defensive fantasy points. The team hasn’t done a whole lot to improve their D this offseason and this could really pile the pressure on Derek Carr and the offence.

So what did the Raiders do in the draft, when they were sat in a nice position at number 15, with players such as Derwin James, Tremaine Edmunds and Jaire Alexander on the board? They drafted OT Kolton Miller, much to the chagrin of Raiders fans around the world. Hardly a pick that is going to rejuvenate a downtrodden Raiders fan base.

Just to top it off, Raiders longtime Kicker Sebastian Janikowski is now plying his trade in Seattle! How weird will that be, seeing him in blue instead of the black and white we’ve grown so accustomed to? Odd. Anyway, I’m very down on the Raiders this year as you can see. I hope they prove me wrong and outperform their projections, but I can’t see it happening.