It’s been a few years since I have been able to do this article, which to be honest is probably my favorite one to write. I will take a look into my crystal ball and reveal the outcomes of the upcoming NFL season including who will win the Lombardi, who will win the MVP, who will disappoint and more. We are all excited to see football back, so without further ado, here are your 2022 predictions.

2022 MVP

Since the turn of the century there have only been 4 non-quarterback winners of the MVP trophy (Marshall Faulk in 2000, Shaun Alexander in 2005, Ladinian Tomlinson in 2006, and Adrian Pederson in 2012) so logic tells you it will most likely be a quarterback again for the tenth straight season. The Chargers star QB Justin Herbert will be ready to take that title this year. He has a very good WR duo of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and a great pass catching back in Austin Eckler at his disposal. He is playing is most likely the toughest division in football; the AFC West, and he will lead his team to the top of said division which will get the vote casters attention.

2022 OPOY

The NFL is full of explosive players who have injected lightning into the game, especially at the wide reciever position. Last year we saw breakouts from Deebo Samuel, Ja’Mar Chase, Cooper Kupp and other rising stars that caught the attention of everyone around the league. There is one wideout that has been insanely consistent over the course of his short career and will continue on path by exceeding expectations and will challenge Michael Thomas’ single season reception record set a few years ago. Justin Jefferson is a helluva football player that will be entering just his third season in the league. That is crazy considering how established has has already become as a focal point in the Vikings offense and it will help lead him the offensive player of the year award.

2022 DPOY

The Browns continued to Brown this past offseason when they traded the farm for DeShaun Watson and failed to build up the team aside from signing Amari Cooper, however the defense remains under the radar as being one of the better ones and that is mostly due to Myles Garrett wreaking havoc on the opposing quarterback. Last season, Garrett became the franchise’s all time leader in single season sacks with 16. He is constantly double teamed but that doesn’t stop him from getting into the backfield. He has a 4.2% sack rate which leads among all defenders and is consistently getting pressure. Garrett has been a runner-up for this award in the past, but this year will finally get to display it his home.

Rookie of the Year

To little surprise there were many wide receivers chosen early in this year’s NFL draft, some of which are expected to make an impact with their respective teams immediately. Skyy Moore steps into an explosive offense in Kansas City that no longer features Tyreek Hill so he has a chance to fill that void. Chris Olave may be starting aside Michael Thomas in a new offense in New Orleans, and Treylon Burkes is in Tennessee who traded AJ Brown to the Eagles (however he hasn’t sniffed practices with the first team yet). Despite all of the above, the rookie of the year winner will be QB Kenny Pickett of the Steelers. He will eventually supplant Mitchell Trubisky early in the season as the starter and will do a good enough job to keep that spot. The Steelers will still have their first losing record since 2003, but the future without Big Ben will be bright. There aren’t many rookie qbs that are in the position that Pickett has landed in, so this was an easy pick.

2022 Breakout Player

This may be the easiest choice out of this entire article for me. Russell Gage has hit the jackpot in Tampa Bay in the slot position. Think about it. Tom Brady has made ordinary players into absolute superstars from the slot position, (i.e. Wes Welker, Julian Edelman) and Gage already has flirted with becoming a household name from moments in Atlanta. He doesn’t have to be the number one wideout there with Mike Evans and the returning Chris Godwin, and has the skillset to really make a difference in what was already a potent offense. Just think of what an aging (and unraveled) Antonio Brown did in his time with the Bucs.

Most Surprising Team

I can’t believe I am actually writing this but the Detroit Lions have a legitimate shot at reaching the playoffs this year. If DeAndre Swift stays healthy, he provides an effective running game with pass catching skills to take pressure off of Jared Goff. Amon-Ra St. Brown has the potential to be a star in this league and will quickly be catching people’s attention this season (if he didn’t already do so at the end of last year), they added DJ Chark and T.J. Hockenson is a solid tight end. The Lions drafted Aidan Hutchinson, a defensive lineman who I was considering listing as the rookie of the year winner. I think he is going to quickly become a household name and will help a defense that has struggled for so many years.

Random Prediction

The NFL will find a way to flex every AFC West matchup into a nationally televised game. Seriously though, every one of these teams has a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs yet chances are two of them will be sitting at home. This is going to be a VERY fun ride.

And now for the other side of things…

2022 Disappointing Player

Things don’t always go as planned which is what makes each season so intriguing. These guys train all offseason in hopes to perform at their highest potential but sometimes things go wrong. I am not taking injuries into account, but rather overall performance struggles when choosing the “winner” of this category. I think Ezekiel Elliot will hit the wall hard this year in what will be his final season in Dallas. He has showed signs of slowing down a bit over the last two seasons. He is still on 27 but he has a a lot of wear and tear on that body and plus may be feeling the pressure of losing his job to a younger fast back in Tony Pollard. Zeke, along with the Cowboys will be sliding in 2022, (more on that later.)

Rookie Bust

As I mentioned earlier, the Titans traded AJ Brown to the Eagles for the 18th overall pick where they selected WR Treylon Burks. He has been disappointing in camp this summer as he has not been practicing with the first team, and in the first preseason game, Burks didn’t see the field until the fourth quarter. There are reports that the Titans are just easing Burks into game action and want to build up his conditioning for an NFL season. This very well could be true, but he is almost guaranteed to get off to a slow start, and if he doesn’t catch on, people will undoubtably list him as a bust. Let me be clear with this pick, I think the kid has a lot of talent, and I am ONLY saying that his first year will be a disappointing one

Team to underachieve

In Philadelphia it is easy to hate on the Dallas Cowboys. This is not news to anyone, but I am trying to look at this as unbiased as I can. I am not buying in on the Cowboys this season and think they take a big step backwards. Mike McCarthy may very well be the most overrated coach in the league, and his offense isn’t going to help him lose that title this season. After the team let Amari Cooper go, they turned their attention to CeeDee Lamb to become the number one guy. That may be ok aside from the fact that Michael Gallup has been recovering from a torn ACL, James Washington doesn’t move the needle for anyone, and rookie Jalen Tolbert is obviously unproven. As mentioned earlier, Ezekiel Elliot is on his way out the door, and Tony Pollard is not a guy who is built to handle three down work. Oh yeah, they also just lost their starting left tackle Tyron Smith until at least week 13 with a knee injury. The defense may be able to hold up ok, but signs are pointing down for the ‘boys.

First coach to get canned

Robert Saleh, the Jets coach. That is literally all I need to write.

Now onto the team predictions….

NFL Division Predictions

NFC East Winner : Eagles

NFC North Winner : Vikings

NFC South Winner: Buccaneers

NFC West Winner: Rams

Wild Card Teams – Packers, 49ers, Lions

AFC East Winner: Bills

AFC North Winner : Bengals

AFC South Winner: Colts

AFC West Winner: Chargers

AFC Wild Card Teams – Chiefs, Ravens, Broncos

Championship Games

Rams over Bucs

Bills over Chargers

Super Bowl LVII

Bills over Rams

There you have it, the Buffalo Bills will finally win a Super Bowl, and many tables will be broken.