Bold Predictions for 2017 Pt 1
Ain’t nuthin’ in this world better than a nice warm stack of hot cakes. So lets slather up some of those sugary mediums of goodness and serve some of the hottest cakes in town.

Troy Misses the Playoffs

What I’m Sayin’
That’s right, 2017’s darling team falls short of the playoffs and struggles to get through a fairly tough division that includes Hallederer (3rd), Mehrino (6th), and his co-Colluder-in-Chief Old Mike (8th). Not only does he fall short of finally taking this team to the playoffs for the first time, he could end up as the first Altbaum to miss if Mike decides to spend his capital and further improve his own squad.
Why It’s Spicy
Everyone has been talking about Troy as if he is not only a sure-thing for the playoffs, but for championship contention. He has been pushing hard to try and make a name for himself and is clearly trying to win big in 2017, making moves from the start intended to put a Mug within striking distance.
Why I’m Sayin’ It
Troy’s team is solid but has a lot more question marks than I think he’s willing to admit.
Will Zeke be suspended? I don’t think it’s likely, but a suspension of any kind will be a hell of a hit to his team. Not to mention any RB with that much workload is a constant threat of injury.
Will Leonard Fournette be this year’s Zeke? Troy seems to think so, and I think that’s silly. Zeke was an anomaly amongst almost all rookie backs in NFL history — its why what he did was such a big deal. I’m not saying LF won’t have a very good career, I’m just saying he is running behind a significantly worse offensive line than Zeke has ever in his entire career. In JAX. With Blake Bortles as a QB. On an offense not nearly as high-powered as the historical 2016 Cowboys unit.
Red Flags! Get Your Red Flags Hyeah! What do pretty much all of Troy’s other starters all have in common?

Michael Thomas is a 2nd year guy coming off a phenomenal rookie season without his elite deep threat across from him anymore and with offenses having no one else to key on.
Jarvis Landry has seen his usage plummet, a trend which is likely to continue as the teams seems determined to move on from him.
Pryor has been an NFL WR for all of 1 season as a 28 year old sophmore.
Reed’s brain probably has the consistency of a middle school homemade Gak experiment where they added too much water.
There is a lot more room for things to go wrong than right. Troy probably wins the division draft though, so that’s cool I guess.
Head and Frank Make The Cut

What I’m Sayin’
Often the butt of jokes, Bartell and his new biffle Frank “The Frank” Frank defy the odds and slip into a wildcard playoff spot led by a top 3 in the league running back group.
Why It’s Spicy
FantasyPros currently has their team at 11th overall and they don’t really have any studs at any position. They’ve never made the playoffs and currently sport one of the lowest historical points-for in the league.
Why I’m Sayin’ It
Here’s the thing about Head’s bad team — it’s not actually that bad.
In fact, every year when we say it’s bad it’s never really that bad. After moving Bell and Rodgers he’s struggled to find true studs, but he has managed to put together a pretty well rounded team that consistently puts up good enough points to beat teams, even stronger teams on downswing weeks.
That’s the key and that’s what this team has always done, leading them to a 17–22 record over 3 years.
The difference this year is they may just have some heavy hitters at running back to go a bit further.
Ty Montgomery has the GB job locked up, and that’s a big deal. Green Bay has a high powered offense than functions best with a dynamic weapon for A-aron to use up close, and Montgomery has pried that job from Cobb.
Theo Riddick is healthy and will probably be fed. Theo Riddick is a terrible RB, but he’s very good as a WR who lines up in the backfield. Now that he’s healthy expect them to pepper him with targets.
In fact, he kind of has “that guy” everywhere. Julian Edelman, Cole Beasley, Kendell Wright, Darren Sproles all are guys who could consistently put up 7–12 points a week and cause frustration for any teams who pick the wrong time to have an off week.
His RBs will be surprisingly consistent. We already talked about Ty and Theo, but Sproles, Foreman, Hunt, and Perine are all guys who could have strong seasons and take on big roles. If just one of his rookie RBs takes over a major role, he’ll have a lot less volatility and be able to win more games.
I’m not arguing they’ll be a top scoring team — I suspect their ceiling is just within the top 6 — but I think their average score will hover around 175 with a low standard deviation, leaving little room for opponents to have bad weeks against them. Add that to 2 free Brett Wins and two overrated heavy hitters in their division in Falcone and Calhoun, and you have a recipe for Bartell playing for something more meaningful than a division draft come week 14.
Keep An Eye Open For More Hot Cakes Coming Your Way

