5 Bold Predictions for 2022

First off I want to say Happy Week One!!!! We made it. The NFL season is upon us in just a few short days!

I was trying to think of how to do this article for a few weeks now. Basically how this came together was I had a Google Doc open and would bullet point ideas as I was out on walks or as I was going through all of my projections. This is a list of five bold predictions that I will list from mild to spicy. As the list goes the more unlikely I could see it happening, but all these could be possible if things go a certain way for these teams and players.

Lets get started...

1. Ja'Marr Chase finishes the year as WR1 - Not extremely bold here, but my thoughts are that the offense will revolve around him. With an improved line to give Joe Burrow more time, Chase could see upwards of 160+ targets. If he regresses even to 15.5 yards per catch he could still go for over 1,600 yards receiving. I expect him to have a higher catch rate as well.
2. Jalen Hurts finishes as QB1 - Again, this is not that far-fetched. If he improves his pass efficiency, which he should with his BFF Aj Brown now in town, and the coaching staff allows the offense to run through him more. I see Jalen's floor being 3,500+ yards passing with 25+ passing tds on top of 500+ rushing and 5+ rushing tds. 
3. Chris Olave is a top 12 WR - Time to get spicy. Olave is an extremely efficient route runner with intermediate (10 - 20 yards) and deep routes (20+ yards). Once Winston is back the offense will open up more for Olave down the field. I can see the coaching staff leaning on Olave early and often as Michael Thomas is possibly just a shell of himself. I would not be shocked to see Olave end up with 140 targets in 2022.
4. Cooper Kupp finishes outside the top 5 WRs - Cooper just had career year and I think he could still be really good. However, 2021 was such an  outlier for him that I don't see him being that efficient or demand as much target share in 2022. He has to compete with a healthy Allen Robinson, Tyler Higbee, and the Rams drafted a pass-catching running back in Kyren Williams to help.I think Kupp will still demand a high volume of targets, but there is a path to disappointment.
5. Dallas Goedert finishes TE4 - I think this is the year that Kyle Pitts shows he is a top 3 tight end. I also think we see Darren Waller and George Kittle production fall off. The advanced metrics showed that Goedert is elite at earning targets and as soon as Philly traded away Zach Ertz he was producing top 6 tight end numbers. I think he sees a jump in 5 and can be efficient with them with AJ Brown and Devonta Smith being on the field at the same time.

Recent News & Advice