Welcome to the halfway point of the NFL regular season. What better time to check-in on my bold predictions for fantasy football from the preseason?
_ Antonio Brown will not surpass 100 receptions, 1,200 receiving yards or eight touchdowns for the first time since 2012. (Nailed this one!)
_ The reports of Todd Gurley's fantasy demise are greatly exaggerated. He finishes with 1,600 total yards and 16 touchdowns. (Gurley is currently on pace for 996 total yards and 16 touchdowns, so not horrible.)
_ Zach Ertz doesn't finish as a top-five fantasy tight end. The Eagles are loaded offensively, and players like Evan Engram, O.J. Howard and Hunter Henry are in line for breakout seasons. (Ertz is currently ranked ninth, according to pro-football-reference.com. He's on pace for 42 fewer receptions, 315 fewer yards and six fewer touchdowns. No reason to mention the Howard comment.)
_ Roger Craig and Marshall Faulk are the only running backs in NFL history to gain 1,000 yards rushing AND receiving in the same season. The club will double in size with the addition of Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara. (McCaffrey is on pace for 1,680 rushing yards and 784 receiving yards. He's having an insane season. Kamara is actually on pace for 995 rushing yards and 736 receiving yards despite missing a few games. Still, I was being greedy here.)
_ The Dallas Cowboys make the leap from good real-life defense to best D/ST in fantasy. (Moving on.)
_ Le'Veon Bell won't surpass 300 touches or score more than eight touchdowns while playing in 13 games for the Jets. (This is still up in the air. Bell is on pace for 322 touches and four touchdowns. He has yet to miss a game.)
_ Lamar Jackson will break the QB record for rushing yards in a game (181 by Colin Kaepernick in 2013), rushing yards in a season (1,039 by Michael Vick in 2006) and rushing touchdowns in a season (14 by Cam Newton in 2011). Running back Mark Ingram will give the Ravens two 1,000-yard rushers. (I admit this was ambitious, but Jackson ran for 152 yards against the Bengals three weeks ago and is on pace for 1,317 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Ingram is on pace for 1,074 yards.)
_ Kyler Murray will finish outside of the Top 20 in the season-ending quarterback rankings. (I'm afraid I may eat some crow on this one. Murray is currently ranked 10th.)
_ Odell Beckham Jr. sets career highs in receptions (101), receiving yards (1,450) and touchdowns (13) in only 14 games for the Browns. (The good news is ODB hasn't missed a game yet. The bad is he's on pace for 78 receptions, 1,115 yards and two touchdowns. I suppose it could be worse.)
_ Only one quarterback surpasses 40 touchdowns _ and it isn't Patrick Mahomes. It's Aaron Rodgers, for the third time in his career (2011 and 2016). Mahomes will come close with 38. (The current touchdown leader is on pace for 34 (Russell Wilson). Rodgers and Mahomes are both on pace for 32.)
Follow me on Twitter @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.
Her are my best bets for Week 9:
