USAT
Every team needs to believe it can succeed and have players step up and deliver big seasons. Hope is there for everyone before the regular season kicks off and these are players who are looking at big years.
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald will better his 2018 marks of 69 receptions and 734 yards. Will be interesting to see if the future HOFer can catch more than six TD passes. He has done that in three consecutive seasons.
Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan will have his first 5,000-yard season. Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Calvin Ridley in his second season, and a healthy Devonta Freeman will push Ryan over the plateau.
Baltimore Ravens
Mark Ingram will become the Ravens’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Justin Forsett in 2014. The Ravens have a stable of running backs, but Ingram will carry the load and will lead the way in helping Lamar Jackson run a balanced attack.
Buffalo Bills
Cole Beasley, and not John Brown, will become Josh Allen’s favorite target and will lead the team in receptions. It will be close for the former Cowboy to reach his career-high of 75 grabs, set in 2016.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton will have his second 30-touchdown season passing. The offseason procedure will help the former Auburn star immensely and he will realize he has to throw more and run less.
Chicago Bears
The Bears’ new kicker will nail a field goal to win a game … sorry, that was too easy. Trey Burton will up his production and catch more than 60 passes and go over the 700-yard mark.
Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon will reach double digit-touchdowns — he had eight last season — and will rush for more than the 1,168 yards he had in 2018. Mixon will also crack the 50-mark in receptions. Last season, he corraled 30 passes.
Cleveland Browns
It would be too easy to predict Nick Chubb will have 1,000 yards and 1,500 yards of total offense. What we will say is Jarvis Landry is going to surge back over the 1,000-yard mark in receiving. The presence of Odell Beckham Jr. will make Landry more lethal and he will return to four figures after just missing in each of his previous two seasons.
Dallas Cowboys
DeMarcus Lawrence will break his personal mark of 14.5 sacks set in 2017. He has a rich contract and will reward Jerry Jones and company with a stellar season.
Denver Broncos
Von Miller and Bradley Chubb combined for 26.5 sacks last season. With Chubb heading into his second season, the tandem will go over the 30-mark in 2019.
Detroit Lions
Kerryon Johnson rushed for 641 yards as a rookie. Going to make a gigantic leap here, as will the former Auburn RB, and say he will go over 1,000 yards in 2019. He will become the first Lion to do that since Reggie Bush in 2013. Before the USC star? How about Kevin Jones in 2004!
Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers will have his third 40-TD season, will throw for more than 4,000 yards — again — and will not have his third year of 10-plus interceptions.
Houston Texans
DeAndre Hopkins may be challenged to top the 115 catches and 1,572 yards he had last season. What he can do is step it up and go for a career-high in TD receptions. His current mark is 13, which led the league in 2017.
Indianapolis Colts
Marlon Lack will score double-digit touchdowns and rush for more than 1,100 yards, giving Andrew Luck a premier feature running back.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Nick Foles will become the third Jaguars quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in leading a resurgent season. The others are Blake Bortles in 2015 and Mark Brunell in 1996.
Kansas City Chiefs
Travis Kelce will prove he is the best TE in the game as he ups his catches, yards and touchdowns. That’s no easy feat considering the numbers in 2018 were: 103, 1,336 and a career-high of 10 TDs.
Los Angeles Chargers
Mike Williams will add to his breakout season in 2018 and come close to — if not join — Keenan Allen in the 1,000-yard club. Williams had 43 receptions for 664 yards so he will be making a large gain.
Los Angeles Rams
Would love to predict Aaron Donald will break Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record after his 20.5 effort last year. Not going to do that but do believe the Rams can top their team mark of 41 in 2018. Remarkable that one player had half of the team’s sacks.
Miami Dolphins
Josh Rosen will become the first Dolphins QB since Ryan Tannehill in 2015 to throw for more than 3,000 yards. Rosen will flirt with becoming the first Miami QB to throw for 30 TD passes in a season since Dan Marino in 1994.
Minnesota Vikings
Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielin combined for 215 receptions and 2,394 yards receiving in 2018. That was the bulk of Kirk Cousins’ 4,298 yards. Going to say Cousins can have a bigger season and improve in yardage as well as TDs. He threw for 30 last season.
New England Patriots
Sony Michel will be around for the entire season and that sends him over the 1,000-yard mark, pushing 1,250. Expect him to have the best season since Corey Dillon went for 1,635 in 2004.
New Orleans Saints
With Mark Ingram gone, Alvin Kamara is set for his first 1,000-yard rushing season. The big question is whether with the added rushing work will the former Tennessee star be able to have his third straight season of 81 catches.
New York Giants
Sterling Shepard and not Golden Tate will lead the Giants’ WRs in receiving yards. It may be close in the reception category, but both will behind Saquon Barkley.
New York Jets
Le’Veon Bell will pay dividends for Gang Green as he breaks the 2,000-yard mark for total offense for the first time since 2014. He will also set a career-high in rushing yards, topping the 1,361 yards gained that same season.
Oakland Raiders
After seeing his TD pass total drop for four consecutive seasons — 32, 28, 22, 19 — Derek Carr will benefit from having Antonio Brown and will go over 20 and possibly throw more than 25 scoring passes.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jordan Howard will lead the team in rushing and far surpass the top mark of 511 set by Josh Adams last season. That isn’t a major challenge for Howard, whose career low was 935 yards in 2018.
Pittsburgh Steelers
JuJu Smith-Schuster has caught seven TD passes in each of his first two seasons. With Antonio Brown gone, let’s say the former USC star at least doubles his scoring reception total in 2019.
San Francisco 49ers
George Kittle went from 43 receptions to 88 in his first two seasons. Expect to see those numbers to continue to rise in his third year. Kittle also should be on the receiving end of double-digit TD passes as he shows he is one of the elite TEs.
Seattle Seahawks
Jarran Reed had the quietest double-digit sack mark, going for 10.5 in 2018. With Frank Clark gone to KC, expect for Reed’s numbers to grow. The former Alabama star will be expected to take on much more without Clark.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If Bruce Arians can’t get Jameis Winston to have an improved season, the Bucs will be in the market for another quarterback. For one reason or another he has not played a full campaign since 2016. In his first two years, he threw for 4,000 yards in both. Not saying he will go that far but he has to throw for more than the 19 TDs he tossed in each of the last two seasons.
Tennessee Titans
Derrick Henry rushed for 1,059 yards in 2018. A lot of that came against Jacksonville when he broke loose, including a 99-yard run. The prediction here is Henry gets more carries and nears the 1,250-yard mark.
Washington Redskins
Jonathan Allen had eight sacks in 2018. Expect him to join Ryan Kerrigan with double-digits sacks in the 2019 season.
