REACTION: 100 Bold Predictions for 2024 NFL Season (SI) – Which 3 Actually Make Sense?

For NFL and College Football fans, we have entered the part of the year when there isn’t much (actual) news. Teams are finishing up Mandatory OTAs, the NBA season has wrapped up, and unless you’re an avid MLB fan, even baseball is hitting a part of the season that is a bit slow with the middle of the 162-game schedule. Luckily, we’ve got the Paris Olympics next month, but until then, the sports slate is pretty slow.

With the slow news days, speculation and fun articles are published, looking forward to the season. One of the best of these is Connor Orr’s SI ‘100 Predictions’ for the NFL season. The article is lengthy and more comedic than realistic, but there are still a few pretty great predictions.

Here are the Top 3, each with a Gridiron Heorics take on each.

1. There Will Be 7 Head Coach Vacancies at the End of the Season

It is odd to think that at this point of the offseason, there will be current coaches without jobs at the end of the season, but with today’s game culture, it is a guarantee that there will be at least a handful. The SI article suggests that there will be seven head coaching vacancies, and with Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick still on the market, there will be an early push to fire current coachs to be the first to pick these two up.

GH Take: This makes a lot of sense. If a team is 5-7 going into Week 12 of the season, I could see a scenario where a team jumps on the opportunity to try to get Belichick or Vrabel early. Even if, technically speaking, the team could still turn things around and finish with a decent record, or even a Playoff birth.

2. The Houston Texans Will Not Increase Their Win Total From 2023 (10)

There is a ton of buzz around C.J. Stroud after his phenomenal rookie campaign, but Orr does not believe that the Texans will improve on their win total from last year. He points out that this isn’t a knock on C.J. Stroud, just that the schedule will be much more difficult this upcoming season with much tougher competition.

GH Take: Last year, the Texans were given a pretty easy schedule regarding who they played and when they played their games. First, their division was pretty weak, with the Jaguars, Colts, and Titans all being mediocre. Aside from that, they played the Jets, Broncos, Cardinals, Bengals, Panthers, Saints, and Falcons, who all finished right around .500 or below. The only true tough games they played against teams well above .500 were the Ravens, Steelers, Buccaneers, and Browns. Four out of 17 games is a pretty easy schedule.

This year, the AFC South should be better (better be with Lawrence’s contract), and the Texans have to play six teams who won at least ten games last year.

3. The New NFL Kickoff Return Rules Will Be Awesome

In case you haven’t heard yet, the NFL is drastically changing the NFL kickoff. The articles suggest that the season record for touchdown returns for touchdowns (4) shared by Cecil Turner and Travis Williams will not be broken, but quite a few players will get close. It suggests that Green Bay Packers’ Keisean Nixon will get three.

GH Take: While I can’t speak on Keisean Nixon, I can predict that the new kickoff will be awesome. In the last few years, the kickoff has been an extra 30 seconds to run to the fridge or kitchen and reload on snacks and drinks. There would be entire games where a kickoff wouldn’t be run back. Now, with a touchback at the 30-yard line, kickers will do all they can to keep the ball in play. This should lead to an 85% or more return rate.

If I had to put money on a player having multiple touchdown returns, I’d put my money on Eagles return specialist Britain Covey. 

.@ConorOrr’s 100 bold predictions for 2024:

🔮 A surprise team wins 8 straight
🔮 A HOFer unretires
🔮 Fate of some rookie QBs
🔮 A two-QB system that works
🔮 Tom Brady, Deion Sanders and Miley Cyrus
🔮 And a Super Bowl LIX pickhttps://t.co/cFGDWTUuY3

— The MMQB (@theMMQB) June 20, 2024

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