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Mike Fanelli gives his fantasy football bold predictions for Divisional Round, giving fantasy players something to think about when setting their lineups.
The Divisional Round of the playoffs is here, and I’m back with another edition of fantasy football bold predictions. This week’s list of bold predictions will include C.J. Stroud, Christian McCaffrey, Gus Edwards, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Travis Kelce.
Every week, I will provide some fun and bold fantasy football predictions. While these bold predictions aren’t the most likely outcomes, they are things I believe could happen this week.
Let’s look at my five bold predictions for the second round of the NFL playoffs.
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C.J. Stroud…
Has over 250 passing yards
Stroud is going to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award despite Puka Nacua breaking historical records as a fifth-round pick. The star quarterback has been outstanding this year, averaging 273.9 passing yards per game, the most in the NFL. Furthermore, he was unbelievable to close out the regular season. Stroud averaged 316.7 passing yards per game in the final seven contests he finished, totaling 264 or more yards in all but one matchup.
Last week, the former Ohio State superstar was a man amongst boys against the Cleveland Browns. The AFC North team had one of the top defenses in the league during the regular season. They surrendered only 185.3 passing yards per game to quarterbacks, the second-fewest in the NFL. Yet, you couldn’t tell that from Saturday’s matchup against the Houston Texans. Stroud had 274 passing yards on only 21 attempts in a blowout victory.
Somehow, the betting market hasn’t figured out that the rookie quarterback is already one of the top passers in the league. DraftKings has Stroud’s passing total listed at 243.5 yards. The star rookie had at least 249 passing yards in 66.7% of the regular season games, including 242 in his NFL debut against the Baltimore Ravens. Stroud could hit 300 passing yards in this game, and no one would bat an eye at it.
Christian McCaffrey…
Struggles against the Green Bay Packers
The San Francisco 49ers have been the clear-cut top team in the NFC all year. When the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles lost in the first round of the playoffs, it made the 49ers a heavy favorite to go to the Super Bowl. However, don’t be so fast to name them NFC champions. Their offense is explosive and has multiple weapons. Yet, McCaffrey is the heart of the offense and the team’s most important player.
Despite being an older starting running back, the former Stanford star dominated during the regular season. He had 1,459 rushing yards, the most in the NFL. McCaffrey averaged 91.2 rushing yards per game, a career-high. The superstar left the Week 17 matchup against the Washington Commanders with a minor calf injury. He had totaled 93 or more rushing yards in five consecutive games before that contest.
McCaffrey might be rusty to start Saturday night’s matchup against the Packers. The superstar hasn’t played since getting hurt on New Year’s Eve, meaning he will have gone nearly three weeks without live action. Meanwhile, Green Bay’s run defense was outstanding to close the regular season, surrendering 63.3 rushing yards per game to running backs over the final month, the third-fewest in the NFL. McCaffrey is a superstar, but don’t be surprised if he struggles in this game.
Gus Edwards…
Scores two rushing touchdowns
While Lamar Jackson is a massive part of the Baltimore Ravens’ rushing attack, Edwards played a critical role during the regular season. The veteran running back took over as the starter when J.K. Dobbins suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1. He had 13 career rushing touchdowns entering the 2023 season. Edwards matched his career total this year, finishing fifth in the NFL with 13 rushing touchdowns.
The veteran running back accounted for half of the Ravens’ rushing touchdown total and nearly a quarter of their offensive scores during the regular season. He found the end zone in eight of the previous 10 games, including three straight contests before the meaningless Week 18 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. More importantly, the matchup is appealing for Edwards.
Houston only gave up 14 points in their Wild Card win over the Browns. However, both touchdowns were rushing scores by Kareem Hunt. The Texans had a decent run defense during the regular season, surrendering 11 rushing touchdowns to running backs, the 12th-most in the NFL. Yet, Jonathan Taylor ran up and down on them in Week 18. More importantly, Houston gave up three rushing touchdowns to the Baltimore backfield in the Week 1 matchup.
Amon-Ra St. Brown…
Leads all players in receiving yards this weekend
There were only two players with more receiving yards than St. Brown during the 2023 season -- Tyreek Hill (1,799) and CeeDee Lamb (1,749). The third-year superstar had a career-high 1,515 receiving yards, beating his previous best by over 350. He was at least 90 receiving yards in nearly 70% of the games during the regular season, including over 100 in 56.3% of the contests. Furthermore, the superstar was outstanding at the end of the year.
St. Brown had at least 90 receiving yards in four consecutive games to end the regular season, averaging 113 yards per contest. Last week, the former USC star had his way with the Los Angeles Rams secondary. He led the team with 110 receiving yards, accounting for nearly 40% of Jared Goff’s passing production. St. Brown had the fifth-most receiving yards during Wild Card weekend despite having only nine targets in the win over the Rams.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off the upset victory in the first round of the playoffs. However, their pass defense had no answers for DeVonta Smith, surrendering 148 receiving yards on eight receptions to the star wide receiver. The Buccaneers struggled during the regular season, giving up 178.6 receiving yards per game to wide receivers, the fourth-most in the NFL. St. Brown picked apart Tampa Bay’s secondary in the Week 6 matchup, totaling 124 receiving yards.
Travis Kelce…
Leads the Kansas City Chiefs in every receiving category
Many are wondering if this is it for Kelce. The superstar tight end didn’t look like himself during the regular season. He averaged 65.6 receiving yards per game, his lowest average since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback. Kelce fell short of 1,000 receiving yards in 2023, ending a seven-year streak for the superstar tight end. With his brother Jason Kelce rumored to retire this offseason, many wonder if the Chiefs star will also walk away.
While the veteran tight end didn’t have the regular season he wanted, Kelce stepped up in critical matchups. He had 83 receiving yards in the Week 14 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, leading the team in targets (10) and receiving yards. More importantly, the superstar has always played his best against Buffalo, especially in his two career playoff matchups.
Kelce had 21 receptions on 24 targets for 214 receiving yards and three touchdowns in those two contests. Furthermore, the superstar played a massive role in Kansas City’s historical comeback victory over Buffalo two years ago. Meanwhile, the Bills surrendered a game-high 76 receiving yards to Pat Freiermuth last week. Expect Kelce to have his best performance of the year on Sunday night.
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