Lucky Lester's Predictions: YEAR IN REVIEW

Well, they didn’t all come true, not even most of them – here’s a look back at the crazy predictions section from before the season started. That’s right, I’ve got tabs – check them out.

50 Predictions that Have a GOOD Chance of Coming True

Ricky Williams will have more fantasy points than Ronnie Brown. – Well, I was wrong, Ricky had about 50 less fantasy points than Ronnie.
Ronnie Brown will still have 1000+ total yards from scrimmage. – This is true, headed into the final week, Ronnie had 859 rushing and 239 receiving.
Brett Favre will throw multiple touchdowns in each of his first three games. – Wrong, he had 1 TD in Week 2, but he did throw 2 in Week 1, 3 in Week 3, and 6 in Week 4. Give me a little leniency here, what I was saying is he’d start hot, and he did.
Shaunna Alexander and Michael Strahan will start a boy-band named, “The Gap-Tooth Goons” – What, nobody went to see them perform?
Darren McFadden will rush for over 1100 yards and be a top 15 fantasy running back. – GONG!!! Dead Wrong. Maybe next year!
Rashard Mendenhall will rack up more fantasy points than Willie Parker – neither will be Top 15 backs. – Half and half, neither were top 15 backs, but Willie had more points than Rashard. But you have to see what I’m saying, Mewelde Moore, the #3 ended up with more points than Willie- injuries are tough to predict I guess. But this is a statement that helped you if you were drafting.
Josh Morgan will finish the season with more fantasy points than Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey put together – thank you Mike Martz. – A couple injuries made this a tough one, all guys went through injuries and McDonald was leading headed into Week 17.
Despite the recent DeSean Jackson hype, Eddie Royal will lead all rookie receivers in the fantasy realm. – True. Eddie was a Top 20 WR in the league. And he had DeSean by 30+ fantasy points.
If they play the same amount of games (no injuries), Michael Turner will have more rushing yards than LaDainian Tomlinson in 2008. – Many people laughed, but how ridiculous does this statement seem now that I’m right?
Tom Brady won’t throw more than 35 touchdowns this season. – Well injuries kind of helped my cause here, but I thought he’d miss more than a few games, just not the entire freaking season. Anyway, if he was healthy he would have crushed me. But I might as well be right here.
Calvin Johnson will eclipse these numbers, 80 catches – 1200 yards – 10 touchdowns (ps: pick him). – He had just 69 catches but 1200+ yards and 10 TDs headed into the final week. Your welcome. I’m right where the numbers count most, I’ll take the credit here.
Chris Simms will be a starter before the season is over – somewhere not in Tampa. – Got me here, it could have been Tennessee – I’m beginning to wonder if Simms will ever get a chance?
Devin Hester will score double digit touchdowns for the Bears. – Just 3 TDs for Hester, he let me down, but I still think he’ll be a good one. Maybe next year.
Kyle Orton will be a Top 10 fantasy quarterback in Week 1 against the Colts. I didn’t take into account how bad the Colts run defense would be right off the bat, or how solid their secondary would be. Missed this one.
Marion Barber will be a Top 3 fantasy running back. – Barber basically missed the last four games with an injury. Kind of derailed his run at the top. When he was healthy, he was one of the best around, and those who had him know that.
Steve Smith will have at least 3 multi-touchdown games, eclipse 1100 yards, and easily get into the double digit touchdown category. – Only 6 TDs headed into the final week, but he does have 1287 yards in his 13 games. Not too shabby, but I missed by a few touchdowns. I guess I didn’t think this running game would be so great.
Deion Branch will play in at least 12 games and finish in the Top 30 amongst fantasy receivers. – Whoops. The Seahawks receivers were cursed!
Chris Perry (if you can risk picking the walking wounded) is a great late round pick. He’ll have 1300+ yards from scrimmage and score 7+ touchdowns. – I considered just deleting this one and pretending it never happened. I wish I would have done that when I originally thought of this prediction.
Drew Brees will lead the league in touchdown passes. – Drew has a chance, just 2 behind Philip Rivers going into Week 17. Drew is the top fantasy quarterback though, something to be said for that.
(Two of Three) Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady will miss at least one football game due to injuries. – Peyton got hit more than ever, and Brett had shoulder issues over the last half of the season, but neither followed Tom’s fate, making this statement incorrect. And I’m glad for that.
Thomas Jones will prove to be a better fantasy player than Willie Parker, Reggie Bush, Willis McGahee, and Brandon Jacobs. – There you have it, hopefully you were like me and owned this guy in many a league. Think, if Eric Mangini wasn’t such a genius, not only would Thomas be closer to the Top 2, but his Jets would be in the playoffs. I’ll take being right though, Thomas had one hell of a year.
Jericho Cotchery will be a Top 14 fantasy receiver. – Nope 25th headed into the Final week, I doubt he gets up to 14.
Antonio Gates will be the top scoring fantasy tight end – don’t believe the bad hype. Nope, he was #4 headed into Week 17 with absolutely no chance of catching one of the best tight ends ever, Tony Gonzalez, who leads the TEs by more than 50 fantasy points. 91 grabs, 1000+ yards, and 9 TDs heading into Week 17, amazing.
Phillip Rivers will throw more touchdown passes than Eli Manning (less interceptions too). – One more interception heading into Week 17, but Rivers leads the league with 32 TD passes while Manning has 21. Eli has been solid. Philip has been unreal.
Chris Johnson will lead the Titans in yards (receiving and rushing combined). – 1488 headed into the final week, he ran away with this title.
Chris Johnson is the NFL’s version of Usain Bolt.– Chris has been amazing. He’s as fast as they get.
One of the following 6 teams will make the playoffs – Dolphins, Raiders, Bears, Falcons, Cardinals, Rams. – Goodness, it looks like four of them could find themselves in the playoffs, the Falcons and Cardinals are already in it to win it.
Frank Gore will eclipse 1,500 total yards, 70 receptions, and score 10+ touchdowns. – Gore has just 1340 yards headed into Week 17, but the last 2 weeks with an ankle injury. He has 8 total touchdowns. I think he would have gotten everything except the 70 receptions. He was on pace to get just over 50 catches, but easily pass those other two marks. With a 160 total yard 2 TD final game performance, he still gets both of those totals. However, I was wrong.
Kurt Warner will be a Top 10 fantasy quarterback. – You bet. Before a late season lull, there was MVP talk about the former Super Ram. He had a great year.
Maurice Morris will be a better fantasy back than Julius Jones. – Well, neither was that exciting, but Maurice will pass Julius with a decent game against the Cardinals on Sunday. All he needs is 60 more yards and a catch and he gets Julius. He’s the starter now. If he didn’t miss a good portion of 6 games I think he’d have it locked up by now. But I’ll take a chance and be pretty sure that Mo gets it.
Larry Johnson will rush for 1,300+ yards and score 12+ touchdowns. – Well, that blew up in my face. He missed four games and never really was the workhorse I expected him to be. He is averaging 4.7 yards per carry with 856 rushing yards and 5 scores, but that whole woman beating incident and the benching, and all that stuff didn’t help his cause. Sorry about this one.
Plaxico Burress will play in less than 11 games. – 9 – kind of crazy, I hope he doesn’t get put in jail – that’s ridiculous, mandatory minimums are as stupid as they sound, but he wasn’t going to play 11 games anyway.
The Giants will finish the season under .500. – Hahaha – probably my worst call of 2008-09 season.
Chris Taylor will lead the Houston Texans in rushing yards and scores. – Chris, meet Steven Slaton. Wrong.
Anthony Gonzalez will have a similar year (give or take a few fantasy points) to Brandon Stokely a few years ago when he played with the Colts – 1077 yards, 68 catches, 10 touchdowns. – No sir! Try 56 for 652 and 4 touchdowns heading into Week 17.
During the fantasy playoffs (week’s 14-16) Adrian Peterson (Vikings) will have more yards and touchdowns than any other running back. – Yards? Maybe – Touchdowns, no way. Either way, I was wrong about this one.
The Patriots will win 13 games during the regular season. – They might get 11, but tough call without Brady in there, wish I knew that.
Ryan Torrain will start at least 5 games for the Broncos later this season. He would have started them all down the stretch, but like all the other Bronco backs, Ryan went down with an injury. In his first game starting, too.
Chad Johnson will lead the NFL in receiving yards despite his shoulder ouchy. – Carson Palmer didn’t play after the first couple weeks – Chad had his worst year as a pro.
Vince Young will throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Even in his one game, this was a false statement.
Lee Evans will score 10+ touchdowns. – 3 TDs. Ha.
Bernard Berrien will have his best receiving totals of his career – yards, catches, and touchdowns. – If BB gets 70 yards and a score in Week 17, he has the most TDs and yards in a single season for his career. He only has 44 catches though, he won’t catch that mark.
Wes Welker won’t match last season’s totals, he’ll eclipse them – (yards and touchdowns for sure). – He will have more yards and catches with a 4 grab 40 yard performance against the Bills, basically a lock, but Tom’s absence hurt his TD total, as Wes only has 3 this year.
Ben Watson will be a Top 12 tight end. – Nope.
Four rookie running backs will rush for over 1000 yards (I’m thinking Darren McFadden, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, and Kevin Smith – but keep your eye on Ryan Torrain, Jonathan Stewart, and Rashard Mendenhall. – Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton all have eclipsed 1000. Kevin Smith needs 120 to get it, and you know what, I think he does. Teh biggest surprise? Try Slaton. His stock dropped, and it’s beginning to look like there was no reason for it.
The Eagles will not have a 1000 yard receiver – but they’ll still win 10 games. – Right and wrong. Even if the Eagles win against the Boys, they still don’t win 10, they go 9-5-1. Nice tie folks. Unless DeSean Jackson goes off for 136+, they won’t have a 1000 yard rusher.
Donovan McNabb will be a Top 5 fantasy quarterback. – 8th overall, 29 points behind 5th…
Jake Delhomme will finish in the Top 8 amongst QBs. – 19th headed into Week 17, not gonna do it.
Leon Washington will score at least 6 touchdowns while having at least 3 games with 100+ yards (receiving and rushing combined) – 7 touchdown (5 rushing and 2 receiving – and then you add in return scores and you get even more. But he only had one 100+ yard game. Not used enough. Thanks again Man-Jina!
Barrack Obama will become president in one of the most lopsided elections in recent history. Lopsided in electoral votes anyway. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

There you have it, dig it, disagree with it, recognize it – just get ready for me to gloat when prediction becomes truth – I’ll keep tabs so you don’t have to!

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