It’s that time of the year as we prepare for the first real kickoff. All preseason we’ve been providing advice on sleepers, busts, breakout candidates, overvalued/undervalued, and the list goes on. One topic that always gets a conversation going is bold predictions.

Undoubtedly, some of what you’ll read will seem crazy. But hey, these are supposed to be bold (it’s right there in the title)! Now even when it comes to hot takes, we want to bring you the best advice possible so we asked the most accurate experts for their thoughts. Here are their predictions for the upcoming season.

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Q. Please give one bold fantasy prediction for the upcoming season.

“DeVante Parker will be a low-end WR1 in 2017, outscoring established stars like Dez Bryant and DeAndre Hopkins. Parker’s breakout campaign will be bigger than anyone can imagine, as he tops 1,000 yards and posts double-digit touchdowns. The third-year wideout has backed up the hype surrounding his transformative offseason, and is showing chemistry with Jay Cutler who has a history of locking onto his top target. With Dez facing quality corners in 13 of his games, and Hopkins still dealing with subpar quarterback play, Parker will eclipse both en route to becoming a fantasy star.”

– Justin Boone (theScore)

“Marcus Mariota will finish in the top five. In his first 27 NFL games, Mariota has averaged 17.7 fantasy points per game, which would have extrapolated to about what Dak Prescott scored last year as the league’s No. 6 fantasy quarterback. When his six-attempt game against the Patriots (from his rookie year) is removed, his average jumps to 18.3 fantasy points. With the addition of Corey Davis, the No. 5 overall pick, Taywan Taylor and TD-machine Eric Decker, Mariota now has a potent receiving corps to throw to. The Titans have invested heavily in the passing game, which is an indicator that the team is willing to open up the offense.”

– John Paulsen (4for4.com)

“D’Onta Foreman will be more *valuable* than Lamar Miller. Hear me out: Miller may still score more fantasy points than Foreman, but given his draft cost, Miller will end up a disappointment again, and Foreman will return great value. Foreman is a bulldozer of a running back and the better early down and goal line option for the Texans. Miller has been given plenty of opportunities to impress and has failed to do so. At some point, both Miller’s team and fantasy owners need to realize that he’s better suited as a complementary piece and 50/50 share. Foreman and Miller will finish much closer in points than people think.”

– Jake Ciely (RotoExperts)

“Bilal Powell catches 100 passes. The Jets will throw a lot because they’re going to be losing in every game. When McCown/Hackenberg/Petty look downfield, they’ll see Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Uninspiring, right? Dump off to Powell, again and again and again.”

– John Halpin (RotoWire.com)

“After two seasons of inexplicably mediocre TD numbers, Amari Cooper embarks on a scorched-earth campaign that makes Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons jealous, scoring 10-plus touchdowns and finishing as a top-five receiver.”

– Pat Fitzmaurice (The Football Girl)

“Dalvin Cook will finish the season as a top 5 RB. This is not to say I would put this probability above 50% or recommend selecting him in the top 5. However, he’s providing great value as the 16th RB off the board. He has all the tools to be a workhorse back in the NFL and put himself in position to put up elite numbers if he stays healthy.”

– Sean Koerner (STATS)

“Philip Rivers will throw for over 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. That may not seem too bold because of the gaudy passing stats we see in today’s NFL, but keep in mind Rivers has never hit either of those marks. This season he arguably has his best receiving corps in his career with Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams, Travis Benjamin and tight end, Hunter Henry. What also makes this bold is the fact that it relies heavily on Allen staying healthy, something he has not been able to do. If he can stay healthy for the majority of the season, along with the rest of those guys, I really like Rivers chances at surpassing both of those marks. ”

– Joe Bond (Fantasy Six Pack)

“Currently ranked as WR49 in standard league scoring, I believe Chris Hogan will far surpass that and finish the year ranked in the top 30. In a recent interview with Tom Brady, he said one of the biggest attributes he looks for in his receivers is his ability to trust them. With arguably his most trusted receiver in Edelman now out for the year, look for Brady to continue to build his “trust” with Hogan. If you look at the playoffs last year, it was clear that Brady already believed in Hogan as evidenced by him being targeted 12 times in the AFC championship game and coming up with 9 catches for 180 yards and 2td’s. Brady then looked for him another 7 times in the Super Bowl including on a crucial 3rd and long on the final drive of the 4th quarter. In the one game in the preseason that the starters played meaningful minutes, Hogan caught 2 TDs in the 1st quarter which could be a sign of things to come this season. Hogan averaged 17.9 yards per catch last season, so while he may not put up as consistent numbers as Edelman, he clearly has big play ability and with an increase in volume this year he should be getting drafted much higher than his current WR49 ranking would suggest.”

– Brendan Donahue (EDSFootball)

“Matt Ryan will finish outside the top 10 for fantasy QBs. History tends to repeat itself and just like Cam Newton’s major dropoff from 2015 to 2016, the Falcons QB is in the same position. He’s the reigning MVP and coming off a DEVASTATING loss in the Super Bowl. Plus Ryan lost his Offensive Coordinator, Kyle Shanahan this offseason. His 2016 season is a major outlier, it was just the second time in his nine year career with more than 30 TDs and he also threw for a career high in yards. To me it’s pretty simple math: Ryan’s yards and TDs are bound for a regression. Sometimes it’s not rocket science.”

– Bill Enright (FFChamps)

“Randall Cobb will finish 2017 with at least 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. His production has declined over the last two seasons, but in 2015 he was dealing with a shoulder injury and playing without Jordy Nelson and in 2016 he was injured for most of the season, missing three full games and parts of two more games and playing as a decoy in a third game. If we look at the production from Cobb’s 13 healthy contests last year (including playoffs), that extrapolates to over 1,000 yards in 16 games. As for the touchdowns, he’s due for positive regression and Davante Adams is due for negative regression. Some of the touchdowns that went to Adams last year will go to Cobb this year. The last season in which he and Nelson were both healthy Cobb had a 1,324-12 campaign, and he’s still just 27 years old.”

– Matthew Freedman (FantasyLabs)

“Given his ADP 94 & his FantasyPros #13 consensus ranking, most would consider a top-10 QB finish to be a good year for Dak Prescott. Well, I’ll take it a step and or two further than that: Prescott will finish 2017 as a top-3 QB. Bolstered by a well-balanced offense led by Ezekiel Elliott, Prescott will face off-kilter defenders all year long and use play-action to his benefit. Look for a resurgent year from Dez Bryant and a breakout campaign from Cole Beasley. Finally, Prescott will be pressed into putting this offense on his back at times because the Cowboys’ defense is underwhelming and lacking quality at key positions.”

– Matt De Lima (ScoutFantasy)

“Christian McCaffrey will finish the season as a top-5 PPR running back and will amass over 2,000 all purpose yards.”

– Scott Whitfield (Roto Rankings)

“The best laid plans of Andy Reid were to keep Patrick Mahomes on ice this year, however, he’s forced to roll out the promising rookie QB when the football gods conspire to muck up the works. The on-field chemistry between Mahomes and second-year receiver Demarcus Robinson we saw at times during camp and the preseason–particularly in the team’s final game when the two connected for 127 yards and a score in a 30-6 win over the Titans–immediately sparks the Kansas City offense. Fantasy owners blow what’s left of their FAAB money, use priority waiver claims to land Mahomes and Robinson and kick themselves for spending a third-or-fourth round pick on Tyreek Hill or taking a flier on Chris Conley who they dropped by Week 3. Mahomes-to-Robinson, get used to it.”

– Allie Fontana (The Fantasy Fix)

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Thank you to the experts for giving their bold predictions. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter if you’re not already doing so and check out our latest podcast below for more great advice.



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