It’s NFL hot takes season as everyone and their mother’s brother start making outlandish claims for no particular reason. Of course, we don’t really know if there will even be a football season in 2020, but that hasn’t stopped people from making spurious claims about what will happen.
We’ve found three of the most ridiculous NFL hot takes currently floating around the internet and are going to call them out.
1) The New York Giants will win the NFC East
Source: Walter Football
Walter Football is an awesome site with a ton of great football information. He is the go-to source for NFL Draft stuff, but is also on point with general football predictions. However, the site is super bullish on the New York Giants in 2020. In fact, he not only has them winning the NFC East, but thinks they will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship game. Good luck with that.
Why is it an NFL hot take gone wrong?
Daniel Jones remains a huge question mark. Walter Football thinks he’s going to be a Pro Bowl caliber player which is far from a certainty. What’s more, the Giants have a tougher schedule than people may realize. Not only are they in the NFC East, but they face off against the Ravens and 49ers, two teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Jones and company also have games against the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and the aforementioned Buccaneers, three teams that harbor playoff ambitions.
2) The Buccaneers will have at least one good RB
Source: Fantasy football Twitter
You will find plenty of people in the fantasy football Twitter world trying to sell you on Ronald Jones II or Ke’Shawn Vaughn or Ronald Jones II. This group will shout Tom Brady and show you some out of context highlights as proof their claim is legitimate. Don’t fall for it.
Why is it an NFL hot take gone wrong?
We have already covered this topic in a previous article. Here is the Cliff Notes version in case you missed it:
Bruce Arians is an awful coach when it comes to running backs apart from one magical season with David Johnson. And that only happened because a wildly ineffective Chris Johnson happened to get hurt the year before which allowed DJ to get more work. More importantly, neither Jones II nor Vaughn is close to being 2016 DJ regardless of who is behind center.
3) Colts guard Quenton Nelson could become the best player in the NFL
Source: PFF
PFF is known for its hot takes that are usually misconstrued by the public. However, even with the usual PFF qualifiers, the take that Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson could become the best player in the NFL is off the deep end. It’s argued that Nelson is the best player in the league if you assess his dominance independent of positional value. Maybe. Or maybe this is just clickbait to get a reaction from people on the internet.
Why is it an NFL hot take gone wrong?
Firstly, the difference between the best guard in the NFL and a league average one is much smaller than the gap between the best (insert most other positions) and a mediocre one. Secondly, can you even judge any player without factoring in positional value? The entire premise feels faulty to begin with. Finally, you can’t equate positional dominance as a way to measure the best players. Nothing against Nelson or the Indianapolis Colts, but he isn’t the best player in the NFL.
