The 3 Best Futures to Hop on Before Kickoff!

Intern's NFL Future #1- Christian McCaffrey Comeback Player of the Year (+750)

CMC is a huge risk to take when it comes to a full season bet which I fully understand. The laundry list of injuries has really piled up for him, BUT nobody can win this award if they get hurt again this season, so you have to assume you are getting pretty much a full season of health from whoever you place your wager on.

Let's talk about his competition. Derrick Henry is +350, Jameis Winston +500, as well as Daniel Jones, Michael Thomas, Mitchell Trubisky, and Baker Mayfield all at +1000 or more.

• Derrick Henry (+350)- The Titans lost two starters from their offensive line of last year, Tannehill is a year older, and they lost AJ Brown in a trade to the Eagles. All these reasons point to a bit of a regression year offensively from the Titans.
• Jameis Winston (+500)- Winston is the one I see as the biggest threat to this bet other than injury obviously. The reason I see him as the biggest threat is because naturally QB's get the focus and attention of the media and they play in a weak division. All this said, I think Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Alvin Kamara will take a lot of credit away from Winston if they Saints are clicking and if you take away Jameis' 30 and 30 season, Winston hasn't thrown for more than 3,500 yards and 20 TD's since 2016, so in 2021-22 I just don't see him putting up the numbers to warrant attention over CMC for this award.
• Finally, let's just group together Jones, Trubisky, and Mayfield. Simply put, Mayfield and Trubisky are not talented enough to put up the numbers that would garner attention for this award, and Daniel Jones is going to be handcuffed by the fact that if he is having a great season I see more of the credit going to new Head Coach Brian Daboll rather than DJ.

CMC will most likely be playing with multiple QB's this season and have to carry most of the offensive load. It has been a while since we have seen a full season of CMC, but if he is healthy he is going to remind the NFL world that he is the greatest RB in the entire league. CMC +750 is just too much value if he stays healthy.

Intern's NFL Future #2- Ravens to Win Total Over 9.5 (-160)

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You all know I am biased, and I am a Ravens fan, but I will provide you facts rather than opinions that will sell you on this being a lock. Yes, I understand -160 is a lot of juice to lay, but at the end of the day when we have more money in our pocket than we started with I don't think any of us will care.

To start, The Ravens are favored in 13 of their 17 games going into this NFL season. This is up there with one of the biggest discrepancies between individual games being the favorite and full season win total. The Ravens also have the 23rd ranked strength of schedule coming into this season because the Ravens ended up finishing last in the AFC North last season due to Lamar Jackson getting injured.

The Ravens were 8-4 when Lamar played the full game last year, which was on pace to hit the over, and that is with all the injuries the Ravens sustained. In Lamar's two previous full seasons the Ravens went 11-5 in 2021 and 14-2 in 2020. I remind you those two seasons where the over would have hit, that was in a 16 game season. You can say what you want about Lamar in the playoffs, but all he does is win regular season games.

Ravens Return form Injuries, Draft, and Free Agency

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Statistically, the Ravens had the worst season of injuries in the history of the NFL according to impact of players not on the field due to injury. The list of players the Ravens have returning from include Lamar Jackson, J.K. Dobbins, Marlon Humphrey, Ronnie Stanley, Marcus Peters, among many others. Not to mention the addition of Tyler Linderbaum and Kyler Hamilton through the draft, and Marcus Williams in FA.

The Ravens two biggest issues last year was the secondary and offensive line. The Ravens get their all-pro LT back in Ronnie Stanley and draft the most polished OL prospect in the draft, Linderbaum, to address that hole. The secondary gets Marcus Williams in FA and Kyle Hamilton in the draft to add along side Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters to take this secondary from one of the worst to one of the best in the league. The Ravens win double digit games this season, and I will most certainly be putting my money where my mouth is on this one.

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Intern's NFL Future #3- Kirk Cousins Over 4199.5 Passing Yards (-115)

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For the final season long future we are riding with Kirk Cousins. I might just be saving the best for last with this one, and here is why.

The Vikings hired former Rams OC, Kevin O'Connell, in the offseason who is known as one of the best pass game coordinators in all of the NFL. The improvement form Zimmer to O'Connell should speak for itself, but if it doesn't the Vikings as a whole should be making a huge step forward with the massively improved defense as well as improvement at LT to provide more protection for Cousins.

Three Reasons Why This Will Hit

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#1- Kirk Cousins has thrown for over 4,200 yards in 3 of his last 4 seasons and that is all in 16 games played or less, and if he can stay healthy he gets an a 17th game going into this season. The saying goes history tends to repeat itself.

#2- The Vikings play the 20th hardest schedule this season which includes their very weak division with struggling Bears and Lions as well as a lot of question marks going into the Packers season. On top of this 11 of their 17 games will be played in a dome which historically favors more scoring and more throwing.

#3- I touched on this previously, but one of the greatest passing game minds is taking over in Minnesota Stafford in this same offense threw for just under 4,900 yards. The Vikings have one of the most talented skill position groups in the NFL. This includes: IMO the best WR in the NFL, Justin Jefferson, Mr. Consistent, Adam Theilen, a more than suitable #3, K.J. Osborn, and they get their young TE, Irv Smith, back healthy. This doesn't even include probably the best one-two rushing combo in Cook and Mattison. O'Connell has the pieces to put it together, and I see no reason why Cousins can't execute.

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