Okay. I love all of the fantasy football experts out there. All of us guys constantly watch these "experts" throughout the year on all of the shows, take their advice, but after that week, really forget anything that they really said. I mean, nobody ever really comes out and says "I was very wrong two weeks ago when on this show I said...." But there is one guy out there that really just annoys me - Matthew Berry from ESPN. He looks funny and smiles too much. So when he put out his "expert predictions" at the beginning of the year, I had to jump on it. I saved the entire article so that I could assess it at the end of the year. And here it is. Incorrect predictions are in italics. Correct predictions are in bold. My comments are in regular font.
Since they are fantasy predictions, stats are only through week 16.
1. Anquan Boldin will shut up and have a better fantasy season than Larry Fitzgerald. I say 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. You heard me.
-Fitzgerald BARELY had a better year. Blame it on that nasty hit Boldin took. But Q DID shut up.
2. Leonard Pope will catch seven touchdowns.
-Even with Warner, Pope caught 0.
3. Michael Turner will finish with fewer than 1,000 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.
-Try 1,491 yards and 16 touchdowns at the end of week 16.
4. Willis McGahee will play every game this year and finish as a top-10 fantasy running back.
-McGahee did not even play the first game.
5. Troy Smith will net 24 total touchdowns.
-Not even close. 1 TD. Buddy never even started.
6. Marshawn Lynch will earn more than 1,700 total yards and score double-digit touchdowns. Close.
-He had 1300 total yards and 9 total touchdowns.
7. Steve Smith will not reach 1,000 yards or eight touchdowns. He'll play in only 12 games. Over 1,000 yards.
-Played in at least 13 games. Only 6 TD’s, though.
8. Devin Hester will finish the year as a top-25 fantasy wide receiver and score a total of 10 touchdowns.
-Did finish # 18 in my league, thanks to return yardage, but only 3 TD’s. yuck.
9. Rudi Johnson and Chris Perry. Blah blah blah. Kenny Watson will finish as the leading rusher on the Bengals and will have at least 1,000 total yards. You heard me.
-Cedric Benson finished with 636 yards. Kenny Watson finished with 55 yards. Rudi Johnson is on the Lions, now...I think... I'm not sure where the guy is.
10. Brady Quinn will start for the Browns by Week 9.
-It took until week 10.
11. Marion Barber will finish the year as a top-five fantasy running back.
-Finished #18 in my league.
12. Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson will break up. And Romo will have his best game of the season the week after. And then Joe Simpson will say something creepy about his daughter.
-Who knows what’s going on with those 3? I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
13. Tony Scheffler will finish the year as a top-5 fantasy tight end.
-Try Top 12.
14. Calvin Johnson will be a top-10 wide receiver. And Jon Kitna will throw for more than 4,000 yards, even without Mike Martz.
-Calvin finished # 7. Kitna was benched on IR.
15. Even more people will realize that because its leagues are 100 percent free and offer free live scoring, fully customizable options (including keeper league and fractional scoring) and an auction draft room, ESPN is the place to host your Fantasy Football League. Sign up now! (As you know, I'm a company man.) -I will play ESPN next year so I don’t have to pay $10 for yahoo! Stattracker.
16. James Jones will have 800 yards and seven touchdowns.
-233 yards and 1 touchdown.
17. I'll make good on my baseball prediction of dating a totally sane woman.
- I doubt it.
18. Matt Schaub will throw for 3,500 yards and 28 touchdowns.
-2,700 yards and 13 TD’s
19. Dallas Clark will finish the year as the No. 1 fantasy tight end. You heard me.
-Valiant effort. Finished #3 in my league.
20. David Garrard will be a top-10 fantasy quarterback this season and throw no more than six interceptions all season.
-Finished #9 but threw 11 INTs.
21. Reggie Williams will catch double-digit touchdowns again.
-3 TD’s
22. I'll beat Nate Ravitz in a footrace and win more of the board bets. We'll have a listener dress up as a monkey and be our slave for a day. (I'm telling you, you have to listen to our daily Fantasy Focus Football podcast.)
-I am guessing he won after a lot of practice, because he certainly was not spending his time learning Fantasy.
23. Kolby Smith will end the year as the leading rusher for the Chiefs.
-The guy went on IR.
24. Ted Ginn Jr. will reach 1,000 yards and score seven touchdowns.
-700 yards and 3 TD’s
25. Adrian Peterson (the Viking) will play fewer than 13 games this year and finish outside of the top five of fantasy running backs.
-Played in 15 games, finished #7
26. The new "90210" show will be terrible. Yet I'll still watch every episode. Tori Spelling will end up showing up, eventually.
-It is terrible. But I love Tori Spelling, too.
27. The year after he threw 48 touchdowns, Dan Marino threw 30. The year after Peyton Manning threw 49 touchdowns, he threw 28. Tom Brady will throw 40 this year.
-Tom Brady threw 0 TDs.
28. No Saints running back will have more than 600 yards rushing or 1,000 total yards.
-Thomas broke 600, and 2 actually broke 900 total yards.
29. Eli Manning will have another disappointing second half, play poorly at home and finish with no more than 25 touchdowns.
-BINGO!!!! After 28 tries on football predictions, Matthew Berry finally got one right! Way to go! And I don’t care if the first half of the sentence is subjective.
30. Amani Toomer will catch seven touchdowns. You heard me.
-Caught 4.
31. Thomas Jones will be a top-10 fantasy running back.
-Finished # 5.
32. Jerricho Cotchery will be a top-20 wide receiver.
-I don’t know where he ended up, but I know where he didn’t - Top 20.
33. Brett Favre's consecutive game streak will end this season. And Brett will get involved in a scandal before he realizes the New York media is very different than the Green Bay media.
-The streak did not end, but of course Favre was in a scandal (phone calls anyone?). But that’s like saying “It’s gonna rain one day.”
34. Brett Favre will retire at the end of the season and do a long, tearful farewell at various stadiums. There'll be magazine covers and retrospectives.
-Yet to be determined, but I agree on this one.
35. Brett Favre will suit up for the Buccaneers next season.
-Nope. Gonna be Culpepper. Gruden and his QB's.
36. Darren McFadden will have more than 1,600 total yards and score double-digit touchdowns.
-Didn’t get ½ of that – on either prediction.
37. Ronald Curry will have at least 1,000 yards receiving, and JaMarcus Russell will score 25 touchdowns.
-Once again, didn’t get ½ of that – on either prediction.
38. Donovan McNabb will play all 16 games.
-Technically 15 ½.
39. Santonio Holmes will finish the year as a top-12 fantasy wide receiver.
-Not top 25.
40. Marc Bulger and Torry Holt will return to fantasy prominence. Specifically, Bulger will throw 3,500 yards and at least 24 touchdowns. Holt will get 10 scores.
-Neither returned to prominence. Both barely even returned to the field without getting replaced.
41. At least eight other tight ends will have a better fantasy season than Antonio Gates. You heard me.
-Only 3 other tight ends did better.
42. Michael Phelps will "date" Lindsay Lohan and find himself in a weird love triangle with Samantha Ronson. For no apparent reason, a picture of the three of them with Wilmer Valderrama, David Spade and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog will show up on TMZ.
-This is a stretch, and I think he’s actually being serious.
43. Frank Gore won't be a top-15 fantasy player this year. Specifically, he won't get 1,300 total yards or double-digit touchdowns.
-Right except the yardage part.
44. Ben Obomanu will reach 800 yards and six touchdowns.
-Never played. On IR.
45. Tampa Bay's defense will return to being a top-five fantasy defense.
-Finished #5.
46. Chris Johnson will be the leading rusher for the Tennessee Titans.
-I think Matthew has found a groove.
47. Justin Gage will have more than 1,000 yards receiving. And Alge Crumpler will get eight scores.
-Fewer than 800 and 1 TD.
48. Both Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El will have more than 1,000 yards receiving. Jason Campbell will throw for more than 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns.
-yardage for Campbell is the only one he got right on this one.
49. There will be at least 100 comments on this article on ESPN Conversation (beta!). At least 10 of them are positive.
-My blog is longer than a “comment” and none of this is positive for him.
50. My Redskins will win the Super Bowl, and Jim Zorn will be named coach of the year. Hey, it's my list. Make your own.
-Dude. Your list sucks.
