clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Hogs Haven 2020 Season Predictions

The Hogs Haven writers predict division winners, individual award honors, the Super Bowl champion and more for the 2020 NFL season

NFL: Super Bowl LIV-Kansas City Chiefs Champions Parade Amy Kontras-USA TODAY Sports

After several grueling months of wondering whether we were even going to see pro football this year, we’re finally extremely close - within 10 hours - of the kick off of the 2020 NFL season. The Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the high-powered Houston Texans in what promises to be an exciting match-up.

In honor of the impending season, the staff writers at Hogs Haven - 12 of them - corralled their vast football knowledge and deployed it in an attempt to predict the future. In the eighth annual edition of this series, the site's writers and analysts were asked to guess team and individual award winners for this season, including an in-depth set of prognostications about our very own WFT.

Enjoy the predictions below, and please add your own in the comments below, as we prepare to embark, once again, into the most wonderful time of the year.

(listed alphabetically by last name)

Writers 1-3

Category Bill-in-Bangkok Matt-in-Bris-Vegas Denton Day
Category Bill-in-Bangkok Matt-in-Bris-Vegas Denton Day
NFC East Cowboys Eagles Cowboys
NFC North Vikings Packers Vikings
NFC South Saints Saints Saints
NFC West 49ers Seahawks Seahawks
NFC Wild Card Seahawks 49ers 49ers
NFC Wild Card Bucs Vikings Bucs
NFC Wild Card Packers Bucs Packers
NFC Champion Saints Saints Saints
AFC East Patriots Bills Bills
AFC North Ravens Ravens Ravens
AFC South Texans Titans Titans
AFC West Chiefs Chiefs Chiefs
AFC Wild Card Titans Colts Patriots
AFC Wild Card Bills Patriots Texans
AFC Wild Card Steelers Steelers Broncos
AFC Champion Chiefs Ravens Ravens
Super Bowl Champ Chiefs Ravens Ravens
1st Pick in the Draft (Team) Jaguars Jaguars Jaguars
Comeback POY A. Smith Newton J. Gordon
Coach of the Year McCarthy McDermott Harbaugh
Offensive ROY Burrow Jeudy Burrow
Defensive ROY Young Young Young
Offensive POY Mahomes Mahomes McCaffrey
Defensive POY Hunter TJ Watt N. Bosa
MVP Mahomes Mahomes Mahomes
WFT Offensive POY Haskins McLaurin McLaurin
WFT Defensive POY Sweat Young Young
WFT Record 5-11 6-10 6-10
WFT Playoff Finish NA NA NA

Writers 4-6:

Category James Dorsett Tom Garrett Scott Jennings
Category James Dorsett Tom Garrett Scott Jennings
NFC East Cowboys Eagles Cowboys
NFC North Lions Vikings Packers
NFC South Saints Bucs Bucs
NFC West Seahawks Seahawks 49ers
NFC Wild Card 49ers 49ers Seahawks
NFC Wild Card Bucs Saints Saints
NFC Wild Card Packers Cowboys Vikings
NFC Champion Saints Vikings Saints
AFC East Bills Bills Bills
AFC North Ravens Ravens Ravens
AFC South Colts Titans Titans
AFC West Chiefs Chiefs Chiefs
AFC Wild Card Titans Patriots Patriots
AFC Wild Card Browns Texans Texans
AFC Wild Card Steelers Steelers Steelers
AFC Champion Ravens Chiefs Chiefs
Super Bowl Champ Saints Chiefs Chiefs
1st Pick in the Draft (Team) Jets Jaguars Jaguars
Comeback POY Roethlisberger A. Smith A. Smith
Coach of the Year McCarthy Arians Arians
Offensive ROY Burrow Edwards-Helaire Edwards-Helaire
Defensive ROY Young Young Young
Offensive POY Mahomes Mahomes McCaffrey
Defensive POY TJ Watt TJ Watt N. Bosa
MVP Prescott Mahomes Mahomes
WFT Offensive POY McLaurin McLaurin McLaurin
WFT Defensive POY Young Young Young
WFT Record 4-12 5-11 4-12
WFT Playoff Finish NA NA NA

Writers: 7-9

Category KyleSmith4GM Aaron Lesher Ken Meringolo
Category KyleSmith4GM Aaron Lesher Ken Meringolo
NFC East Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys
NFC North Vikings Vikings Packers
NFC South Saints Saints Bucs
NFC West 49ers Seahawks Rams
NFC Wild Card Seahawks 49ers WFT
NFC Wild Card Packers Falcons Saints
NFC Wild Card Bucs Bucs 49ers
NFC Champion Vikings Saints Bucs
AFC East Bills Bills Bills
AFC North Ravens Ravens Ravens
AFC South Colts Texans Texans
AFC West Chiefs Chiefs Chiefs
AFC Wild Card Patriots Chargers Patriots
AFC Wild Card Browns Broncos Browns
AFC Wild Card Steelers Steelers Steelers
AFC Champion Chiefs Chiefs Ravens
Super Bowl Champ Chiefs Chiefs Bucs
1st Pick in the Draft (Team) Jaguars Jaguars Jaguars
Comeback POY Roethlisberger A. Smith Gronkowski
Coach of the Year Rivera Lynn Arians
Offensive ROY Edwards-Helaire Burrow Edwards-Helaire
Defensive ROY C. Young Young Young
Offensive POY Mahomes Edwards-Helaire Mahomes
Defensive POY N. Bosa J. Bosa Donald
MVP Mahomes Mahomes Mahomes
WFT Offensive POY Haskins McLaurin Haskins
WFT Defensive POY Sweat Young Young
WFT Record 8-8 6-10 8-8
WFT Playoff Finish NA NA Wild Card

Writers: 10-12

Category Bryan Stabbe Mark Tyler Andrew York
Category Bryan Stabbe Mark Tyler Andrew York
NFC East Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys
NFC North Packers Vikings Packers
NFC South Saints Saints Saints
NFC West Seahawks Seahawks Seahawks
NFC Wild Card 49ers 49ers 49ers
NFC Wild Card Bucs Cards Vikings
NFC Wild Card Vikings Bucs Bucs
NFC Champion Saints Seahawks Packers
AFC East Patriots Bills Patriots
AFC North Ravens Ravens Ravens
AFC South Colts Texans Titans
AFC West Chiefs Chiefs Chiefs
AFC Wild Card Bills Pats Bills
AFC Wild Card Titans Colts Colts
AFC Wild Card Steelers Steelers Steelers
AFC Champion Ravens Texans Ravens
Super Bowl Champ Ravens Seahawks Ravens
1st Pick in the Draft (Team) Jaguars Jaguars Panthers
Comeback POY Newton Gronkowski Gronkowski
Coach of the Year McCarthy Carroll Belichick
Offensive ROY Burrow Edwards-Helaire Burrow
Defensive ROY Young Young Young
Offensive POY Jackson Barkley Barkley
Defensive POY N. Bosa Leonard N. Bosa
MVP Mahomes Watson Rodgers
WFT Offensive POY McLaurin Haskins McLaurin
WFT Defensive POY Young Collins Ioannidis
WFT Record 3-13 6-10 6-10
WFT Playoff Finish NA NA NA

WFT and NFC East Predictions

  • Once again, our fearless leader, Ken Meringolo, was the only one among us who was bold enough to predict that the WFT would make the playoffs. Ken has the Burgundy and Gold racking up eight wins, winning the NFC East for the first time since 2015 and getting knocked out of the playoffs in the wild card round. Ken and I were the only writers to have the WFT winning more than six games (8). James and Scott both predicted 4-12 records. Everyone else predicted 5-11 or 6-10.
  • Of the eleven writers polled who were not named Ken Meringolo, 80% of them picked the Cowboys to win the NFC East crown. Tom and Matt-in-Bris-Vegas both picked the dirty birds to take the division crown. No one picked a second NFC East team to make the playoffs as a Wild Card team.
  • The picks for WFT’s best offensive player were decidedly tilted, 8-4, to Scary Terry, with Dwayne Haskins the runner up. Chase Young was the runaway defensive winner in this category with 8 votes, follow by Montez Sweat (2), Landon Collins (1), and Matty I (1).

Super Bowl Picks

  • All but one of the participating Hogs Haven scribes picked either the Ravens (6) or the Chiefs (5) to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl (Mark picked the Texans). Things were decidedly more split in the NFC where the Saints (7), Vikings (2), Bucs (1), Packers (1), and Seahawks (1) all received votes.
  • Kansas City and Baltimore were the only clubs that received more than one vote to win the Super Bowl, with KC edging the Ravens out by a margin of five to four. The Seahawks, Bucs and Saints also received votes.

Other Prediction Trends

  • There were only three categories where there was unanimous agreement: The Ravens will win the AFC North, the Chiefs will win the AFC West, and Chase Young will be the Defensive Rookie of the Year.
  • Bruce Arians (3) and Mike McCarthy (3) were tied for the most votes for Coach of the Year. Joe Burrow (6) narrowly edged out Clyde Edwards-Helaire (5) in the Offensive Rookie of the Year category. Nick Bosa collected the most votes (5) for Defensive Player of the Year, with TJ Watt (3) second, and Aaron Donald, Danielle Hunter, Joey Bosa, and Darius Leonard among the other vote getters.
  • Eleven of us predicted the Steelers would make the playoffs as a Wild Card in the AFC, with the Bucs and 49ers both collecting nine votes as NFC Wild Card entrants.
  • There was general agreement that the Jaguars (10) would be the worst team in the league, but the Panthers and Jets also notched votes in this category.

So there you have it; we’ve made all of our best guesses for the forthcoming NFL season. Now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors and finally get to sit back and watch some football, and hopefully see the WFT play well enough to make us proud.

After the confetti drops at Super Bowl LV, I’ll be back to do a full accounting, at which time you can either mock us for our fortune-telling failures or erect virtual statues to praise and worship our infinite wisdom and foresight.

In the meantime, let us know what you think of our picks and share your predictions for the season in the comments section. Happy season kickoff day and HTTR!

Poll

How many games will the WFT win this season?

This poll is closed

  • 1%
    2 or fewer
    (8 votes)
  • 8%
    3 or 4
    (45 votes)
  • 45%
    5 or 6
    (243 votes)
  • 31%
    7 or 8
    (165 votes)
  • 10%
    9 or 10
    (54 votes)
  • 2%
    11 or more
    (15 votes)
530 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Which team will win Super Bowl LV?

This poll is closed

  • 27%
    Baltimore Ravens
    (115 votes)
  • 26%
    Kansas City Chiefs
    (109 votes)
  • 15%
    New Orleans Saints
    (64 votes)
  • 2%
    Seattle Seahawks
    (12 votes)
  • 0%
    Houston Texans
    (4 votes)
  • 1%
    Minnesota Vikings
    (6 votes)
  • 5%
    Tampa Bay Buccaneers
    (22 votes)
  • 19%
    Another team
    (79 votes)
411 votes total Vote Now