I was able to wrangle 12 current and former staff writers at Hogs Haven and harvest their vast football knowledge for predictions of the future. In the eleventh annual edition of this series, the site's writers and analysts were asked to guess team and individual award winners for this season.

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.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

Commanders and NFC East Predictions

• The writers couldn’t achieve consensus on who would win the NFC East this year, but we did achieve consensus on who wouldn’t: Washington. Both the Giants and Cowboys got one vote, with the other 10 going to the Eagles. For reference, in 2022, two writers predicted Washington would win the East. In 2021, all the writers expected Washington to win, and in 2020, the only time in Ron Rivera’s tenure the team actually did win the division, none of the writers predicted it. By that metric, 2023 is looking up for the Commanders.
• Estimates for the Commanders’ record were remarkably tight this year, ranging from a low of 7-10 (Bryan) to 11-6 (me). Six writers predicted a record of 9-8. Two writers (Ken and Aaron) predicted a 10-7 finish.
• Half of the writers do not expect Washington to make the playoffs this year. Of the six that do, four of us expect them to win a playoff game. The writers are slightly more pessimistic than the fanbase, 3/4’s of whom expect Washington to make the playoffs.

• In the individual superlative categories, Chase Young (one for Comeback Player of the Year; Mark) and Emmanuel Forbes (three for Defensive Rookie of the Year) were the only Commanders to collect votes.

Super Bowl Picks

• In each conference, there was a clear favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. On the NFC side, 8 writers selected the 49ers as the eventual champion, with the Eagles getting three votes (and the Cowboys getting one). In the AFC, six writers predict the Bills will take the conference championship, with the Bengals next in line with three votes (The Chiefs received two and the Chargers received one).
• Super Bowl picks were as spread out as they’ve been for some time, with the top prediction for Super Bowl winner being the 49ers (4), followed by the Bills (3), Bengals (2), Chiefs (2), and Eagles (1).

Other Prediction Trends

• This year, there was no category where there was unanimous agreement. Last year, there was one such category. In 2021, there were 4 such categories.

• Three quarters of the writers picked the same player for Comeback Player of the Year as SBNation fans did: Damar Hamlin. His story would be a hard one to top, if he’s able to come back and participate fully this year.
• Half of the writers picked the Lions’ Dan Campbell as the likely Coach of the Year. Bjian Robinson was the overwhelming pick (11) for Offensive Rookie of the Year, with Washington’s own Emmanuel Forbes the top vote-getter (3) for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
• No player got more than two votes for Offensive Player of the Year, but three wide receivers hit that mark (Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Garrett Wilson). There was much more agreement on the defensive side of the ball with six writers predicting Micah Parsons would be the selection for Defensive Player of the Year.
• Hogs Haven writers estimated Patrick Mahomes’ odds of becoming MVP (again) very similarly to the broader SBNation community, with five writers (41%) selecting the Chief.

• Washington’s Week 1 opponent, the Arizona Cardinals, were the overwhelming prediction (10 votes) for the worst team in the NFL in 2023.

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 Commanders play well enough to make us proud.

After the confetti drops at Super Bowl LVIII, 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 HTTC!