NBA Preview 2014

NBA

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors' have a slightly worse team than last year's team, but I expect their record to be similar to last season's record. 48-34 #3

Brooklyn Nets

Coach Hollins should provide some decent coaching and the Nets should be a more competent team this season. 44-38 #5

New York Knicks

Jose Calderon is a great pickup, but losing Tyson Chandler is a tough price to pay for the acquisition. While Coach Fisher should be a decent HC he has little to work with on this team, unless he is actually able to convince the players on the team that the first available semi-open/semi-contested shot is not actually a good shot. 34-48 #11

Boston Celtics

If I would be Coach Stevens then I would totally start Jared Sullinger and the four PGs on the team. Or not. The Celtics' roster is somewhat limited, but I expect Coach Stevens to get more out of his team than any other coach in the league, except for Popovich and possibly Thibodeau. 38-44 #9

Philadelphia 76ers

Given their roster, I assume that the 76ers will be attempting to tank once again this season. When the 76ers actually get some decent players then they will have a good coaching scheme to go along with the players. 16-66 #16

Central

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers lost one of their best players, and one of their most erratic, and replaced him with... Rodney Stuckey? Alrighty then. I suppose that their GM is not trying very hard to be GM of the year. 46-36 #4

Chicago Bulls

I have never been a huge fan of D-Rose's game, but that is just me. Maybe the former MVP (MVP due to voter fatigue...) will surprise me and have a career year whilst leading the Bulls to a 55+ win season. I highly doubt that will happen, however. 50-32 #2

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers made the biggest offseason acquisition of the season and acquired James from the Heat. While James is pushing 30+ years old and may have his best years behind him, I still think that he has some value for the Cavaliers. He made a fairly incredible 52% of his threes last season. If James can bring the same type of threat to the Cavaliers this season, then he should be able to secure a handful of minutes each game.

       Oh, besides James Jones, the Cavaliers also happened to add his Miami teammate, LeBron James. While I do not view LeBron as being some sort of great guy for going back to Cleveland, I had no problem with him leaving Cleveland in the first place. The trio of Irving, James (LeBron that is), and Love should be a fairly terrific, terrifying trio, however, I do think that the rest of the roster for the Cavaliers is rather lacking. Despite their weak bench and their early seasons struggle with cohesion, the tenacious trio should be able to lead the Cavaliers to a top three record in the NBA and the best record in the weak Eastern Conference. A lot of the team's early cohesion will depend on coaching and I do not really know what to expect of the Cav's coach, however, I expect the NBA's best player to lead the Cavs back into relevance and even dominance at times, considering that this will be by far the best supporting cast that LeBron has ever had in Cleveland. 57-25 #1

Detroit Pistons

When your starting PG is a player
who attempts nearly 13 shots a game
and makes only 42% of them, you
may want to implement a new strategy.

The Pistons have an interesting roster mostly filled with players who cannot shoot the ball well beyond 18 feet. Sadly the Pistons do not seem to realize that the NBA actually has this weird line thing about two dozen feet away from the hoop that makes a sort of semi-circle around the hoop, and amazingly if a player makes a shot while shooting behind the line then it is scored as if they made a normal bucket plus half another normal bucket. Someone should probably tell the Pistons this information.. 33-49 #12 

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks' management did a great job of dumping all of their players and trading for great players who are stuck on deep teams' rosters like Kosta Koufos. Wait..? That didn't happen? I suppose that incompetence breeds further incompetence. Other than possibly Sanders, Mayo, and Wolters this roster is filled with backups. The roster is especially full of backups who like to shoot high quantities of low quality shots, which is of course always a formula for success. Always. Technically the Bucks should have some regression to the mean, but I just don't see it happening with their roster, even considering that the Bucks get to play in the crummy Eastern Conference. 16-66 #15

Southeast

Miami Heat

The Heat have an interesting roster. Losing the best player in basketball will be a huge loss, but I still think that the Heat have an EC playoff-caliber roster. 44-38 #7

Washington Wizards

As long as players like John Wall do not suffer from injuries longer than half the season, then I think that the Wizards will be in contention for a top 4 playoff seed. 44-38 #6

Charlotte Hornets

So, the Bobcats think that pairing players such as Al Jefferson, Gary Neal, and Lance Stephenson is a good idea? Alrighty then. Stephenson has some upside potential, and the Hornets sort of stole him, but he's not a player to build around as your locker room leader. 37-45 #10

Atlanta Hawks

Sefolosha is a nice piece for the Hawks and I think he is a decent player. If the Hawks would be in the WC, then they would only have around a 20% chance of making the playoffs, but as it is they probably have slightly above even odds of making it. 41-41 #8

Orlando Magic

The Magic added some leadership with a few veteran players, but are not really an appreciably better team from last year, except for getting another year of experience for their younger players. 22-60 #14

Western Conference

Northwest

Oklahoma City Thunder

Anthony Morrow is a decent pickup, but losing Sefolosha to the Hawks and Durant to a half-dozen weeks or so injury will hurt the Thunder. It will be interesting to see just how good the Thunder are without KD and with a Russell led team. Let the fun begin. 50-32 #6

Portland Trail Blazers

Portland may have had the least player movement in the offseason, which I view in this case as partially a bad thing, but the Trail Blazers should still be decent. 49-33 #7

Minnesota Timberwolves

Losing K-Love is a big loss for the T-Wolves, but they still have a very competent team. Dieng should show some improvement. 38-44 #10

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets improved a little bit in the offseason. 40-42 #9

Utah Jazz

The Jazz managed to replace poor players with other poor players. Meanwhile, Jeremy Evans will likely continue to languish on the bench this season. Such a great job by management. 29-53 #15

Pacific

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers should have an improved team this season as compared to last season, which is slightly scary. There may happen to be a regular season Western Conference champion that will not reside in San Antonio this season. 58-23 #1

Golden State Warriors

While the Warriors have a good coach, I think that their old coach happened to be better.. Good old politics. Despite Curry's continued excellence, I expect the Warriors to have some struggles, some of which problems due to injuries. 45-37 #8

Phoenix Suns

Will the Suns' success carry over to this season? No, I expect that last season was a one year aberration. 39-43 #11

Sacramento Kings

When will the Kings be able to make the transition to playoff-caliber team? Answer: When they move to the East Coast. Jokes aside, the Kings will likely be struggling in the Western Conference once again this season. 31-51 #14

Los Angeles Lakers

I think that Jeremy Lin is an above average player... After that the roster for the Lakers gets fairly weak. Other than Lin I fail to see where a decent amount of quality attempts will come from. Possibly Kobe Bryant will see the error of his ways and stop firing off highly contested long attempts? Or not. 32-50 #13

Southwest

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs surely cannot be as good this season as they were last season, right? Riiight. Considering that the Spurs were 46-9 when Kawhi Leonard was healthy, I kind of doubt that they will take a major step back. Very little offseason movement for the Spurs, but in this case I think that is certainly a fine decision. 58-23 #2

Houston Rockets

The Rockets kind of had a horrible offseason. They lost Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, and Chandler Parsons, while only really picking up Jason Terry. A small step back for the Rockets, despite having the fearsome threesome of Beverly, Harden, and Howard. 51-31 #4

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies may actually happen to be the team that I am most excited to watch this season. The main focal points for me to watch are what Coach Joerger lines up for the Grizzlies and to see Koufos play some decent minutes. 52-30 #3

Dallas Mavericks

Parsons makes nearly twice the amount of money that Nowitzki makes.. That totally makes sense. I am a much bigger fan of Parsons than most people are, however, I don't know if he will be worth the 14 million dollar salary the Mavericks will be paying him this season. Still though, he should provide their team with some good minutes. 51-31 #5

New Orleans Hornets

I think that Omer Asik is better than most people give him credit for, possibly this will be the year that the Pelicans finally hit the next level. 37-45 #12

Spread Picks Under: Knicks under 41, Hornets under 45, Pelicans under 43, Thunder under 57 
Spread Picks Over: Celtics over 26.5, Pacers over 33, Timberwolves over 26

Overall Eastern Conference Record: 570-660
Overall Western Conference Record: 660-570

MLB Review 2014

AL East (Predicted +20) actual result 6, overall miss average +/- per team in division 10 
The Orioles were not a fluky team this season and put up the fourth best run differential in baseball.  The Yankees and Blue Jays both had somewhat weak rotations.  The Rays decided that now was a good time to actually not overachieve for the first season in quite awhile.  Meanwhile the Red Sox fell back from the heights of the WS to the depths of the AL East.

AL Central (-1) 2, 2.6
Once again I had fairly accurate predictions for the AL Central.  The Royals and Tigers both battled for the division crown, while the Indians, White Sox, and Twins all aligned themselves behind the front-runners.





















AL West (-16) 5, 11.3 
The Angels finally decided to put everything together because.. Statistics?  The Athletics and Mariners each had very decent seasons.  The Astros managed to not lose 100 games, so that was slightly impressive.  Finally, the Rangers had a disastrous season and weren't too far from losing 100 games.

NL East (-17) -1, 7.6
Washington ran away from their crummy division.  While the Braves, Phillies, Mets, and Marlins were all bogged down in varying levels of mediocrity.



















NL Central (6) 4, 6.4
St. Louis and Pittsburgh remained the class of the NL Central.  Milwaukee and Cincinnati had mediocre seasons, and the Cubs remained one of the worst teams in MLB.

NL West (8) -16, 9.6
The Dodgers' high payroll came through again with the division title.  San Francisco managed a solid season, while the Padres, Rockies, and Diamondbacks all struggled.

Average miss in the AL was 7.97 games, NL 7.87, and overall in MLB 7.92.

NFL Line Picks for 2014

NFL Picks for Week 1

My biggest line miss for week 1 was saying Detroit was a 6.5 point favorite against the Giants (Instead of the 4 point favorite that Vegas says they are), otherwise I was within 2 points for each game, and generally just a half point or full point off.

I'll take four underdogs (Each of them to win outright, as well, technically, but I'll just take the points), GB +5.5 (The next time GB is going to be giving 5.5 points.. Is not going to be in this season, that's basically a certainty), Cleveland +6.5 (This is a horrible line, I had it at +5 and I thought I was pushing it), Oakland +4.5 (Better team, but they stink on the East Coast, so this is probably going to end poorly, especially since the starting QB for the Raiders is still unrevealed for Sunday.), Tennessee +4.5 (Better team, but they are on the road in a tough environment, likely a bad play), and three favorites, NE -4.5 (Bad number to lay, but NE is far superior to the Dolphins.. And the other two teams in their division.), Denver -7 (Laying a TD is awful, but there is no way will the Colts be taking this game and it should be a blowout victory for the Broncos.), and Detroit -4 (Laying 4 here is also a bad idea, but it's a bad line, and I am high on Detroit while low on the Giants so I should also be getting some value there.).

Seven of sixteen games in play, obviously a fairly high percentage, at least for picking NFL spreads. Two or three games are probably technically bad plays, but I'm irrationally confident due to this being the first week there are real NFL games.

Results of Picks: GB ended up looking fairly bad, I don't think the process was all that bad, but it would have been better to stay away.  Cleveland had some serious struggles, but, overall, they probably should have won their game and ended up semi-easily covering their line.  If Oakland had decent QB play they probably would have won, this should have been a definite stay away.  Tennessee fairly clearly showed that they were the superior team, as expected, overall though it's hard to tell if this should have been a stay away as well.  I'm not certain what difficulties the Patriots were having, but they ended up playing quite poorly.  Semi-consequentially, a stay away may have been called for.. But, it's close.  Denver should have managed to cover easily, but they took their foot off the gas pedal, so the Colts nearly managed to take the spread.  The Lions effectively proved that they are a far superior team to the Giants.

Week 1 Record: 3-3-1

Overall Record: 3-3-1 (.50)

Picks for Week 2

Underdog picks: Falcons +5.5 (This is a joke.)  Browns +6.5 (Almost a touchdown in bonus points in a fairly evenly matched game?  I'll take it.)  Lions +2.5 (I get points to have the far superior team?  Horrible line.)  Eagles +2.5 (Once again I get the better team and a couple points.  Somewhat poor line.)

Favorite pick: Patriots -3.5 (Vikings are nowhere close to as good as they played last week, while the Patriots are going to play angry.)

Game line differential: Denver is actually a 13 point favorite, not 10 like I said.  Seattle by 5.5, not 3.5.  Gigantic difference: NO by 6, not 1 (Do people still not see that Browns are actually a competent football team?).  Washington by 6, not 3.5.

Overall, these five picks are much better than last week's selections, partially because I'm taking more underdogs and because a few of the lines are even poorer than week one.

Results of Picks: So apparently it wasn't a joke that the Falcons were getting 5.5?  Maybe the Falcons just leave their offense at home or something..  I still think I made the right pick though.  The Browns/Saints game was indeed a very evenly matched game, the Saints were the slightly better team, but the Browns got the breaks and were certainly the right side.  The Browns are a competent team?  No way.  The Lions/Panthers game was rather odd, the Lions leave their offense at home as well apparently, meanwhile the Panthers are somehow 2-0.  Finally playing the better team getting points on the road was the right pick.. The Eagles at least came through with a late rally.  On the favorites side of things, the Patriots dominated the AP-less Vikings.  

Possibly I should just be picking the biggest line differentials that I have with Vegas or something, because the four value picks that I saw versus Vegas all won somewhat convincingly, except for the Broncos' game which was just a solid win.  It was another semi-ugly week for me, especially considering that I'm doing pretty well in games that I'm not picking officially... So yeah, possibly I'll be able to turn this around.

Week 2 Record: 3-2

Overall Record: 6-5-1 (.55)

Picks for Week 3

Underdog picks: Chargers +2.5 (Here I try the better team getting points on the road strategy once again..)  Browns +1.5 (This is a decent line, I just think that the breaks will continue to go the Browns' way this week) Raiders +14.5 (I don't like picking this.. But I practically have to on principle, and because I slightly think that it is the right play since the Patriots aren't actually extremely good) KC +4.5 (I think I'll just call better team getting points on the road: BTPR) Steelers +3.5 (I don't really like the Steelers, but I don't understand how the Panthers could start 3-0, this will probably end up being correct, however it will also probably be a bad play regardless.) Bears +2.5 (BTPR, the Jests are the favorites?  Really?)

Favorite pick: Cowboys -.5 (The Cowboys may not be a good team... But they're playing the Rams) 49ers -2.5 (I lay less than a FG to take the 49ers on the road against some QB such as Carson Palmer or Drew Stanton?  Alrighty then.)  

I made eight picks this week.. I should really prune that down, but once again I am somewhat confident in a fair number of these picks.  (I forgot to say which games had the greatest line differentials, whoops.) Also I wanted to mention last year's SB matchup, the Seahawks and Broncos.  I had the game at Seahawks -5.5 while Vegas has it at Seahawks -5. I think the Broncos are in a very tough spot since they just played the Chiefs in a demoralizing way last weekend while the Seahawks are coming off a double digit loss for the first time in an extremely long time, in terms of the NFL time-frame anyways, thus regression is very likely to kick in, but I would still lean towards a Broncos play since I think the teams are closer to evenly matched this year and therefore the Broncos are getting a point or two fewer than they should.

Results of Picks: The Chargers made the BTPR strategy appear fairly decent in their matchup.  The Browns' line was indeed very decent, I just happened to be on the wrong side by half a point.  The Raiders laughed themselves to nearly upsetting the Patriots.  Yeah, the Patriots are a great team.  KC kept the BTPR strategy rolling with a fairly convincing win.  The Steelers finally did to the Panthers what most teams should do and came away with the convincing victory.  The Bears managed to pull off the trifecta of BTPR victories with their semi-solid win against the Jests.  Meanwhile the Cowboys nearly destroyed themselves in the first half against the Rams, but they just managed to come back and grab the victory.  Finally, the 49ers allowed Drew Stanton and the (somehow) 3-0 Cardinals to semi-dominate them in most phases of the game.
It was actually my worst week of picks overall, but I managed to have my best week in narrowed down selections.

Week 3 Record: 6-2

Overall Record: 12-7-1 (.63)

Picks for Week 4

Underdog Picks: Dallas +3 (NO isn't a great road team, just in case anyone hasn't noticed..), Tennessee +7.5 (This line is way too high, the Titans aren't getting enough respect.  Plus I would consider this a BTPR pick.)

Favorite Picks: Green Bay -1.5 (The Bears are coming off a short week while the Packers are coming off a physical tough loss..  Conflicting signals, but I think A-Rodgers leads a ho-hum 30 point offense this week.) Atlanta -3 (This is only a good pick if Atlanta actually packs an offense this game..) Detroit -1.5 (I am losing a bit of value with this pick, but I'll take the Lions to beat the TO prone Jests.) 

Game Line Differentials: Tennessee at +7 instead of +4.5 like I said.  Miami -4, +/-0.  NO -3, +1.  This week I finally did not see too many decent value or good picks to be had.

Results of Picks: Dallas comfortably defeated the Saints.  The Saints are a poor road team?  No way.  However, I should probably learn the same thing for the Falcons..  The Titans lost handily, but I did not know that the Titans would be without Locker.
The Packers gave up a lot of yards, but otherwise had a great day against the Bears.  (And the Pack-Attack was indeed back on track) The Falcons offense was available on Sunday, but the defense was not..  I think I should stop picking the Falcons on the road.  The Lions semi-easily defeated the Jets and semi-proved that they are clearly the better team.

I didn't know that Locker would be out for Tennessee so I get a pass on that.  The Dolphins dominated the Raiders, I don't think that I'll trust the Raiders anymore in my lines.  The Saints were giving three points on the road based on what exactly?

I don't understand what the management of various teams thinks sometimes.. Let's throw out Charlie Whitehurst.. Since having him as our starting quarterback will help us...  How exactly? Or starting Kyle Orton.. That will totally give us the best chance to win.. Right, because it's not like you couldn't pick up Tim Tebow, Vince Young, or trade for Colt McCoy..  But, I suppose that decisions like that are why some franchises are simply mired in mediocrity.

GL Differential Record in Previous Weeks: 4-0 (I only counted the four differences that I had in week 2 since I was somewhat official about those, from now on I'll try to remember to put up my GL differentials as well. The main criterion for the picks is that my lines have to differentiate from Vegas by at least 2.5 points.)

GL Week 4 Record: 1-2 

GL Overall Record: 5-2

Week 4 Record: 3-2 (Another semi-disappointing week, but in my two losses the Titans didn't have Locker and the Falcons didn't pack a defense on the road, while the other three games were either comfortable wins or blowouts.)

Overall Record: 15-9-1 (.63)

Picks for Week 5

Underdog Picks: Chicago BTPR +3. I'll take Atlanta one last time.. +4.5 BTPR. Baltimore +3.5 BTPR. Washington +7.5 (BTPR? No wait, that certainly is not the case here. But, this is indeed a pick since it's hard to lay more than a TD at home, unless your team name is like Jacksonville or something, and Washington happens to have a mediocre team, not the poor one that just played the Giants.)

Favorite Picks: GB -9.5, (It is a horrible play to lay 9.5, but I went ahead and made the pick the day of the game due to the Packers not facing Bridgewater.)

GL Differentials: GB at -9.5, -6 (Despite this being in GB, this line is still inflated.). Detroit -7.5, -5 (Detroit has been really good at home in their two home games, so this makes sense.). Jacksonville +6.5, +4 (I tend to make lines curve too much towards pick-em, so this line is probably about right.). Washington +7.5, +4. (I forgot that Seattle had a BYE in week 4, but still, this line should be closer to a field goal than a touchdown.) (I think it's the same for Vegas, but I had a grand total of two home underdogs for week 5.)

Results of Picks: The Bears committed four turnovers and managed to lose a two touchdown lead against the Panthers.  Somehow Atlanta managed to lose once again, this time failing to bring their offense on the road.  Baltimore couldn't even manage to salvage my picks and fell as well, by a touchdown, to the Colts.  Washington was burned by a late unnecessary FG.  Finally, the Packers pummeled the Vikings in my lone win of the week.

GL Week 5 Record: 1-3 (I passed on the GB game because of Bridgewater being out.)

GL Overall Record: 6-5 (55%)

Week 5 Record: 1-4

Overall Record: 16-13-1 (55%)


I had quite a bit of a lull in picks since I was pretty busy and stuff, and while my picks technically did pretty well, since I was not officially picking I will not include them but just pick things up in week 11.

Picks for Week 11

Underdog Picks:Bills +6 (Similar team playing on the road), Lions +1.5 (BTPR), Patriots +2.5

Favorite Picks: No lines were very intriguing for favorites this week.
GL Differentials: Rams +9.5, not +5.5. 49ers -4.5, not -1.5.  Cardinals -2, not -5 (I forgot about Palmer being out, but still, there is such a lack of respect for the Cardinals.)  Titans +6, not +2.

Results of Picks: 


GL Week 11 Record: 
GL Overall Record: 

Week 11 Record: 

Overall Record: 

NFL Preview for 2014

AFC East

New England Patriots

I thought that the Patriots' first few choices were rather average compared to the rest of the league, but that their final five selections are all likely going to be decent NFL players (Belichick and company strike again.). B-

FA Additions: Brandon LaFell and Patrick Chung

Player Losses: LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Spikes, Aqib Talib, and Adrian Wilson

Overall Offseason Grade: C+ 

Regression Likelihood: 70% Fade

Overall Record: 7-1, 4-4, 11-5

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have close to average and below average players across the board on both offense and defense.

I don't really know what to expect from the Dolphins' draft choices.. (Not that I really ever do know.) C-

FA Additions: Knowshon Moreno and Cortland Finnegan

Player Losses: Chris Clemons and Jonathon Martin

Coaching Changes: OC, Mike Sherman to Bill Lazor (Okay, I don't really have an opinion on this coaching move, other than that the Dolphins made an upgrade in the name department. Lasers, people.) 

Overall Offseason Grade: C-

Regression Likelihood: 30% Fade 

Overall Record: 1-5, 5-5, 6-10

New York Jets

New York has an interesting collection of offensive weapons, overall, however, I do not expect that they will be able to provide a great level of play.

The Jets picked up three WRs and Tahj Boyd (Just because they could?), overall it was a somewhat solid draft. C+.

FA Additions: Michael Vick, Chris Johnson, Daryl Richardson, Eric Decker, and Jacoby Ford

Player Losses: Austin Howard, Isaiah Trufant, Santonio Holmes, Butt Fumble, Mark Sanchez I mean, and Antonio Cromartie

Overall Offseason Grade: B- 

Regression Likelihood: 25% Fade

Overall Record: 1-6, 4-5, 5-11

Buffalo Bills

The Bills have some interesting offensive players, they aren't necessarily proven players but they have a fair amount of potential. The defense is not quite a top level defense, but it has the potential to be top 10. It's a pity that E.J. Manuel is starting for the Bills, because there are a handful of QBs in the league, and out of the league, that could help to lead the Bills to the playoffs.

Sammy Watkins is a good pick, but he is not a player worth trading away future first round draft selections. C-

FA Additions: Jarius Wynn, Mike Williams, Bryce Brown, and Brandon Spikes

Player Losses: Jairus Byrd and Stevie Johnson

Coaching changes: DC, Mike Pettine to Jim Schwartz (A bit of a step down, but it shouldn't be too major.)

Overall Offseason Grade: C+

Regression Likelihood: 50% Improve

Overall Record: 1-5, 5-5, 6-10

North

Cincinnati Bengals

I expect the offense to take a semi-major step back from last season's top 10 offense, but the defense should mostly continue their relatively elite play. It was a surprisingly good draft for the Bengals, Jeremy Hill and AJ McCarron have the potential to be quality starters.  B+

FA Additions: Jason Campbell (The Bengals were oddly devoid of major acquisitions in the offseason.)

Player Losses: Andrew Hawkins, Michael Johnson, and James Harrison

Coaching Changes: OC, Jay Gruden to Hue Jackson and DC, Mike Zimmer to Paul Guenther (On the bright side for the Bengals they should know that they likely had two decent coaches, given that they now both have HC jobs, however, this knowledge meant that the Bengals had to [unexpectedly?] replace these two coaches. As such the Bengals decided to replace them within their organization. While I do tend to like internal promotions, I kind of doubt that it will work out quite as well as expected in this situation.)

Overall Offseason Grade: C- (Even despite their very decent draft, the Bengals had a slightly below average offseason.)

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 6-3, 2-5, 8-8

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh has a decent amount of continuity on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, I think that both should improve slightly as opposed to last season. The Steelers made some decent draft selections. B

FA Additions: LeGarrette Blount, Lance Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Mike Mitchell

Player Losses: Jonathan Dwyer, Jerricho Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders, Ziggy Hood, LaMarr Woodley, and Ryan Clark

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 60% Improve

Overall Record: 7-2, 2-5, 9-7

Cleveland Browns

Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer should 
provide a fair amount of hope
 and excitement for Cleveland. 

While I still believe that Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow could easily lead this team to the playoffs, I think that even Johnny Football or Brian Hoyer will be able to lead them as well. The offense may happen to be unproven.. Okay it is unproven, but I expect some very decent things from it. There was a bit of turnover defensively, but I expect the Browns' defense to be very decent once again.

Between the FA losses of WRs and Josh Gordon's suspension the Browns wide receivers core will look extremely different from last season's.

If Manziel is named the starting QB, then he will be set up to succeed in most respects, except for offensive weapons, but if he can just provide some explosive plays combined with the somewhat stellar Browns' defense, then Cleveland could see a few more wins than it normally sees.  However, I do not think that Manziel will translate extremely well to the pro level, I expect middling success, and for him to be a slightly above average starter (which is still much better than practically any QB, not named McCoy, has done for the Browns over the last decade), roughly the same amount of success as someone such as a Terrelle Pryor (Although I viewed Pryor's play as partially a success so there is that..).

FA Additions: Ben Tate, Andrew Hawkins, Nate Burleson, Miles Austin, Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner, and Isaiah Trufant (Look at those acquisitions and then tell me that the Browns aren't going to be better than last season. I don't think you can/should do it.)

Player Losses: T.J. Ward, Brandon Weeden (Maybe I should have put this under additions.. /cough), Greg Little, and Devone Bess

Coaching Changes: HC, Rob Chudzinski to Mike Pettine (Who would have thought that Coach Chudzinski wouldn't have worked out very well.. /cough), OC, Norv Turner to Kyle Shanahan (On the bright side they fired Coach Turner, on the downside they picked up the younger Shanahan. /sigh), and DC, Ray Horton to Jim O'Neill (I would tend to think that both people are decent NFL coaches.)

Overall Offseason Grade: B

Regression Likelihood: 65% Improve

Overall Record: 6-2, 3-5, 9-7

Baltimore Ravens

Offensively the Ravens have some good pieces, and defensively they look to be somewhat strong.. With that said I will still probably pull as many losses as possible out of their schedule, thanks to Joe Fluko *Flacco. A fairly decent bottom half of the draft, but the top half was rather weak.  C-

FA Additions: Justin Forsett, Steve Smith, Owen Daniels, and Darian Stewart

Player Losses: Ed Dickson, Michael Oher, and Corey Graham

Coaching changes: OC, Jim Caldwell was replaced by Gary Kubiak (From one poor OC to another..)

Overall Offseason Grade: C+

Regression Likelihood: 55% Improve

Overall Record: 3-6, 4-3, 7-9

South

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts do probably have the best offensive weapons in the division, but that isn't really saying much. Defensively, Indianapolis needs some major help in the form of an acquisition or two which they will probably not attempt to carry out. The Colts only selected five players and I wasn't entirely impressed with them (though that does not really mean anything..). C-

FA Additions: Hakeem Nicks and Mike Adams

Player Losses: Darrius Heyward-Bey and Antoine Buffea

Overall Offseason Grade: D+ (While I may be punishing them too much for it, in the Colts' situation I consider complacency to be an incapacitating tactic.)

Regression Likelihood: 85% Fade

Overall Record: 4-3, 3-6, 7-9

Houston Texans

The offense should be alright, except for the quarterback, and the defense should be bringing quite a few tenacious Texas tackles to opposing QBs. Amongst their eleven draft choices the Texans picked up quite a few players who may end up being starters for a handful of years. B-

FA Additions: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andre Brown, Chris Clemons and Jerrell Powe

Player Losses: Ben Tate, Antonio Smith, Matt Schaub, Owen Daniels, Daniel Manning and Terrell McClain

Coaching Changes: HC, Gary Kubiak to Bill O'Brien, OC, I was a little confused as to what happened with the offensive coordinator, and DC, Wade Phillips to Romeo Crennel (Overall, I would say that the Texans improved their coaches, but only by a slight margin.)

Overall Offseason Grade: C+

Regression Likelihood: 85% Improve

Overall Record: 5-1, 4-6, 9-7

Tennessee Titans

The offense is somewhat poor, but made up of underrated players. The defense is slightly below average, but I think it will likely overachieve this season. The Titans somehow only had five picks in the draft and kind of squandered those picks. D

FA Additions: Charlie Whitehurst, Dexter McCluster, Michael Oher, and Shaun Phillips

Player Losses: Kenny Britt, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Chris Johnson

Coaching Changes: HC, Mike Munchak to Ken Whisenhunt, OC Dowell Loggains to Jason Michael, and DC, Jerry Gray to Ray Horton (The previous coaching staff was probably a little bit below average, imho, but I think that this new coaching staff may happen to be in the top ten of the league.)

Overall Offseason Grade: B- (Here the coaching staff ended up carrying the grade upwards a letter and a half.)

Regression Likelihood: 55% Improve

Overall Record: 5-5, 4-2, 9-7

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars' offensive weapons.. Excuse me while I laugh.. are just a bit limited, their best player may be newly acquired Toby Gerhart, and while he's a nice player he is certainly not a top offensive threat. Defensively the Jaguars need some improvement, but they aren't too poor of a unit. The additions of Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson are two good pickups, but considering that the Jaguars still do not have a competent quarterback to get the Jaguars WRs the ball (With apologies to Chad Henne and Blake Bortles.), those two talented players were semi-wasted picks. C

FA Additions: Toby Gerhart (Great pickup), Ziggy Hood (Great name), and Chris Clemons (Great player)

Player Losses: Maurice Jones-Drew, Kyle Lowe, Dwight Lowry, Blaine Gabbert (Whoops, I think he goes in the 'Additions' section.. Addition by subtraction anyways. Gabbert was set up to fail in Jacksonville, but, the excuses for him aside, he provided a horrible level of QB play.), Terrance Cooper, Justin Forsett, and Jeremy Ebert

Overall Offseason Grade: C- 

Regression Likelihood: 55% Improve

Overall Record: 0-11 (I don't think that will happen, especially if Bortles gets decent playing time.), 3-2, 3-13

West

Kansas City Chiefs

The offense is lacking something... Like playmakers. Defensively the Chiefs are still loaded though. Overall, I would say that while the Chiefs will be better this season than last, I think that their record will fall slightly. I like Coach Andy Reid, but a lack of pickups in FA and a regression to the mean are going to hurt the Chiefs this season. Very decent value picks in De'Anthony Thomas and Aaron Murray. B-

FA Additions: Kyle Love

Player Losses: Dexter McCluster, Branden Albert, Dunta Robinson, and Brandon Flowers

Overall Offseason Grade: D+ (The lack of moves hurt the Chiefs' final grade.)

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 3-6, 4-3, 7-9

Denver Broncos

With their first three selections the Broncos picked up three players who played college ball in the Big 10, so that was probably a mistake.. C-

FA Additions: DeMarcus Ware, Emmanuel Sanders, Aqib Talib, and T.J. Ward (Somehow the rich get richer..)

Player Losses: Knowshon Moreno, Champ Bailey, Eric Decker, Robert Ayers, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 55% Fade

Overall Record: 4-2, 8-2, 12-4

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers have decent offensive weapons, and an improved defensive unit. Very decent draft selections for the Chargers. B+

FA Additions: Kellen Clemons, Donald Brown, and Brandon Flowers

Player Losses: Charlie Whitehurst and Derek Cox

Coaching Changes: OC, Ken Whisenhunt to Frank Reich

Overall Offseason Grade: C

Regression Likelihood: 55% Fade

Overall Record: 5-3, 3-5, 8-8

Oakland Raiders

The offense could use a few more playmakers, but I expect it to improve, once again. The defense should be a bit improved from last season. The Raiders made alright draft selections, but I thought they could have made better talent based acquisitions rather than position oriented, since they are a little bit weak basically across the board. C+

FA Additions: Maurice Jones Drew, Greg Little, James Jones, LaMarr Woodley, Matt Schaub, and Justin Tuck (The Raiders should really rename themselves to something like The Oakland Castoffs. Man, it's almost like every player the Raiders' grab is old, past their prime, but since they had a decent career Oakland wants to see if they can still get a year or two out of them.)

Player Losses: Jacoby Ford, Rashad Jennings, Vance Walker, Terrelle Pryor, and Tracy Porter

Coaching Changes: Wait, there were no coaching changes? Really? Really.

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 65% Improve

Overall Record: 3-3, 2-8, 5-11

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles' second best WR is...? Riley Cooper? Other than some concerns at wide receiver, the Eagles offense is set up for success. Defensively, they should be a bit improved. Picking up two WRs in the draft was likely a good choice for the Eagles given the genius of Chip Kelly and the lack of WRs on the team. B-

FA Additions: Mark Sanchez (Hopefully Sanchez never has to play in the regular season, except for possible mop-up duty, but even if Sanchez does get significant playing time, I still would not actually be too worried as an Eagles' fan since Chip Kelly can probably make virtually anyone a competent quarterback.), Darren Sproles, and Malcolm Jenkins

Player Losses: Michael Vick, Jason Avant, Bryce Brown, and DeSean Jackson

Overall Offseason Grade: C+

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 6-2, 4-4, 10-6

Dallas Cowboys

Offensively the Cowboys have a few great pieces and a few sub-par pieces. Defensively the Cowboys are expected to be a poor team, but I think they have a chance to be league average, which is what the Cowboys will likely need to be if they are going to have any chance at capturing the division title. The Cowboys had a fairly weak draft overall. D+

FA Additions: Brandon Weeden, Terrell McClain, Rolando McClain

Player Losses: Jarius Wynn, Miles Austin, and DeMarcus Ware

Coaching Changes: OC, Bill Callahan to Scott Linehan, DC, Lane Kiffin to Rod Marinelli (Two decent upgrades, but they aren't extreme improvements.)

Overall Offseason Grade: D+

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 6-4, 1-5, 7-9

Washington Redskins

The Redskins' offensive firepower is quite possibly a top 10 unit. Defensively they have a decent chance to be slightly above league average. The Redskins were having an alright draft until they picked up Lache Seastrunk, which elevated their draft to the top 10 of 2014 (Imho). I find it very odd that Seastrunk somehow fell to the 6^th round, I would have preferred that he would have gone to the Eagles, but it will be fun to see him playing alongside the speed of DeSean Jackson and RG3. B

FA Additions: Colt McCoy (The Redskins now have two QBs who likely happen to be better than RG3, which isn't meant as an insult to RG3, it's just that I think highly of Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins), Andre Roberts, DeSean Jackson, Ryan Clark, and Tracy Porter

Player Losses: Josh Morgan and Josh Wilson

Coaching Changes: HC, Mike Shanahan to Jay Gruden, and OC, Kyle Shanahan to Sean McVay (I don't entirely like the new staff of coaches that were kept for the Redskins, I'm not sure if that was meddling by management or not, but I do like a Gruden is back to being a head coach in the NFL. Jay Gruden should provide a nice uptick in skilled game-planning.)

Overall Offseason Grade: B+

Regression Likelihood: 80% Improve

Overall Record: 3-6, 5-2, 8-8

New York Giants

Offensively the Giants have some potentially decent pieces, but, overall, the offensive pieces seem to be below average. Defensively the Giants should show improvement from last season. The Giants may have reached on a couple players, but that will provide some more boom or bust potential to the Giants' season. C+

FA Additions: Rashad Jennings, Trindon Holliday, and Mario Manningham

Player Losses: Andre Brown, Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Myers, Justin Tuck

Coaching Changes: OC, Kevin Gilbride to Ben McAdoo (The new OC should provide a boost for the Giants, if in nothing else than at least in the cool name department.. I kid. But seriously, McAdoo should provide an improvement.)

Overall Offseason Grade: C+

Regression Likelihood: 60% Improve

Overall Record: 3-5, 2-6, 5-11

North

Detroit Lions

Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford,

and the rest of the Lions should have

a superb offense this season.

(Author: Mike Morbeck)

I really wish that Ken Whisenhunt had ended up taking the coaching job at Detroit, I think that the fit of him and Stafford would have been close to perfect and they could have put him in situations where he could excel. Offensively the Lions have some very decent firepower, but the defense is a little lacking except for Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. The Lions picked up even more offensive additions in the draft, I'm not certain about why they went that route, but they should be decent players. C+

FA Additions: Dan Orlovsky, Golden Tate, and Jed Collins

Player Losses: Shaun Hill, Nate Burleson, and Louis Delmas

Coaching Changes: HC, Jim Schwartz to Jim Caldwell, OC, Scott Linehan to Jon Lombardi, and DC, Gunther Cunningham to Teryl Austin (Overall, I would say that the changes were getting rid of poor coaches in favor of sub-par coaches, so not exactly a major improvement for the Lions, sadly.)

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 85% Improve

Overall Record: 6-1, 6-3, 12-4

Chicago Bears

The Bears have two great WRs, but are lacking at other positions. Defensively they appear to be fairly solid, or at least a fair amount better than last season. Good job filling needs through the draft.  B+

FA Additions: Josh Morgan, Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston, and Ryan Mundy

Player Losses: Josh McCown, Devin Hester, Major Wright, Michael Bush, Earl Bennett, and Julius Peppers

Overall Offseason Grade: C+ 

Regression Likelihood: 60% Improve

Overall Record: 5-4, 5-2, 10-6

Green Bay Packers

Despite a lack of offseason moves, offensively and defensively the Packers are still loaded this season. The Packers are not loaded because of the draft.. C-

Complacency with players tends to impair the overall play of other players, even if you do get the benefit of continuity, but I still think that Packers will be able to overcome this and be a quality team in the NFC North.

FA Additions: Julius Peppers

Player Losses: James Jones and C.J. Wilson

Overall Offseason Grade: C-

Regression Likelihood: 50% Improve

Overall Record: 8-1, 4-3, 12-4

Minnesota Vikings

Offensively the Vikings have quite a few poor players, except for AP, and the defensive side of things is not any better than the offensive side of the ball. Teddy Bridgewater aside, the Vikings kind of had an odd draft. D+

FA Additions: Linval Joseph, Derek Cox, and Kurt Coleman

Player Losses: Joe Webb, Toby Gerhart, and Greg Childs

Coaching Changes: HC, Leslie Frazier to Mike Zimmer, OC, Bill Musgrave to Norv Turner, DC, Alan Willams to George Edwards (Changing out poor coaches to average coaches should provide a nice boost for the Vikings).

Overall Offseason Grade: C (The coaching changes elevated this grade a letter.)

Regression Likelihood: 40% Improve

Overall Record: 1-7, 4-4, 5-11

South

New Orleans Saints

The offensive weapons for the Saints are only about league average, except for Jimmy Graham. The defensive side of the ball still looks like it will have some semi-serious problems. The Saints did not really do anything special in the draft. C-

FA Additions: Jairus Byrd and Champ Bailey

Player Losses: Malcolm Jenkins, Lance Moore, Darren Sproles, and Roman Harper

Overall Offseason Grade: D+

Regression Likelihood: 50% Fade

Overall Record: 4-4, 7-1, 11-5

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers vastly underachieved last season, and I think that they will improve this season. Offensively they lack well known names, and are fairly young, but I think that they can mesh together to become a decent unit. Defensively, the Bucs look to be a bit improved from last season's very poor defense. The draft selections were all solid, though it was a bit odd that they were very offensively focused selections. B

FA Additions: Josh McCown (While other FA QBs may have more potential, Tebow /cough, I thought the Bucs made a great choice to pick up McCown.), Lavelle Hawkins, Brandon Myers, Major Wright, and Michael Johnson

Player Losses: Dan Orlovsky, Tiquan Underwood, Michael Hill, and Mike Williams

Coaching Changes: HC, Greg Schiano to Lovie Smith, OC, Mike Sullivan to Jeff Tedford, and DC, Bill Sheridan to Leslie Frazier (While I did actually think that the previous coaching administration was competent and decent, I think that the new coaching staff will be even better.)

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 55% Improve

Overall Record: 3-5, 2-6, 5-11

Carolina Panthers

Across the NFL landscape I tend to focus on the positives of teams, while somewhat ignoring the negatives that they have.. The Panthers, however, are an exception to that general sentiment. Cam Newton has always been a decent quarterback in the NFL, not great, but also not horrible. He has been a very consistent player, overall. If the Panthers are going to compete for the NFC South division title this year, then that will have to change. The offense looks like it will be semi-disastrously bad, while the defense should not be able to maintain their level of play from last season. Fairly decent draft selections across the board.  B+

FA Additions: Joe Webb, Jerricho Cotchery, Tiquan Underwood, Jason Avant, Ed Dickson, and Roman Harper (Those were certainly some decent FA acquisitions for the Panthers, which is part of the reason why I don't have the Panthers' record falling further this season.)

Player Losses: Brandon LaFell, Ted Ginn, and Steve Smith

Overall Offseason Grade: B

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 3-6, 4-3, 7-9

Atlanta Falcons

Offensively the Falcons have a fair amount of talent, defensively they need more depth and talent at various positions. I think that the Falcons will receive a fair amount of value in their picks.  B

FA Additions: Devin Hester, Javier Arenas, T.J. Yates, and Dwight Lowery

Player Losses: Tony Gonzalez and Asante Samuel

Overall Offseason Grade: B-

Regression Likelihood: 75% Improve

Overall Record: 7-2, 4-3, 11-5

West

St. Louis Rams

St. Louis is lacking in the offensive weapons department, other than Greg Zuerlein anyways, so there's that. In most other divisions I would like the Rams' chances at challenging for the division title, but in the NFC West, I doubt that they will be able to challenge beyond second place. The Rams' draft was surprisingly weak, it's very unlikely that any of their draft selections will end up getting even a fifth of the media attention that Michael Sam has received this offseason. D+

FA Additions: Shaun Hill and Kenny Britt

Player Losses: Kellen Clemens, Daryl Richardson, and Cortland Finnegan

Coaching Changes: DC, Tim Walton to Gregg Williams

Overall Offseason Grade: D+ (Exactly what were the Rams trying to do in the offseason?)

Regression Likelihood: 60% Improve

Overall Record: 2-8, 4-2, 6-10 (I did this before Bradford was determined to be out for the season, but that doesn't really change my prediction for the Rams.  Possibly it should, but I don't have time to go over schedules again anyways.)

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers have some great pieces on offense and their defense isn't far behind. I am not entirely convinced that Colin Kaepernick is a top half QB, however he has the weapons to mitigate his weaknesses. The 49ers have the luxury of being relatively loaded at practically every position and as such had the liberty to select players that had fallen down the draft board and thus get great value picks. B+

FA Additions: Brandon Lloyd, Chris Cook, Antoine Bethea, Stevie Johnson, and Chris Cook

Player Losses: Colt McCoy, Anthony Dixon, and Donte Whitner

Overall Offseason Grade: B+ (The 49ers are currently running the danger of not having a decent QB behind Kaepernick. Otherwise the '9ers did some great stuff.) 

Regression Likelihood: 60% Fade

Overall Record: 7-1, 5-3, 12-4

Seattle Seahawks

Percy Harvin is an extremely great offensive weapon, when healthy, but other than him I find the Seahawks to be somewhat lacking at offensive skill positions. On the other side of the ball, however, Seattle is looking like a great unit, per the usual, and should be a top 5 defense. The Seahawks are a somewhat loaded team, however I found some of their draft choices to be questionable selections given the spot that they were selected. C-

FA Additions: Kevin Williams, Terrelle Pryor, and Phillip Adams

Player Losses: Chris Clemons, Golden Tate, Clinton McDonald, and Brandon Browner

Overall Offseason Grade: D+ (Some player losses are to be expected from any SB winner, however the Seahawks seemed to be oddly complacent in regards to how they tried to replace those lost players.) 

Regression Likelihood: 65% Fade

Overall Record: 7-2, 3-4, 10-6

Arizona Cardinals

Logan Thomas is an interesting pick, although I don't really expect him to succeed in the NFL, otherwise it was a fairly nondescript draft for the Cardinals.  C-

Additions: Jonathan Dwyer, Tedd Ginn, and Antoine Cromartie

Player Losses: Karlos Dansby, Javier Arenas, Rashard Menhall, and Andre Roberts

Overall Offseason Grade: D+

Regression Likelihood: 55% Improve

Overall Record: 5-5, 1-5, 6-10

For some reason the formatting ended up being a little messed up so there appears to always be an extra line between the Overall Offseason Grade and the Regression Likelihood lines, I don't have time to try to fix it again, so I ended up just leaving it how it is.  There were a few other things that I would have liked to include in my NFL Preview, but, overall, I'm still somewhat satisfied with how it turned out.  Thanks for reading.