Hear Me Out...The most courageous 2018-19 NFL season predictions: The Fisher Zone

Before we get to Part II of the "Most courageous 2018-19 NFL season predictions" a few thoughts on Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer is an official member of the Pitino Club. Named after college basketball coach Rick Pitino, the Pitino Club is an exclusive club where college coaches who ramble on and on about being molders of men and upstanding father figures get caught in a scandal and show their true cowardly colors as they navigate through the muck and mire.

Meyer made a mistake by keeping former assistant coach Zach Smith around as long as he did. He knew of the abuse and decided to do nothing, rather than conceding to that he doubled down on the lie. Then during OSU's investigation into the matter, his memory "failed" him all the sudden (which is hilarious because in '14 he bragged about remembering every snap in the SEC title games in '08 and '09).

Here's where Meyer enters the Pitino Club, he accepted the three-game suspension from OSU and during his press conference, in what looked like when your mom forced you to apologize to your siblings after a fight, he took the blame but at the end of the day it wasn't his fault. He also promised next time he's faced with this situation he's going to try super-duper hard to get this right.

Of course, that's contingent on if he remembers making the promise.

It's obvious that Meyer is a coward and every person on that OSU trustee board is a coward too. Meyer is essentially Continental general Charles Lee, talks a big game but when the chips are on the table he's running away from the Battle of Monmouth with his tail between his legs.

That said, I can't wait for Meyer's next book on leadership and accountability.

Now on to some predictions, this week's teams are the Fisher Zone teams, named after former Titans and Rams coach Jeff Fisher who perfected the 6-10 and 8-8 finish.

Each team's over/under win total is in parentheses next to their team name as well as each team's best fantasy player and a player to avoid.

NEW YORK JETS (5.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 6-10

Second place in the AFC East is up for grabs. Normally, this means playoff contention but this is the AFC East. As long as the Pats stay healthy they're going to cruise through the division. The second best team in this putrid division will at best, finish 8-8. Could the Jets be the second best team in the AFC East, sure, but they're still a top 15 pick.  

I do like Jets coach Todd Bowels and it would be a shame if he got canned at the end of the season. The Pats reign on this division is coming to a close and the Jets seem to be positioned to grab that top spot. They just have one more season full of lumps before they're able to take the leap. 

Best fantasy player: QB Sam Darnold

Fantasy stay away: RB Isaiah Crowell

MIAMI DOLPHINS (6.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 6-10

NBA Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley coined the term "disease of me" and it is what happens when a team wins a championship and players begin to want more. More money or more playing time and that team's first focus that brought them to the mountain top, is gone.

Last season's Dolphins experienced the most peculiar case of the disease of me. While they had marginal success in 2016 by making the playoffs, they went into 2017 thinking they accomplished something. As a result, coach Adam Gase dealt with players who caught the disease of me all season long.

In the offseason the Dolphins traded away or let the headaches walk and sought to bring in positive locker room presences, like RB Frank Gore. With the purge of the locker room cancers it's tempting to say the Dolphins are going to bounce back this season. Yet, there's just one roadblock standing in the way from that call and that's QB Ryan Tannehill.

On paper, Tannehill looks like a potential top 10 QB. His career completion percentage is 62.7 and he has a pair of 4,000-plus yard seasons but, it's the eye test he fails. I've yet to watch a Tannehill game and been like "Wow, the sky is the limit for this QB" or "What an amazing throw!" It's more like "Alex Smith better watch out, because there is a new checkdown sheriff in town" or "That is crazy, Tannehill had 23 completions and only threw for 188 yards."

Best fantasy player: RB Kenyan Drake

Fantasy stay away: WR DeVante Parker

CLEVELAND BROWNS (5.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 6-10

LeBron James' departure has left an Aitken-sized crater in the heart of Cleveland sports fans. The Cleveland Indians have a shot at getting them over their loss but let's be honest, baseball doesn't become mainstream until mid-September. Until then the Browns are up.

The Browns will have a successful season despite having the NFL's worst coach Hue Jackson (1-31 since becoming the Browns head coach). By successful I mean they're actually going to win more than two games this season, a first in the Jackson era.

After their six-win season a parade will be thrown in the Browns honor and fans will name their newborns after Tyrod Taylor and Carlos Hyde. However, the celebrations are going to be short lived. Owner Jimmy Haslam is going to fire the entire coaching staff and front office. He'll bring in a new regime, which will rehaul the roster again and aim for a top 5 pick.

It's going to be the same story, different day for Browns fans but at least they'll have the one brief moment in 2018, when they weren't a top 3 pick, but instead a top 10.

Best fantasy player: QB Tyrod Taylor

Fantasy stay away: WR Jarvis Landry

DALLAS COWBOYS (8.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 7-9

The Cowboys finished 9-7 last year and it felt like a lost season and most of that you can blame on the Ezekiel Elliott drama. With that drama out of the way, spirits are high and talks of a deep playoff run are heating up. Understandably so, the Cowboys have the league's best offensive line and a top five running back in Elliott. They've added some athleticism to their defense by drafting Leighton Vander Esch and if they get to play in January, a deep run feels certain since they're built for playoff football.

It won't happen though and praise God because of the 32 NFL fan bases they're the most annoying whenever their team is winning (Denver is a close second).

Dak Prescott is a good NFL QB but he hasn't shown the gunslinger mentality that his 2017 draft counterparts, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, have. Goff and Wentz took a leap forward in their development last season while Prescott regressed. Prescott had one game in which he threw for 300 yards but eight games where he failed to throw for more than 200 yards. Goff had five 300-yard games and three sub-200 yard games, while Wentz went four games above 300 yards and three below 200 yards.

What I'm getting at is the Cowboys have one super strength, their running game and if they have a lead they're going to be tough to beat. But if they're behind by a touchdown or less, it's going to be a struggle for them. If they're losing by 10 or more, the game is over and they're not coming back. Making the things even worse for the passing game is that their WR corps is easily the worst in the NFL, just hot garbage.

Best fantasy player: RB Ezekiel Elliott

Fantasy stay away: Any and all WRs – I'd rather roster a backup kicker or a Bills WR before even considering any of these guys.

CHICAGO BEARS (6.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 7-9

We all have that one fiscally stingy friend, the ones who when on a road trip would rather go hit up the dollar menu at Wendy's than search for a new restaurant. If they offer to buy lunch they remember to the cent how much you owe them or tipping anything more than 10.5 percent is too rich for their blood. 

Now have you ever had that stingy friend completely break character? Like they offer to pick up the dinner tab and there's eight of you at the table. And you go to pay them back you and they tell you your money's no good. Then they tip 30 percent and everyone's mind is blown. You're not sure what you're dealing with, do they have a new outlook on life or is there an alien invasion currently taking place, a la "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"?

The Bears are the cheapskates of the NFL but this offseason they spent money to upgrade their team. They spent the most in free agency, shelling out $233,565,000 and the next closest team were the Jets who spent $201 million. 

Most of Chicago's money went toward their offense with a 3-year, $43 million deal given to former Jags WR Allen Robinson, a 4-year $32 million deal to TE Trey Burton and a 4-year $26 million deal to WR Taylor Gabriel. 

It makes sense the Bears splurged on their offense, the Eagles and Rams built their teams around their franchise QBs bringing in as many weapons as possible. Chicago even brought in an offensive-minded head coach, former Chiefs OC Matt Nagy, to help their young QB Mitch Trubisky.

Personally, I don't understand the love for Trubisky, he was terrible last year and it's still a head scratcher that he went ahead of Deshawn Watson. However, I was wrong about Jared Goff in LA. I thought he was a sunk cost but paired with the right coach he turned it around. 

I could be wrong about Trubisky too, Nagy could be another QB whisperer. Nagy was able to get the lord of the checkdown, Alex Smith, to throw more than 12 yards down field, an impressive accomplishment. Maybe he can work his magic with Trubisky.

Best fantasy player: WR Allen Robinson

Fantasy stay away: RB Jordan Howard

DETROIT LIONS (7.5)

Ridiculously advanced computer prediction: 8-8

If the Lions were in the AFC they'd be a playoff contender but they're in the NFC. Adding to their difficulty they're in the NFC North, which has surpassed the NFC South as the NFL's best division. A total of four games against the Vikings and Packers, two Super Bowl contenders, is a tough break.

I've never been a fan of QB Matthew Stafford, I made fun of the Lions for signing him to an extension last season, but I'm starting to change my tune. I thought he played damn well last season and after thinking he's overrated for most his career, I'm moving him into the underrated category.

With all those nice things out of the way, the Lions did not do enough in the offseason to keep pace with their rivals. The LeGarrette Blount addition is nice for short yardage, outside that he doesn't provide much else. The other Lions RBs are blah, neither of them are going to scare opposing defenses.

The defense last season was below average and the Lions did not improve this unit. Everyone else in the division either spent money to improve, the Vikings brought in Kirk Cousins and the Bears sent out a fleet of Brinks trucks, or got their god-mode QB back, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is healthy and ready to go. If you play Daily Fantasy Sports, target teams playing the Lions, their defense is going to be porous.

Stafford will keep them competitive but they just don't have the juice to keep up with the NFC wildcard race that's going to require teams to win at least 10 games.

Best fantasy player: QB Matthew Stafford

Fantasy stay away: RB Kerryon Johnson