I love surprises. They're my favorite part of sports. People sometimes ask if I'm upset that I got a prediction wrong, and I tend to answer no. If I knew what was going to happen ahead of time, I don't think I'd enjoy watching the games. I watch them because I know they can surprise me. I strongly believe that surprises are the main reason watching sports is fun.
However, I recognize that not everyone feels this way. Many of you like to have some ability to predict what's going to happen for, let's say, profit-related reasons? Hey, I get it. I play a ton of fantasy football, and surprises can mess with that. I understand the appeal of any information that can help put me in the best possible position to at least anticipate what's likely to happen, if not get all the way to certainty.
So every year, right before the start of the NFL season, we do this all-32 list in which I go through every team and pick out one potential surprise. This is based on the reporting I've done throughout training camp, talking to people with and around these teams and trying to figure out what the plan is for each franchise. They aren't predictions in the strictest sense. They're more tidbits that I think could signal things you might not be expecting. (They're also generally more informative for people who aren't fans of the specific team to whom they apply. I get that some people follow these teams far more closely than others, and that what might be a surprise to someone on the outside might not be to those who've been gobbling up every training camp play-by-play and news conference sound bite.)
Anyway, that's enough with the disclaimers. Enjoy these. Come back in a few months and tell me where I was right and where I was wrong. I promise I won't mind even if it's the latter. That's the fun part of the NFL season, after all.
Jump to a team: ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys
Don't be surprised if... rookie safety Caleb Downs never leaves the field.
What I'm hearing: OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but the Cowboys believe they can use Downs in a ton of different ways. In their ideal world, he and veteran safety Jalen Thompson are interchangeable in the safety and nickel roles. Downs got a lot of work at nickel during camp, and Dallas has faith in his ability to play deep safety. The Cowboys believe in his ability to cover top receivers if that's what they need from him, and they think he will be instantly capable of communicating at a high level and helping keep things organized on the defense.