2026 NFL Conference Championship Predictions

Seattle hosts the NFC Championship game. Find out if the one seed Seattle Seahawks can make Super Bowl 60.

Chris Ransom Last Updated: January 23, 2026.

2. New England Patriots 16-3-0	Versus	1. Denver Broncos 15-3-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

Year two of my 12 team playoff is underway. Unlike last year with my preason projections, this poll will include updated records from week 1 inlcuding rankings. Also, I try to put undefeated teams over 1 loss teams in my AP polls for fun until the official rankings come out. If a one loss team lost by one score to a ranked opponent and their tape looked good with that team keeping the game competitive, I will consider moving them up or down.

Indiana 16-0

Indiana has Fernando Mendoza at quarterback, Lee Beebe Jr. at running back, Elijah Sarratt at wide receiver, and Carter Smith at left tackle on offense. Mikail Kamara is the pass rusher that anchors this defnse. Indiana also has Aiden Fisher at right outside linebacker. D'Angelo Ponds is the field cornerback. Amare Ferrell and Devan Boykin makea formidable safety tandem. Indiana defeated Oregon on the road. Indiana defeated Michigan State to improve to 7-0 as Ferando Mendoza threw for over 300 passing yards for the first time all season. Indiana defeated UCLA to improve to 8-0. Indiana blew out Maryland to improve to 9-0. Indiana pulled off a fourth quarter comeback against Penn State to get to 10-0. Indiana went 12-0 in the regular season. Indiana defeated Ohio State to win the Big 10 Championship 13-10. Indiana went 16-0 and won the National Championship.

Miami FL 13-3

The Miami Hurricanes defeated a top 10 team for the first time since defeating Notre Dame in 2017. Carson Beck played well in this game thanks to protection by his offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. The real star was defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. who might be the best defensive end in the 2026 NFL Draft. Charles Brantley and OJ Frederique Jr. is a very strong cornerback duo for the Miami Hurricanes. Mark Fletcher Jr. is a solid running back and Jordan Lyle isn't bad either with those two running backs stepping up after losing Damien Martinez. CJ Daniels is back at wide receiver. Alex Bauman is a guy that I think can be better than Elijah Arroyo down the road. The Miami Hurricanes edged out Notre Dame for the final at large spot in the College Football Playoff due to their head to head win as Miami FL will face Texas A&M in this years College Football Playoff. Miami FL won that matchup and will face Ohio State on New Years Eve. Miami FL got to the National Championship, but lost to Indiana.>

Oregon 13-2

Oregon has one of the most complete offenses in the country. Dante Moore did well at quarterback and Isaiah World did a good job replacing Josh Connerly Jr. at left tackle. Matayo Uiagalelei is the 4-3 right end. Makhi Hughes is the starting running back. Dillon Thieneman is a really talented safety. Iapani Laloulu and Theran Johnson give Oregon a great cornerback tandem. Other players like Emmanuel Pregnona at left guard, Kenyon Sadiq at tight end, Teitum Tioti at left outside linebacker, Bryce Boettcher at middle linebacker, and defensive tackle Bear Alexander are players to watch. Oregon defeated Penn State in overtime, but lost to Indiana at home before rebounding which is why they moved up a spot. Oregon handled USC quite easily. Oregon made the Final 4 where they will face Indiana in the Peach Bowl after losing to them earlier in the regular season.

Ole Miss 13-2

Ole Miss has Damien Tayor as their starting runnign back. Ole Miss has De'Zhaun Stribling and Cayden Lee at wide receiver. Luke Hasz and Dae'Quan Wright are a formidable tight end tandem. Zxavian Harris is the 4-3 defensive tackle. Suntraine Perkins plays 4-3 right outside linebacker. Ole Miss beat LSU to improve to 5-0 on the year. Ole Miss lost to Georgia, but has defeated everyone else they have faced. Ole Miss defeated Georgia and will now face Carson Beck and the Miami Hurricanes.

Ohio State 12-2

Ohio State managed to defeat number one Texas 14-7 in a defensive game. Ohio State took a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter with Matt Patricia frustrating Arch Manning in his debut as Ohio State's defensive coordinator before Arch Manning threw a garbage time touchdown. Ohio State defeated Grambling in week 2. Ohio State appears to have reloaded on the defensive line with Ohio State having guys like Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs emerge as stars on defense. Jeremiah Smith is the best offensive player in college football with Smith being my top player in the 2027 NFL Draft and Caleb Downs being my top player in the 2026 NFL Draft. Carnell Tate and Max Klare compliment Jeremiah Smith quite well at wide receiver and tight end. Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Matthews Jr. compliment Caleb Downs at cornerback, and Ohio State has five star recruit Devin Sanchez as their dime cornerback. James Peoples and Jayson Ball are a solid running back tandem as quarterback Julian Sayin showed a lot of poise. My favorite college football teamm claims the top spot after beating Texas in week 1 for now. Ohio State enters the first College Football playoff rankings as the 1 seed. Ohio State has maintained that top spot since beating Texas back in week 1 and has three games left in the regular season. Ohio State is 10-0 with two games left a home game against Rutgers and a road game against Michigan. Ohio State also went 12-0. Ohio State was number one all year. They only dropped a spot for losing by three. That game could have went to overtime if Ohio State's kicker hadn't missed a field goal. Ohio State never lead at any point in the entire game against Miami FL.

Georgia 12-2

Georgia dominated Marshall in the season opener. Georgia and Texas were the two preseason favorites to win the SEC for the second year in a row. KJ Bolden the top safety in the 2027 NFL Draft is the Georgia Bulldogs best overall player. The only other three players that I could see becoming stars are C.J. Allen at middle linebacker, Oscar Delp at tight end, and Daylen Everette at cornerback. Georgia has some other guys that could be high end starters in the NFL like Monroe Freeling at left tackle, Earnest Greene III at right tackle, Zachariah Branch at wide receiver, Noah Thomas at wide receiver, Dilln Bell at slot receiver, and Lawson Luckie the number two tight end. I think Gunner Stockton is worse than both Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck, but his supporting cast feels just as good as the last two Georgia quarterbacks. Georgia was the preseason favorite to win the SEC. Georgia only lost one game to Alabama. Georgia defeated a previously undefeated Ole Miss team to improve to 6-1 as Georgia defeated Florida to improve to 7-1. Georgia is now 9-1 on the year and has finished SEC play. Georgia defeated Alabama to win the SEC Championship. Georgia lost the rematch to Ole Miss.

Texas Tech 12-2

I have to put a Big 12 team in the playoff. Texas Tech destroyed Utah on the road 34-10 as Texas Tech was my preseason pick to win the Big 12 over Arizona State. Arizona State was the only team to defeat Texas Tech this year, but Texas Tech has beaten everyone else convincingly. BYU faces Texas Tech which is a home game for Texas Tech this weekend. Texas Tech has Behren Morton at quarterback, Quinten Joyner at running back, Reggie Virgil at wide receiver, Caleb Douglas at wide receiver, Terrance Carter at tight end, Vinny Sciury at left guard, Sheridan Wilson at center, Davion Carter at right guard, and Sheridan Wilson at center. Texas Tech has Jacob Rodriguez at right outside linebacker and David Bailey a former Stanford edge rusher at 4-3 left end as their two signature pass rushers on the edge. Texas Tech also has Lee Hunter at 4-3 defensive tackle as Hunter has the size of a nose tackle with Skyler Gill-Howard, whose got the size of a 3-4 defensive end as the other defensive tackle complimenting Lee Hunter. Maurion Horn is the cornerback on Texas Tech. Texas Tech defeated BYU once again to win the Big 12 Championship. Texas Tech got shutout in their first College Football Playoff game after a bye week.

Alabama 11-4

Alabama has Ty Simpson at quarterback and Jam Miller at running back. Alabama has a wide receiver tandem of Ryan Williams a top 5 pick at wide receiver in the 2027 NFL Draft and Isaiah Horton at wide receiver. Germie Bernard is a senior wide receiver that plays at slot receiver. Kadyn Proctor is the left tackle, Parker Brailsford is the center, and Jaeden Roberts is the right guard on Alabama's offensive line. LT Overton can play 4-3 defensive end, 4-3 defensive tackle, and 3-4 defensive end with his versatility on the defensive line. Tim Kennan III is a senior 4-3 defensive tackle. Deontae Lawson has the versatility to play 4-3 middle linebacker, 4-3 left outside linebacker, and 3-4 middle linebacker with his versatility. Alabama has Domani Jackson, Zabien Brown, and Cam Calhoun at cornerback. Bray Hubbard is the strong safety and Keon Sabb the free safety complete one of the most complete secondaries in the country. Alabama lost the season opener to Florida State, but has won three in a row defeating Georgia on the road. Alabama defeated Vanderbilt at home. Alabama defeated Missouri on the road. Alabama improved to 7-1 on the year since the opening week loss to Florida State and is the 4 seed in the official college football playoff with four games left. Alabama won the Iron bowl and wll play Georgia in the SEC Championship. Alabama lost the SEC Championship. Alabama will travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Alabama deffeated Oklahoma and will now face Indiana in the Rose Bowl. Alabama got routed in the Rose Bowl against Indiana.

Texas A&M 11-2

Texas A&M has Le'Veon Moss at running back, Amari Daniels as their change of pace running back, and Rueben Owens as their third string running back, Kevin Concepcion at wide receiver, Amari Niblack at tight end, Trey Zuhn III at left tackle, Ar'maj Reed-Adams at right guard, and Dametrious Crownover at right tackle on offense. Texas A&M has Cashius Howell at 4-3 right end, Tyler Onyedim at defensive tackle, Taurean York at right outside linebacker, Will Lee III at cornerback, Julian Humphrey at cornerback, and Dalton Brooks at safety. Texas A&M still has one of the leagues most complete rosters even with all of the turnover from last year. Unlike last year, the Aggies are now 8-0 and have the 3 seed in the first playoff. Texas A&M won in the last two weeks to get to 10-0. Texas A&M trailed South Carolina 30-3 at halftime only to come back and win. Texas A&M hosts Samford in a non conference game this week and travels to Austin Texas to take on the Texas Longhorns on Black Friday. Texas A&M lost the regular season finale to Texas. Texas A&M also lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff to Miami FL.

Oklahoma 10-3

Oklahoma has a pretty complete roster on both sides of the ball. Oklahoma has John Mateer at quarterback, Michael Fasusi a five star recruit starting at left tackle as a true freshman as he is the first of the trio of five star offensive tackles to make the transition to left tackle. Oklahoma has Jaydn Ott at running back as well as Jovante Barnes to form a formidable one two punch. Deion Burks is the number one wide receiver. Jaren Kanak has been a pleasant surprise at tight end. R Mason Thomas is the 4-3 right end, Damonic Williams is the 4-3 defensive tackle, Kip Lewis is the 4-3 right outside linebacker. Kendal Daniels at strong safety and Robert Spears-Jennings at free safety form a formidable safety tandem. Two home wins over Michigan and Auburn have them in my top seven as Oklahoma was one of five colleges along with Ohio State, Miami FL, Penn State, and Oregon to get a first place vote. Oklahoma's two losses came against Texas when John Mateer was injured and Ole Miss with John Mateer's first game from John Mateer. Oklahoma lost to Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Tulane 11-2

Tulane has Jake Retzlaff at quarterback, Derrick Graham aat left tackle, Shadre Hurst at left guard, and Maurice Westmoreland at right end. Tulane won the American Conference and has a head-to-head victory over the current ACC Champion Duke Blue Devils. Tulane gets a rematch with an Ole Miss team that creamed Tulane earlier in the season.

James Madison 12-1

James Madison has Alonza Barnett III at quarterback. James Madiso ha a running back tandem of Wyane Knight and Ayo Adeyi. George Pettaway might be the best third string running back in the country as he is one point shy of my grade for players with NFL starter potentail. Pat McMurtie is the right tackle. Jacob Thomas is the best player on James Madison's defense as he has the versatility to play both strong safety and free safety. James Madison will face Oregon in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Why the New England Patriots Will Win: The New England Patriots Drake Maye the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of North Carolina entering year two as the starting quarterback.

Drake Maye will have Will Campbell, New England's 2025 first round pick out of LSU at left tackle, Jared Wilson a 2025 third round pick out of Georgia at left guard, Garrett Bradbury at center, Michael Onwenu at right guard, and Morgan Moses at right tackle. New England has Verderian Lowe last years starting left tackle as the backup left tackle. Caedan Wallace kicks inside to guard after being New England's 2024 third round pick and backup right tackle as a rookie. Marcus Bryant the New England Patriots 2025 seventh round pick out of Missouri is the backup right tackle.

New England has Stefon Diggs as their flanker wide receiver. Kayshon Boutte is the secondary wide receiver. DeMario Douglas is the slot receiver. Kyle Williams New England's 2025 third round pick out of Washington State began the season as the number four wide receiver after impressing enough in the preseason to push for the slot receiver job, but got demoted to the number five wide receiver, but now he's back at number four with Mack Hollins going on injured reserve. Efton Chism III an undrafted wide receiver out of Eastern Washington is the number five wide receiver. Both Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III have shown they can handle bigger roles next season in limited action at wide receiver this year. Mack Hollins is eligible to come off injured reserve this week and if he does, New England will have all of their weapons at full health at wide receiver. Mack Hollins is not coming off of injured reserve, which is why Mack Hollins

Hunter Henry will remain the starting tight end. Austin Hooper is the backup tight end. Austin Hooper is in concussion protocol and New England doesn't have a quality third string tight end behind Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper.

New England has TreVeyon Henderson, New England's 2025 second round pick out of Ohio State is the starting running back running back. Rhamondre Stevenson is now the number two running back. New England has rotated Stevenson and Henderson as the number one running backs down the stretch. Terell Jennings the fourth string running back got promoted from the practice squad to New England's roster once Antonio Gibson went down. Jack Westover is the starting fullback.

New England looks much better offensively than a year ago. That should translate to the New England Patriots being much more competitive this season with Josh McDaniels back at offensive coordinator.

New England has Christian Barmore at 3-4 right end, Khyiris Tonga at 3-4 nose tackle, and Milton Williams at 3-4 left end. New England has Joshua Farmer a 2025 fourth round pick out of Florida State as the backup 3-4 nose tackle. Cory Durden, the third string 3-4 nose tackle got called up from the practice squad after Joshua Farmer got placed on injured reserve and Cory Durden did a respectable job as New England's starting 3-4 nose tackle in week 18 starting for an injured Khyiris Tonga, but Khyris Tonga will be back. Joshua Farmer is practicing today and could be back. New England will have multiple bodies on the defensive line that they can play in the AFC Championship.

New England has Harold Landry III at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Robert Spillane at 3-4 middle linebacker, Christian Elliss at 3-4 middle linebacker, and K'Lavon Chaisson as the starting 3-4 left outside linebacker. Anfernee Jennings is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Jahlani Tavai, the former New England Patriots starting 3-4 middle linebacker before injuries is now the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Marte Mapu and Jack Gibbens are the backup 3-4 middle linebackers.

New England has Christian Gonzalez their 2023 first round pick out of Oregon is the the number one field cornerback. Carlton Davis III is the boundary cornerback next to Chrstian Gonzalez. Marcus Jones last years nickel cornerback will play nickel cornerback. Alex Austin is the dime cornerback. Isaiah Bolden is the quarter cornerback after being the dime cornerback lst year. Craig Woodson, New England's 2025 fourth round pick out of California is the strong safety and Jaylinn Hawkins is the starting free safety.

New England has Andres Borregales their 2025 sixth round pick out of Miami FL at kicker and Bryce Baringer a 2023 sixth round pick out of Michigan State who was my top punter in the 2023 NFL Draft as the starting punter with Barringer entering year three as the starting punter. TreVeyon Henderson is the kick returner and Marcus Jones is the punt returner. New England has their twenty two best starters at full health for the first time since week 11.

Why the Denver Broncos Will Win: Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix won the starting quarterback job as a rookie after being Denver's 2024 first round pick taking Denver to the playoffs. Bo Nix suffered a season ending injury. Jarrett Stidham has Garrett Bolles at left tackle, Ben Powers at left guard, Luke Wattenberg at center, Quinn Meinerz at right guard, and Mike McGlinchey the former San Francisco 49ers right tackle is now Denver's starting right tackle. Matt Peart the swing tackle and Alex Forsyth the backup center is the only backups I like on this offensive line. Denver's offensive line is better than you would think if their starters can stay healthy. Ben Powers got injured in week 5 and had surgery following Denver's week 5 win as he will miss two months before making a return at left guard in December.

Ben Powers is off of injured reserve, but Denver has been so impressed with Alex Palczewski filling in for Powers, that Ben Powers has been demoted to the Denver Broncos backup left guard. Luke Wattenberg is on injured reserve, but Alex Forsyth has been superb in relief of Wattenberg as Forsyth was teammates with Bo Nix at Oregon during Nix first season with the Oregon Ducks prior to the 2023 NFL Draft. Alex Palczewski is an RFA, so Denver can trade Ben Powers in the final year of his contract or release him to save $8,650,000 in cap space. Luke Wattenberg is eligible to come off of injured reserve. Alex Forysth got injured, but Luke Wattenberg was a full practice.

Courtland Sutton is the flanker wide receiver. Troy Franklin, Bo Nix's teammate at Oregon and Denver's 2024 fourth round pick is the as the secondary wide receiver. Marvin Mims Jr. is the slot receiver. Pat Bryant a 2025 third round pick out of Illinois is the number four wide receiver. Trent Sherfield is the number five wide receiver. Marvin Mims Jr. was out in week 9, so Pat Bryant got to play at slot receiver in relief of Marvin Mims Jr. Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, and Marvin Mims Jr. all got injured in the Divisional Round. Both Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin were limited practices this week.

Evan Engram is now the starting tight end. Adam Trautman Sean Payton's former tight end in New Orleans is the backup tight end. Adam Trautman started in week 9 as Evan Engram was the backup tight end to Trautman despite being cleared to play since Trautman knows Sean Payton's offense and he was healthier than Engram. I'm not sure who will start in week 10 on a short week.

J.K. Dobbins reclaimed the starting job he won at the beginning of the season. RJ Harvey, Denver's 2025 second round pick out of Central Florida was the starting running back in week 3 after J.K. Dobbins started the first two games, but is now the backup running back. Jaleel McLaughlin last years backup running back is the third string running back.

Denver's offense is completely healthy outside of the injury to Luke Wattenberg at center and J.K. Dobbins on injured reserve. Gettng the one seed means possibly both of those guys come back at full health for Denver.

Denver has John Franklin-Myers at 3-4 right end, Malcolm Roach at 3-4 nose tackle after he took the starting 3-4 nose tackle job from D.J. Jones, and Zach Allen is the 3-4 left end. D.J. Jones is now the backup 3-4 nose tackle.

Denver has Jonathon Cooper at 3-4 right outside linebacker, Alex Singleton at 3-4 middle linebacker, Dre Greenlaw at 3-4 middle linebacker, and Nik Bonitto at at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Jonah Ellis is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker after being Denver's 2024 third round pick out of Utah. Nik Bonitto is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Drew Sanders is injured for the third year in a row at 3-4 middle linebacker. Dre Greenlaw and Drew Sanders could both be back for the Divisional Round.

Denver has Patrick Surtain II at field cornerback, Riley Moss is the boundry cornerback, Ja'Quaun McMillian last years nickel cornerback becomes the nickel cornerback, Jahdae Barron, their 2025 first round pick out of Texas is the dime cornerback after beginning the season at nickel cornerback, and Kris Abrams-Draine their 2024 fifth round pick is the quarter cornerback. Damarri Mathis surprised everyone when he took control of the boundary cornerback job as a 2022 fourth round pick out of Pittsburgh. Talanoa Hufanga is the starting strong safety and Brandon Jones is the starting free safety. Brandon Jones is still on injured reserve, but he could be back for Super Bowl 60 if Denver can find a way to win the AFC with homefield.

Denver has Will Lutz at kicker and Jeremy Crawshaw a 2025 sixth round pick out of Florida at punter. Marvin Mims Jr. is the return specialist in addition to the slot receiver at both kick returner and punt returner.

Alex Kemp is the refree. New England is 3-0 under Alex Kemp this year. Denver is 1-0 under Alex Kemp.

Prediction: New England is a 4.5 point favorite at -4.5. The over or under is 42.5 with 66% of the public betting on New England. The money line is -235 for New England and +200 for Denver. Take New England to win and cover with the under at -235. Bet $265 on this game for New England and win up to $500 as long as the Patriots win by 5 or more.

Final Score Patriots 24 Broncos 17

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

178-104	177-105	181-101	162-120	183-99	166-116	189-93	163-119	175-107

5. Los Angeles Rams 14-5-0	Versus	1. Seattle Seahawks 15-3-0

Chris Ransom's Pick

We're back for the 2025 NFL Season. You can follow our weekly predictions crew. Jesse Lucas won the first year in 2014-2015. Jason Bantle and myself now have two championships after I won the NFL Pickem Champion Trophy for most accurate predictions against the spread in 2020-2021 and had the most accurate NFL predictions again in 2022-2023. Oren Shiri, Tanya Holmes, and Wes Langley have one pickem title too back in 2021-2022. Lisa Donovan got her first pickem Championship two years the best record in the country last year in 2023-2024. Andrew Kermish had the best pickem record on Draft Utopia in 2024-2025 with 203 games, but ESPN's Matt Bowen had 204 games correct and won the National pickem pool with Andrew finishing third in the country. Tony Mario replaces Jason Bantle after a decade of outstanding contributions at Draft Utopia. William Yanish and Daniel Keyser also join our NFL Predictions pool. Send me your predictions on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to be eligible for prizes should you have a perfect week. You will also see each Draft Utopia members record from the season at the bottom of the screen including my record with Who Draft Utopia picked replacing Who Everyone Else Picked which is the new change I rolled out for 2025.

For the fourth year in a row Draft Utopia defeated the maintstream media in NFL Predictions. After I had the best record in 2020-2021 going 181-74-1, Wes Langley went 189-95-1 in 2021-2022. I went 190-92-3 in 2022-2023 allowing Draft Utopia to become the first sports website in the world to three peat in NFL predictions. Two years ago Lisa Donovan went 199-86 on the year before her and three other staff members left the site following that NFL Season in 2023-2024. Last year Andrew Kermish had 203 games correct with Wes Langley having 199 games correct and ESPN"s Matt Bowen barely and one other person edging out Andrew with 204 games correct on the year as Kerm finished third in 2024-2025. I will provide updates on where people are nationally, but our records will be displayed below our winners.

Wes Langley emerged as the overall leader in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings as Wes was the National Pickem NFL Champion in 2021 helping Draft Utopia repeat during our tenure where we four peated in NFL predictions. Wes is 189-93. Wes is first nationally and has locked up the top spot in NFL pickem this season.

Andrew Kermish is now second in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Andrew is 183-99. Andrew is now second nationally which is an improvement from him finishing third nationally a year ago.

Tony Mario is now third in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Tony is 181-101 and is third nationally and is the only person who can catch Andrew for second. Jason Reid of ESPN is fourth nationally with a 180-102 record correctly predicting Broncos and Rams, but he has the same conference championship winners as Andrew Kermish. Regan Holgate at 179-99 and Pete Prisco of CBS are both 179-103 on the year. Regan didn't do playoff picks and Pete Prisco is going with the Broncos and the Seahawks.

I are now fourth in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. I am 178-104 on the year. I am in sole possession of seventh nationally. I can tie Pete Prisco if the Patriots win the AFC, and potentially move ahead of him for the final spot in the top 5 if

Oren Shiri is fifth in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Oren is 177-105 on the year. Oren is eighth nationally. Oren has the Patroits and Rams playing in the Super Bowl. If Oren and I pick opposite Super Bowl winners in Super Bowl 60, then Oren could end up taking the last spot in the top five from me if he correctly picks the Super Bowl winner. Picking New England and Los Angeles correct means Oren would be tied with Regan Holgate and Pete Prisco, but if I take both of those teams, I would move into the final spot in the top 5 nationally.

Daniel Keyser is now sixth in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Daniel is 175-107 on the year. Daniel moved ahead of Jeremy Fowler and is now ninth nationally.

Tracy Porter is now seventh in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Tracy is 166-116. Tracy is tied twenty third nationally after a 3-1 divional round week following a 5-1 wild card rond with Seth Wickersham of ESPN who finished the regular seasonw ith 166 games, but has not picked a playoff game and Jared Dublin of CBS with those two rounding out the top 25 nationally. Dublin rebounded in the Divisional Round after a winless wild card week.

William Yanish is eighth in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. William is 163-119 on the year and is tied for twenty eighth nationally.

Joseph Potter is ninth in the 2025 Draft Utopia NFL Pickem Standings. Joey is 162-120 on the year and is twenty ninth nationally jumping Dan Graziano.

My pickem pool expanded once again from 84 members to 90 members. I'm hoping we end up at 100 members for NFL Predictions at a certain point.

If you want to be listed and are not listed email me at chris@draftutopia.com. You can also direct message me on social media.

Why the Los Angeles Rams Will Win: Matthew Stafford is still the quarterback, but the Los Angeles Rams have Jimmy Garoppolo as their backup, and Stetson Bennett IV, the Los Angeles Rams 2023 fourth round pick out of Georgia as the third string quarterback. Los Angeles has Alaric Jackson at left tackle, Steve Avila moves back to at left guard, Coleman Shelton is the starting center, Kevin Dotson is the right guard, and Rob Havenstein is starting at right tackle. D.J.Humphries is the backup left tckle, Beaux Limmer is the backup left guard, and Warren McClendon Jr., the Los Angeles Rams 2023 fifth round pick is the backup right tackle. Steve Avila returned from his injury, but Rob Havenstein missed his first start of the season at right tackle. Rob Havenstein is going on injured reserve and Warren McClendon Jr. will start the next four games. Kevin Dotson could be out this week too as he is the only starter that did not practice this week.

Los Angeles has Puka Nacua as their flanker number one wide receiver, Davante Adams is the secondary wide receiver, and Tutu Atwell is the slot receiver. Jordan Whittington a 2024 sixth round pick out of Texas is the number four wide receiver after being the number six wide receiver as a rookie. The Los Angeles Rams drafted Pittsburgh wide receiver Konata Mumpfield in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft as Konata Mumpfield is the number five wide receiver.

The Los Angeles Rams have amazing depth at tight end too. Tyler Higbee is the starting tight end. Colby Parkinson who played most of last year as the number one tight end when Higbee was injured is the number two tight end. Terrance Ferguson, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 second round pick out of Oregon is the third string tight end. Davis Allen got some experience as a backup tight end in his sophomore season, but now he is the fourth string tight end once again for the first time since his rookie season.

Los Angeles has Kyren Williams as their starting running back with Blake Corum their 2024 third round pick out of Michigan as the number two running back. Jarquez Hunter, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 fourth round pick out of Auburn is the third string running back.

Los Angeles saw Braden Fiske a 2024 second round pick out of Florida State that was my second best defensive tackle behind Jer'Zhan Newton taking over for Aaron Donald at 3-4 right end with Fiske doing a great job there. Poona Ford as the starting nose tackle, and Kobie Turner a 2023 third round pick out of Wake Forest was one of the best rookies at 3-4 left end. Larrell Murchison is the backup 3-4 right end to Braden Fiske. Ty Hamilton, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 fifth round pick out of Ohio State that I had a starter potential grade on is the backup 3-4 nose tackle to Poona Ford as Hamilton enters a great situation where he can learn under Ford for two to three years and start for the Rams in the final year of his rookie deal in 2028 when Ford becomes a UFA. Tyler Davis their 2024 sixth round pick out of Clemson is the 3-4 left end which is a role that might actually suit him better than nose tackle since Davis was 290 coming out of Clemson.

Los Angeles will have Jared Verse at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Byron Young a 2023 third round pick out of Tennessee starting at 3-4 left outside linebacker. Omar Speights who went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft is one of the undrafted rookies to win a starting job as he will start at 3-4 middle linebacker despite the fact that I had a fourth round grade and starter potential on Speights a year ago and Nate Landman who will compliment Speights feels like an upgrade over Christan Rozeboom. Nick Hampton a 2023 fifth round pick out of Appalachian State is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Josaiah Stewart, the Los Angeles Rams 2025 third round pick out of Michigan is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. The Rams have Troy Reeder and undrafted middle linebacker Shaun Dolac who I had graded as a late round pick that could develop into a starter as their two backup 3-4 middle linebackers.

Los Angeles has Darious Williams at field cornerback, Akhello Witherspoon at boundary cornerback, Quentin Lake at nickel cornerback, Decobie Durant as their dime cornerback, and Emmanuel Forbes, the former Washington Commanders 2023 first round pick at quarter cornerback. Kamren Curl is the starting strong safety and Kamren Kinchens one of their two 2024 third round picks out of Miami FL is the starting free safety after beginning last season as a backup before becoming a full-time starter in the middle of the season where he started next to Curl and never looked back. Darius Williams got benched for Emmanuel Forbes as the Rams played Witherspoon at field cornerback, Forbes at boundary cornerback, and Lake at nickel cornerback in week 1. Ahkello Witherspoon got injured in week 2 and did not return to the game. Los Angeles benched Emmanuel Forbes at boundary cornerback for Darious Williams in week 5. Quentin Lake is also going on injured reserve. As long as Darious Wiliams, Decobie Durant, and Emmanuel Forbes are healthy, the Rams should be okay. If the Los Angeles Rams have three of their five cornerbacks or more on injured reserve, then we can look at the Rams. Ahkello Witherspoon went on injured reserve. Emmanuel Forbes got injured in the last round.

Joshua Karty is the starting kicker as the Los Angeles Rams got my top kicker in the 2024 NFL Draft. Ethan Evans enters his second year as the starting punter after being a 2023 seventh round pick. Jordan Whittington is the kick returner and Xavier Smith is the starting punt returner.

Why the Seattle Seahawks Will Win: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is the new starting quarterback with Geno Smith leaving Seattle. Drew Lock is the backup quarterback. Jalen Milroe, Seattle's 2025 third round pick out of Alabama is the third string quarterback.

Sam Darnold has Charles Cross at left tackle, Grey Zabel, Seattle's 2025 first round pick out of North Dakota State at left guard, Jalen Sundell barely won the starting center job, Anthony Bradford Jr. at right guard until Christian Haynes their 2024 third round pick out of Connecticut returns from injured reserve, and Abraham Lucas the starting right tackle. Josh Jones is the swing tackle and Jalen Sundell is the backup left guard if either Gray Zabel or Anthony Bradford Jr. injured with Christian Haynes out with Seattle not wanting to start either their 2025 sixth round pick at left guard or 2025 seventh round pick at right guard. Seattle doesn't want to play either guard, and I didn't have either guard getting drafted in 2025. Charles Cross has been ruled out in week 18.

Seattle has Jaxon Smith-Njigba Seattle's 2023 first round pick out of Ohio State at flanker wide receiver, Cooper Kupp is their secondary wide receiver after playing flanker wide receiver his entire career while also winning Super Bowl 56 MVP, and Tory Horton, Seattle's 2025 fifth round pick out of Colorado State will be the slot receiver. Jake Bobo and Dareke Young are the backup wide receivers. Cooper Kupp was ruled inactive in week 9. Tory Horton got promoted from slot receiver to secondary wide receiver for this game, but Seattle traded for Rashid Shaheed whose a good fill in player while Cooper Kupp is recovering from his injury. Jake Bobo the number four wide receiver and Dareke Young the number five wide receiver were both inactive for this game due to injuries with both of those guys getting demotions in th lineup once Cooper Kupp returns. Seattle's 2025 seventh round pick Ricky White III out of UNLV that I had a third round grade on got promoted from the practice squad to the active NFL roster for Seattle's week 9 game, but is pretty clear Seattle only promoted him as an emergency wide receiver in week 9. The fact that Seattle traded for Rashid Shaheed after Cooper Kupp, Jake Bobo, and Dareke Young were injured while leaving Cody Martin the number six wide receiver in week 1 on the practice squad shows Martin regressed while Ricky White III improved enough to jump Martin, but not enough to be on Seattle's NFL roster full time. That shows you how stacked the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver room is.

Cooper Kupp got a hamstring injury on October 30, 2025. This was on the thursday before Seattle's week 9 game in Washington. My guess is Cooper Kupp sits out this week and Seattle activates him for Seattle's first game of the year against their division rival, the Los Angeles Rams, where the Los Angeles Rams 2017 third round pick out of Eastern Washington won Super Bowl 56 MVP before leaving the Los Angeles Rams to sign with the Seattle Seahawks and return to the state of Washington. Seattle has placed Tory Horton on injured reserve prior to their week 12 game. Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and Rashid Shaheed enter this week all healthy.

Seattle has AJ Barner as their starting tight end, Elijah Arroyo Seattle's 2025 second round pick out of Miami FL began week 1 as the third string tight end behind AJ Barner and Eric Saubert, but he made his first NFL start in a two tight end set in week 9 with Cooper Kupp inactive as well as backup tight end Eric Saubert getting placed on injured reserve once again following Seattle's bye week as Elijah Arroyo was the third string tight end until week 4 when he got promoted to bckup tight end. Seattle lost Will Dissly after 2023 and cut Noah Fant earlier this offseason meaning Seattle is much weaker at tight end then two years ago and weaker at tight end than last year.

Seattle has Kenneth Walker III as their starting running back after Michigan State's former running back dominated as a rookie with Seattle in 2022. Zach Charbonnet a 2023 second round pick out of UCLA is now the backup running back. Kenny McIntosh, Seattle's 2023 seventh round pick out of Georgia is the third string running back after being the fourth string running back as a rookie for the second year in a row with Kenny McKintosh on injured reserve. George Holani is the fourth string running back when Kenny McIntosh is healthy, but right now he's the third string running back. Wesley Steiner the fullback that was expected to start is on injured reserve. Robbie Outzts a 2025 fifth round pick that was a backup tight end at Alabama won the starting fullback job despite Wesley Steiner getting injured. Zach Charbonnet has been ruled doubtful in week 3.

Seattle has Jarran Reed at starting 3-4 right end, Byron Murphy II Seattle's 2024 first round pick out of Texas at 3-4 nose tackle, and Leonard Williams at 3-4 left end. Rylie Mills the Seattle Seahawks 2025 fifth round pick out of Notre Dame is the backup 3-4 right end, but he's currently on injured reserve. Jonathan Hankins the backup 3-4 nose tackle is also currently on injured reserve. Mike Martin the backup 3-4 left end is the only backup defensive linemen not injured. Jarran Reed has been placed on injured reserve and will be out from weeks 10-13. Rylie Mills might get his first career NFL start in week 10.

Seattle has Demarcus Lawrence at 3-4 right outside linebacker and Uchenna Nwosu complimenting him at 3-4 left outside linebacker as these two guys are the starting edge rushers in Seattle for the 2023 season. Tyrice Knight and Ernest Jones IV are the starting 3-4 middle linebackers. Derrick Hall is the backup 3-4 right outside linebacker and Boye Mafe is the backup 3-4 left outside linebacker. Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Derrick Hall will all get reps at 3-4 left outside linebacker across from Demarcus Lawrence since Seattle thinks all three of those guys have a case to start next to Demarcus Lawrence.

Seattle has Devon Witherspoon back at field cornerback. Tariq Wolen dominated number two wide receivers at boundary cornerback during his rookie season out of UTSA going even as far as to be a finalist for Defensive Rookie Of The Year after being a 2022 fifth round pick with Tarqi Wollen entering the final year of his rookie deal. Josh Jobe is the nickel cornerback and he feels like an upgrade over Tre Brown, who replaced Michael Jackson in 2024. Nehemiah Prichett their 2024 fifth round pick is the dime cornerback. Devon Witherspoon was out in week 5. Devon Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen were both out with injuries in week 6. Woolen returned in week 7 on Monday Night Football before the bye week. Devon Witherspoon returned in week 9.

Seattle opted to start Devon Witherspoon at field cornerback in his first game back from an injury with Josh Jobe at boundary cornerback moving Seattle Seahawks strong safety Cobee Bryant to nickel cornerback. Nick Emmanwori their 2025 second round pick played strong safety and Ty Okada an undrafted free safety out of Montana State got the start at free safety, after Seattle opted to place Julian Love their starting free safety on injured reserve again following the week 8 bye week meaning week 13 against Minnesota is the earliest Julian Love could return at free safety. Josh Jobe has been ruled out in week 10 meaning Tariq Woolen will start at boundary cornerback with Seattle keeping their week 9 lineup on the secondary.

Seattle has an under the radar top 10 kicker in Jason Myers at kicker. Michael Dickson isn't a bad punter. George Holani is the at kick returner and Tory Horton is the punt returner.

Clay Martin is the referee in Seattle. He will be calling this game. Both teams are 2-0 in their last two games under Clay Martin with both teams going 1-0 in 2025. Los Angeles beat the Seahawks in Seattle when Clay Martin called the 2024 matchup between both teams.

Prediction: Seattle is a 2.5 point favorite at -2.5. The over or under is 46.5 with 58% of the public betting on Seattle. The money line is +130 for Los Angeles and -150 for Seattle. I like Los Angeles to win and to cover with the over at +130. Bet $170 on this game for Los Angeles and win up to $300 as long as the Seahawks win by 2 or less.

Final Score Rams 28 Seahawks 27

Who Draft Utopia Picked


Chris Ransom	Oren Shiri	Tony Mario	Joseph Potter	Andrew Kermish	Tracy Porter	Wes Langley	William Yanish	Daniel Keyser

178-104	177-105	181-101	162-120	183-99	166-116	189-93	163-119	175-107