ESPN and the rest of the sports media world is patiently awaiting the start of the 2026 NFL season. July is a quiet month for the league as its teams do not report for training camp until late, and their previous organized team activities have already been completed.
As such, July often sees NFL analysts from various media companies release their bold predictions and season previews for the upcoming season. Such was the case for ESPN’s NFL analyst, Benjamin Solak, who recently published 10 predictions for the 2026 season.
Some of them were, indeed, very realistic or, at least, plausible. Others, though, were stretches at best.
ESPN analyst has some awfully bold predictions for the 2026 NFL season
The first prediction that Solak made was that Myles Garrett would have more than 20 sacks in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams. This prediction certainly makes sense considering Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23.0 in 2025 and is still in his prime.
Another that does not seem too implausible is that the Houston Texans will win the AFC. Of course, he acknowledges that CJ Stroud needs to be better; but the fact of the matter is that Houston’s defense is so good, it will not take much of an improvement from the offense to get the Texans to the top of the conference.
However, some of the predictions are very hard to fathom. In particular, one that seems to be far-fetched is his prediction that the Minnesota Vikings will win the NFC North. Now, they were 8-9 last year despite terrible quarterback play, and they did bring in Kyler Murray on a one-year flyer to start in front of JJ McCarthy; but their defense has lost so many play-makers, even the genius of Brian Flores may not be able to make them an above-average unit.
What is more, the Chicago Bears won the division with an 11-6 record and, if their defense can keep taking the ball away, should be even better in 2026. It is impossible to count out the young and hungry Green Bay Packers, especially when Micah Parsons returns from his torn ACL. Finally, the Detroit Lions have just as many good pieces, if not more, than the Vikings and should be better than their 8-9 record last year, too.
