The Predictor

This week I spoke to David James, aka the Predictor.  James makes a living out of analyzing sports and using his own unique brand of statisical and scouting analysis and intuition to make bold calls.  James recently came out with NFL rankings for the coming year.  James likes the Colts to return to the AFC Championship game where he asserts they’ll take on the Buffalo Bills.

James is known for his accurate claims and unique insights, though he freely admits that he obviously can’t predict injuries.  The following is a summary of our conversation as it related to the Colts.

• James is very high on Anthony Gonzalez and sees him having a huge year.
• James does not think much of Don Brown.  He expects him to seriously disappoint fans, calling him “a solid college player”.  He wanted Indy to take Beanie Wells.  He felt that the excuse that Brown ‘fit the Colts’ system’ didn’t out weigh how explosive Wells is.
• He projects this to be a huge year for Peyton Manning, but there’s one problem.  He sees this as being Peyton’s last really big year.  In his eyes, the sum total of all Manning’s nicks and dings over the years will catch up to him sooner rather than later.
• He things Jim Caldwell is a good coach, but he’s very high on Ron Turner. He says that Ron didn’t have the weapons to work with in Chicago.  Because of this, he sees a big year for all Indy’s wideouts.  He also sees a future in head coaching for Turner, possibly with the Colts after Caldwell, but definitely with some other team.
• He noted that Norv Turner is an exemplary coordinator, but a mediocre head coach.  I’m sure we all can agree with that.
• He projects a massive slide for the Saints down to 20th.
• He feels the Colts’ offensive line is underrated and doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
• He stressed how important it was for the Colts to get a deal done with Mathis because the defensive line isn’t the same without him.
• Finally, he called Joe Addai “that stud from LSU”.  Again, no argument here.

James is enthusiastic and confident in his predictions.  While many of his projections are controversial, he did show an impressive depth of knowledge about the team.  He was coy about exactly how he achieved his predictions saying that he wasn’t about to give up the “keys to the kingdom” that many teams would pay dearly for.  He did make it clear that he based his predictions on a mixture of complex statistical analysis and gut feel.

We’ll track James’s predictions through to the end of the season and see if he’s earned his moniker.