# Manti Te'o: Te'o picks the Vikings as the ones who should be NFC North favorites, finishing one game ahead of Detroit, argues JJ McCarthy will outperform Sam Darnold's Minnesota season, and predicts Ladd McConkey climbs the Top 100 list.

**Claimed:** Jul 7, 2025
**Pundit:** Manti Te'o — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/manti-te-o
**Outlet:** Move the Sticks (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/move-the-sticks-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview
**Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/nfl-good-morning-football/gmfb-monday-hour-2-nfc-north-nfl-top-100-begins-dan-meers-and-jared-allen

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

The call scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> I'm gonna say it's gonna be Minnesota Soda should be the favorites in this division.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Minnesota Vikings to win the division**
  - Kind: Division Winners · About: Minnesota Vikings
  - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess

## Who this take is about

- Minnesota Vikings — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/vikings

## What others said about the same people

- Pat Fitzmaurice on Aaron Jones: In previewing the 10 most intriguing fantasy performers of Week 2, Fitzmaurice expects Atlanta's quarterback problems to persist with Tua Tagovailoa unlikely to play and Michael Penix Jr. not ready to return, flags Falcons slot corner Billy Bowman Jr. as a possible Week 2 returnee, and describes Aaron Jones as Minnesota's lead back and Kaelon Black as the clear backup to Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/31adc8bb-8f15-453f-bbcf-cab44e29b8b3 (scored 100)
- Devon Platana on Johnny Hekker: With punter Brett Thorson dealing with a hamstring injury, Platana suggests the Vikings have a decent chance of bringing back veteran free-agent punter Johnny Hekker as a familiar fill-in. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/eafcb668-aa60-42b1-8d77-ebdd33d0c2af (scored 100)
- Bradley Locker on Carson Wentz: PFF's unsigned adjusted power rankings after Week 1 of the 2026 season place the Bills first, the Rams second and the Dolphins last, with notes on quarterback situations in Seattle, Minnesota and Cleveland. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a3716f21-0488-4fc8-a414-c25c2d781a6e (scored 100)
- Adam Chudwin on Minnesota Vikings: In his annual game-by-game Bears prediction, Chudwin went through all 17 games and landed on a 12-5 season for Chicago. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/b6e5e93f-2997-4140-881f-3acec911a1f1 (scored 100)
- Trevor Ripley on Dillon Bell: Ripley expects Max Brosmer to return to the Vikings on the practice squad after being waived, and thinks Dillon Bell may draw waiver interest but is also a practice squad candidate for Minnesota. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/529718b4-3310-4bc4-949a-09c9600f3c48 (scored 0)
- Nick Shook on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren: Shook walks through his full first-round mock draft, assigning a prospect to every pick from No. 1 to No. 32, headlined by Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders, David Bailey to the Jets and Jeremiah Love to the Cardinals in the top three. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/7d4209aa-2e2d-47a2-b6e5-791d16d209cb (scored 17.68)

## More division winners

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Daniel DiBerardinis on Atlanta Falcons: Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. He also gives a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/8a8e0b7c-9f1c-4c13-8138-1332d73b9b02 (scored 0)
- Colin Cowherd on New York Giants: Cowherd projects the NFC East with the Giants winning the division ahead of Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas, pegging the Cowboys as a six- or seven-win team. He also expects Malik Willis to land a big free-agent deal, Kayvon Thibodeaux to be moved, and Baltimore to lose Isaiah Likely, and he floats the Rams reaching on Ty Simpson late in round one. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/cd243624-9451-4824-a8a4-7b468d681c8f (scored 0)
- Colin Cowherd on Los Angeles Chargers: Cowherd unveiled his top 10 NFL teams entering next season, with Seattle first, the Rams second and the Chiefs tenth, and separately picked the Chargers to win the AFC West. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/78de302a-c2f9-41b4-8897-87943ca44caa (scored 0)
- Colin Cowherd on Baltimore Ravens: Cowherd likes Jacksonville, Chicago and Pittsburgh (with DK Metcalf back) in the wild-card round, ranks the league's head coaches with McVay first and Ben Johnson seventh, and predicts Lamar Jackson has about two strong years left. He also names the Rams as a possible team to draft a receiver and floats next year's draft having seven first-round quarterbacks. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/432d7268-d5b1-49f6-9435-12c9442d3023 (scored 0)
- Danny Parkins on Baltimore Ravens: Parkins lays the points with the Eagles and Cowboys, takes Baltimore to beat Pittsburgh and win the AFC North, picks Carolina over Tampa Bay and Seattle over San Francisco, and says he'd probably pick the Rams to come out of the NFC. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/23bf1e09-f607-4b9a-bdb4-888da7992c89 (scored 0)
- Rich Eisen on Jacksonville Jaguars: Eisen forecast the Week 18 results and the entire wild-card field: Buccaneers over Panthers but Carolina still gets in as the 5 seed when Atlanta beats New Orleans, 49ers over Seahawks, Ravens over Steelers, Jaguars beating Tennessee to win the AFC South, and six wild-card matchups (Seahawks-Panthers, Bills-Jaguars, Texans-Ravens, Packers-Bears, Chargers-Patriots, Rams-Eagles), with Houston upsetting Baltimore. He also tabbed Saints rookie Tyler Shough as a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/34345186-876a-4c4b-9567-9c289a6cbace (scored 100)

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Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

Full method: https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/methodology

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