Wild Card Predictions 2023

[FredFan7]

Predict the white hats! Get them in quickly as the word starts to trickle out.

[mike]

At least as far as Referee we know that 5 guys won't work on the field (excluding Pro Bowl). If I were leaving 5 off based on my amateur viewing this year it would be:

Brad Allen
Tra Blake
Alan Eck (ineligible)
Brad Rogers
Craig Wrolstad

I happen to like watching Clay Martin as a R but I don't think the league seems to be as high on him. If I had to guess the 6 white hats this weekend I would go with the following:

(1) Bill Vinovich
(2) Land Clark
(3) Adrian Hill
(4) Ron Torbert
(5) John Hussey
(6) Alex Kemp

I would then use as my 4 Divisional officials:
(1) Clay Martin
(2) Shawn Hochuli
(3) Clete Blakeman
(4) Scott Novak

And for my Conference Championship officials:
(1) Carl Cheffers
(2) Shawn Smith

[zebrablog]

Here's a couple of lists that sometimes have 1 or 2 properly slotted white hats

[russ]

Always difficult to make predictions this early on and not going to bother with black hat predictions yet. But here I go.

WC:
Wrolstad- Browns @ Texans
Martin -Dolphins @ Chiefs
Novak- Steelers @ Bills
Hill- Packers @ Cowboys
Hochuli- Rams @ Lions
Kemp- Eagles @ Bucs

Div:
Smith- AFC WC @ Bal
Blakeman- AFC WC @ AFC WC
Hussey- NFC WC @ NFC WC
Torbert- NFC WC @ SF

CC:
Cheffers- NFC CC
Vinovich- AFC CC

SB:
Hussey

[FredFan7]

I made my Football Zebras picks and I think I'm going to get my clock cleaned. Sometimes the defending SB officials get an alternate next year. But I think chances are high Cheffers gets something on the field.

I also think Allen will get something on the field this year.

[ryguy80]

Let the fun begin. I’ll give this a shot. The top 3 to me this year have been Cheffers, Hussey, and Blakeman. Probably sounds a little Captain Obvious, but it was a rough year overall for NFL officiating with all the high profile controversy. I’ve been going back and forth whether to give the SB assignment to Hussey or Blakeman, but if the chips are on the table, I’ll take Hussey. I really like Alan Eck’s demeanor, I think he’ll become a strong R.

WC: Rogers, Novak, Hill, Hochuli, Wrolstad, Allen

Comments: Right or wrong, I don’t see the league putting Allen in a higher playoff game because of the media backlash it would generate. I think Adam Schefter’s articles can be clickbait at times and not everything out of his mouth is the truth. I could see the league putting Allen on the Peacock-only game to draw minimal attention.

DIV: Hussey, Vinovich, Smith, Martin

Comments: I’d have Vinovich in the CC if not for the clock error in the BUF-CIN game earlier in the season.

CC: Cheffers and Blakeman

Comments: Cheffers would be doing the SB again if the league allowed consecutive assignments. He runs a great game from a management perspective. The NFL also will want its vets working the top games because the league wants to go out with the positive PR.

SB: Hussey

Comments: Hussey finally breaks through to the big game after several conference championship assignments.

[wjl]

WC - 19 Martin, 34 Blakeman, 51 Cheffers,52 Vinovich,55 Kemp,83 Hochuli

DIV - 4 Wrolstad, 14 Smith, 29 Hill, 35 Hussey

CC - 34 Blakeman, 83 Hochuli

SB - 35 Hussey

[mike]

Jan 8, 2024 11:33:02 GMT -5 FredFan7 said:

I made my Football Zebras picks and I think I'm going to get my clock cleaned. Sometimes the defending SB officials get an alternate next year. But I think chances are high Cheffers gets something on the field.

I also think Allen will get something on the field this year.

With the defending Super Bowl officials if they are Tier 1 I think they get a spot. When they get alternates it was probably because they were only Tier 2 and more than enough officials qualified at that position. The tiebreaker for Tier 2 officials seems to be getting officials without on field assignments a chance to show what they can do in that spot. I don't have a problem with that if you are choosing an official who graded out comparably.

[pikachunation]

SB-Blakeman
CC-Cheffers & Vinovich
DP-Blakeman, Hill, Hussey & Smith
WC-Martin, Rogers, Torbert, Hochulu, Kemp & Novak