POTM Predictions – November: Who is next?

Both Player of the Month cards so far went to the highest-drafted rookie with no special card in the game. Each of the top five picks has one now, which leaves Mansoor Delane at No. 6, with Caleb Banks the next defender in line.

How did our October prediction do?

We got it right in our prediction in POTM Predictions – October: Who is next? on 29 September. That shortlist put Carnell Tate at the top, two days before the card was announced, and the Player of the Month October ladder is his: five challenges that take him from 81 to 89 before the month closes.

The one part to sharpen was the filter. It only kept out Future Stars cards, so Jeremiyah Love ranked second while already holding an 87 New Season card. In the game, that card is the one thing Love had and Tate did not, and it changes how this month’s list is drawn.

Why Tate?

The October card was live on 1 October, so unlike Bailey’s it came with a month of games behind it. Form was there to be used, and it still did not decide the pick. Anthony Hill Jr. was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for September, with 34 tackles in three games, and the card went past him. Tate had the rest.

• Pedigree. The fourth pick in the draft, and the first receiver taken.
• Form. The Titans’ leading receiver in Week 1 and over 50 yards in Week 3, on a team with few other places to throw.
• Balance. A receiver after a linebacker, so the second card went to the other side of the ball.
• Format. A 75 base card, and a chain that pays 81, 83, 85 and 87 on the way to 89. A climb that long needs a rookie under it.

And the tell: Tate had his base card and nothing else. Hill had a Future Stars card. So did Fernando Mendoza, the one pick ahead of David Bailey in September. Love, the one pick ahead of Tate, had New Season. Every rookie the game has passed over at the top of the draft already had a special card.

Who could be next?

That makes the rule simple. Go down the draft from No. 1, and the first rookie with only his base card gets the month. It lands on Bailey in September and Tate in October, and it skips the same names the game skipped.

Every one of the top five picks has a special card now. Two are Player of the Month ladders, and Arvell Reese, the fifth pick, is in Future Stars. These are the first-round picks through No. 22 still on a base card alone:

• Mansoor Delane, CB, Kansas City (No. 6)
• Spencer Fano, OT, Cleveland (No. 9)
• Francis Mauigoa, OT, New York Giants (No. 10)
• Kadyn Proctor, OT, Miami (No. 12)
• Blake Miller, OT, Detroit (No. 17)
• Caleb Banks, DT, Minnesota (No. 18)
• Monroe Freeling, OT, Carolina (No. 19)
• Akheem Mesidor, LB, Los Angeles Chargers (No. 22)

One more pattern sits on top of the draft order. September went to a defender and October to a receiver. If the sides keep taking turns, November goes to a defender, and Delane passes both tests.

The shortlist

MANSOOR DELANE — CB, Kansas City Chiefs. The top pick, because he is the next name in the draft and a defender after a receiver. He intercepted Bo Nix on his first NFL drive, hurt his shoulder making the play, and missed most of the first two weeks. After Week 6, PFF graded him the best first-round rookie in the league and third of all rookies, with 10 catches allowed on 145 coverage snaps, for a Chiefs team now 5–1. The one thing that moves him: Team of the Week #7 comes out before November does, and a card there would take him off the list the way New Season took Love off October’s.

CALEB BANKS — DT, Minnesota Vikings. Behind Delane, the highest-drafted rookie who passes both tests: still on a base card alone, and a defender to follow a receiver. That base card is an 81, higher than Bailey’s 79 and the best of any rookie on this list. He is first in line if Delane picks up a special card before the month turns. Against him: he went 18th, and he broke his foot before the combine.

SPENCER FANO — OT, Cleveland Browns. Next in the draft after Delane at ninth overall, and the 2025 Outland Trophy winner, the first Utah player to win it. The Browns named him their starting left tackle in camp. If the draft order counts for more than the turns between defense and offense, he moves up to second. Against him: he plays offense straight after a receiver, and a lineman’s ladder is a harder card to sell than a playmaker’s.

FRANCIS MAUIGOA — OT, New York Giants. Tenth overall, and third in draft order behind Delane and Fano. Against him: he would be a second offensive lineman behind Fano, and a herniated disc was found in his back at the combine.

AKHEEM MESIDOR — LB, Los Angeles Chargers. The pick if form decides it. He is PFF’s sixth-ranked rookie after Week 6, with 10 pressures, and the best first-round pick on that list after Delane. Against him: form has not decided a card yet, he went 22nd, and he rushes the passer like Bailey does.

If it is Delane, two things are worth knowing before the card lands. The finished card has climbed a point a month, 88 in September and 89 in October, which puts November’s ladder at 82 to 90. And October’s first challenge asked for four Music City cards, Tate’s own city, so hold on to your Heart of America cards until you see November’s.

This is an original blog article written by FHCWiz community writers, on various topics surrounding the FHC 27 (Football Head Coach 27) mobile game by Gamebasics BV. FHCWiz has no association with Gamebasics BV, and these articles are opinion and analysis, not official information.