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POTM

POTM Predictions – October: Who is next?

September’s Player of the Month was picked before a snap was played, so October’s will be too. The pattern is a marquee rookie with top-five draft capital, kept out of Future Stars. Carnell Tate fits it best, with Jeremiyah Love close behind.

David Bailey was the first Player of the Month in the game, a five-challenge chain that took a 79 linebacker to an 88 across September. October’s card is due when the month opens. Who it goes to is a pattern you can read, and the pattern starts with when Bailey was announced.

Why Bailey?

The September card was in the news feed before Week 1 was played, in the same carousel as the Future Stars announcement. So the pick had nothing to do with September’s games, because there had not been any. It was made on pedigree, hype and story, and Bailey has all three.

And the tell: he is not in Future Stars. That set is fourteen of the top rookies in the class, from Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 down through Arvell Reese, Jordyn Tyson, Caleb Downs and the rest, and the No. 2 pick is missing from it. The game kept its biggest rookie back to headline a promotion of his own.

Who could be next?

That makes the template a marquee rookie with top-of-the-draft capital and a story behind him, and one who is not already in Future Stars. Put the top of the draft through that filter and these are the names still standing:

The shortlist

Who gets October, in order
1. Carnell Tate
WR
2. Jeremiyah Love
RB
3. Anthony Hill Jr.
LB
4. Mansoor Delane
CB
5. Rueben Bain Jr.
DE
Ranked on 29 September, before the October card was announced.

CARNELL TATE — WR, Tennessee Titans. The top pick, because he passes every test. Fourth overall, kept out of Future Stars, and the natural follow to Bailey: after a defender, a receiver. He is co-favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he is producing — the team’s leading receiver in Week 1 and over 50 yards in Week 3, on a team with few other places to throw. A receiver is also an easier card to sell to players than a second linebacker in a row.

JEREMIYAH LOVE — RB, Arizona Cardinals. The purest match to the Bailey profile: third overall, a Doak Walker winner, a unanimous All-American and the preseason favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year. That is the best-at-his-position framing Bailey was sold on. What holds him back is the start: 41 rushing yards in Week 1 off a preseason high ankle sprain, on a bad team. If the pick runs on hype he is arguably first. If it runs on September, he drops.

ANTHONY HILL JR. — LB, Tennessee Titans. If October is picked on what happened in September, nobody is close. He led the league with 26 tackles through two games, the second-most by any player in his first two games since 2000, and has 34 through three. Two things count against him: he already has a Future Stars card, and he plays Bailey’s position.

MANSOOR DELANE — CB, Kansas City Chiefs. Sixth overall and kept out of Future Stars. He intercepted Bo Nix in Week 1 and plays for a Kansas City team that is 3–0, which is a winning-team story on a premium position.

RUEBEN BAIN JR. — DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fifteenth overall and a Ted Hendricks Award winner, so the pedigree holds up. But he rushes the passer like Bailey does, and the same position twice in a row is the least likely way for this to go.

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.