It’s never too early for some pigskin prognostications.

The SEC is always full of surprises, making predictions for the future rather difficult. But we’re going to do so, regardless.

Here are 10 bold predictions for the 2016 season. Try not to blow a mental gasket.

Fournette passes major milestone: I originally thought about using this space to prognosticate not one, but a pair of 2,000-yard rushers out of the SEC in 2016. However, despite falling 47 yards shy of accomplishing the feat in 2015, it would take a mighty Herculean leap for a player such as Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd, Vanderbilt’s Ralph Webb or either of Georgia’s tailbacks Sony Michel or the post-knee injury Nick Chubb to join LSU’s Leonard Fournette — who projects to become the 27th player in college football history to join the fraternal order of single-season, 2,000-yard rushers. That club was so elusive it took Derrick Henry’s Heisman-winning 2015 campaign to become the first member out of the SEC.

In the interest in staying “bold” rather than borderline crazy, we’ll say Fournette stays healthy and breaks Henry’s conference record 2,219 yards in a single season. But here’s the caveat considering it was Fournette, not Henry after all, who won the 2015 rushing title with 162.8 YPG. The LSU tailback eclipses Henry’s mark in fewer games.

At that average yards per game, Fournette would have piled on another 651 yards or so if he had the three extra games enjoyed by Henry, including the weather-cancelled season opener to pad his stats. That would have given him 2,604 yards on the year. To put that in perspective, Barry Sanders holds the NCAA’s single-season rushing record with 2,628 yards in 1988 for Oklahoma State.

Fournette would need 202.1 YPG, if LSU plays a standard 13-game slate (bowl included), to equal Sanders. That number drops to 175.2 YPG if the Tigers advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship. Sanders averaged 238.9 YPG in 11 games, for what it’s worth.

To heck with it. Let’s cross that line into crazy town and say Fournette passes Sanders’ single-season record in yards but not average. Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin flirted with Sanders’ mark in 2014, falling 41 yards shy of history. Fournette finished 47 yards shy of rushing for 2,000 yards as a sophomore. This year he goes over … way over.

Nine 1,000-yard rushers: At first glance, the SEC appears to be in for a bit of a step back in the running department in 2016 with the loss of five of the nine running backs to rush for more than 1,000 yards last season. We might overshoot the green on this prediction, but nine SEC running backs will once again rush for 1,000 yards during the upcoming campaign. Cresting the mark is: LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice, Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, Vanderbilt’s Ralph Webb, Kentucky’s Stanley “Boom” Williams, Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel as well as Auburn’s Jovon Robinson.

If Kamara falls short, it could be a result of losing yards on the ground to Volunteers quarterback Josh Dobbs’ scampering to a 1,000-yard rushing season of his own. Guice and Chubb are long shots, considering the former is a backup to Fournette while the latter is coming off a gruesome knee injury and facing concerns whether or not he’ll be ready for Week 1.

Also, considering that Alabama has had a 1,000-yard rusher in six of the last eight years (and came darn close in those two sub-1,000-yard seasons), the Crimson Tide can’t be counted out to produce another running back to reach the milestone. Whether that’s Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris or someone else out of a thin Alabama backfield remains to be seen.

Non-Alabama school wins SEC title: If we’re projecting Fournette to amass roughly 1.5 miles worth of yardage, it makes sense that LSU is among the candidates to wrest the SEC championship away from the state of Alabama, which has won the last four conference titles between the Crimson Tide and Auburn. LSU — the last non-state-of-Alabama team to win the conference in 2011 — join the likes of Tennessee, Ole Miss, Florida and Georgia as suitors for 2016’s hardware. However, it’s the Volunteers, not LSU, that claims the top spot. In the process, Tennessee becomes the first SEC East program to win the conference since Florida in 2008.

Job opening: When it comes to job security in the fickle SEC, someone’s seat is always on the warm side. It’s not likely that every current conference head coach will be back on the sidelines come Week 1 in the 2017 season. The league breaks in three new head coaches this year and could see another three join the ranks of the unemployed come December. Underachieving costs Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M their jobs. Sumlin in particular. The SEC’s second-highest paid coach has a stocked roster with plenty of offensive weapons and a loaded defense. But a third consecutive 8-5 season spells doom for the Aggies coach.

Non-Fournette offensive player of the year: Some players underperform in the face of overwhelming hype while others fail to stay healthy. If LSU’s superstar succumbs to either of these or something else unforeseen, then another player will step up in his place. That player supplanting the Tigers’ running back is speedy Texas A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk. The rising sophomore improves upon his 1,009 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns from 2015 with an even bigger campaign, thanks in large part to the Aggies getting some stability finally at quarterback with veteran Trevor Knight under center. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native also ups his return yardage after returning 726 yards worth of kick and punt returns as well as a pair of touchdowns as a freshman.

Defensive player of the year: South Carolina will certainly experience its share of growing pains under first-year Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp. But those struggling under the defensive mind of “Coach Boom” shouldn’t include the team’s linebackers. In particular, Skai Moore. The Cooper City, Fla., native returns for his senior year to earn the SEC’s top defensive honors. Upon closer inspection, Moore might not be very much of a “bold” prediction. The Gamecocks linebacker is quietly the conference’s active leader for both career tackles (260.0) and interceptions (11). Throw him in Muschamp’s defense and Moore has a chance to close out a special career in Columbia with some SEC hardware.

Coach of the year: Call it beginner’s luck. Call it the product of his coaching acumen. Call it what you like, but Georgia’s Kirby Smart takes home the SEC Coach of the Year award. Not only is there a drop-off after the Mark Richt era (who earned coach of the year accolades in 2002 and 2005), but Smart takes it one step further with an 11-win season — one more victory than Richt’s Bulldogs won in each of the last two seasons. Other coaches garnering consideration include Arkansas’ Bret Bielema, LSU’s Les Miles and Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason.

Newcomer of the year: Trevor Knight adds stability to Texas A&M’s maligned quarterback position, but it’s another precarious signal-caller situation that benefits from a new face. Luke Del Rio not only earns the Florida starting job but eases some of the Gators’ recent woes under center. The junior finally finds a home after stints with Alabama and Oregon State to begin his career. Del Rio is the benefactor of a familiar offense under Florida coordinator Doug Nussmeier, who originally recruited the son of NFL head coach Jack Del Rio to play for the Tide. Familiarity breeds success and Del Rio finds his rightful place under center.

Bowl Bound: The SEC suffers from another “down” year and wins even more bowl games in 2016 than their record-setting nine postseason wins. Note the sarcasm. The conference one-ups their mark with 10 wins, thanks to Vanderbilt and Kentucky qualifying for a bowl this year. That gives the conference a dozen teams playing at least one more game in addition to their regular-season slate.

Upset City: Bret Bielema’s Arkansas program has been known as a second-half-of-the-season kind of team in the coach’s first three seasons on The Hill. However, to qualify for such an honor suggests that his Razorbacks squads tend to struggle early on. That was painfully evident last year when the Hogs were upended at the hands of Texas Tech and Toledo. Unfortunately, fate strikes Bielema and Arkansas once again in 2016, this time at the hands of Louisiana Tech in Week 2 and Alcorn State during Week 5 in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks recover with some big wins, but the upsets continue to dog the affable coach.