Emmy Predictions 2016: Who Will Likely Get Nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama Series?

From June 13 to June 27, voting is taking place for The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. To add to the excitement of the past year in television, I'm providing analysis on which shows and performers are likely to get nominated this year. Next up is Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

2015 Nominees:

        Kyle Chandler for Netflix's Bloodline
        Jeff Daniels for HBO's The Newsroom
        Jon Hamm for AMC's Mad Men (WINNER)
        Bob Odenkirk for AMC's Better Call Saul
        Liev Schreiber for Showtime's Ray Donovan
        Kevin Spacey for Netflix's House of Cards

Out of last year's nominees, only four are once again eligible - Chandler, Odenkirk, Schreiber and Spacey. Last year, Hamm finally got his Emmy for playing Don Draper for the final season of Mad Men. So that means a new winner will be crowned this year. There's a lot of possibilities for the two open slots in the race. But there's also a strong possibility that not all the returning nominees are guaranteed slots again. Chandler and Schreiber could very easily be cast aside to make way for other talent. So that makes this category in particular really exciting to watch.

So now, here's my thoughts on the actors must likely to be nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama Series:

1. Kevin Spacey for Netflix's House of Cards
2. Bob Odenkirk for AMC's Better Call Saul
3. Rami Malek for USA's Mr. Robot
4. Steve Buscemi for Louis C.K.'s Horace and Pete
5. Louis C.K. for Louis C.K.'s Horace and Pete
6. Damian Lewis for Showtime's Billions

And now, for some serious threats that could break into the list:

1. Kyle Chandler for Netflix's Bloodline
2. Paul Giamatti for Showtime's Billions
3. Bobby Cannavale for HBO's Vinyl
4. Aaron Paul and Hugh Dancy for Hulu's The Path
5. Wagner Moura for Netflix's Narcos
6. Liev Schreiber for Showtime's Ray Donovan
7. Hugh Bonneville for PBS' Downton Abbey
8. Terrence Howard for FOX's Empire
9. Clive Owen for Cinemax's The Knick
10. Matthew Rhys for FX's The Americans
11. James Spader for NBC's The Blacklist
12. Sam Heughan for Starz's Outlander
13. Freddie Highmore for A&E's Bates Motel
14. Aldis Hodge for WGN America's Underground
15. Justin Theroux for HBO's The Leftovers

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Aden Young for SundanceTV's Rectify
2. Dominic West for Showtime's The Affair
3. Ron Perlman for Amazon's Hand of God
4. Ray Liotta for NBC's Shades of Blue
5. Titus Welliver for Amazon's Bosch
6. Scoot McNairy and Lee Pace for AMC's Halt and Catch Fire
7. Timothy Dalton and Josh Hartnett for Showtime's Penny Dreadful
8. Michael Sheen for Showtime's Masters of Sex
9. Frank Grillo for Audience's Kingdom
10. Josh Holloway for USA's Colony
11. Josh Radnor for PBS' Mercy Street
12. Rupert Evans and Luke Kleintank for Amazon's The Man in the High Castle
13. Christian Cooke for Crackle's The Art of More

And now, just some colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Mads Mikkelsen for NBC's Hannibal
2. Peter Capaldi for BBC America's Doctor Who
3. Antony Starr for Cinemax's Banshee
4. Travis Fimmel for History's Vikings
5. Charlie Cox for Netflix's Daredevil
6. Sullivan Stapleton for NBC's Blindspot
7. Peter Krause for ABC's The Catch
8. David Duchovny for FOX's The X-Files
9. James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams for SundanceTV's Hap and Leonard

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments below!