Emmy Nominations 2018 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series?

From June 11 to June 25, 2018, voting is taking place for The 70th 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 - starting with Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

2017 Nominees:

        Jonathan Banks for AMC's Better Call Saul
        David Harbour for Netflix's Stranger Things
        Ron Cephas Jones for NBC's This Is Us
        Michael Kelly for Netflix's House of Cards
        John Lithgow for Netflix's The Crown (WINNER)
        Mandy Patinkin for Showtime's Homeland
        Jeffrey Wright for HBO's Westworld

This year I'm starting off my Emmy predictions with the category expected to experience a lot of turnover from last year. Of the seven nominees from 2017, only two of them are once again eligible in this field - David Harbour and Mandy Patinkin. Better Call Saul and House of Cards didn't air any new episodes during the eligibility window. John Lithgow didn't return to The Crown for its second season. Jeffrey Wright has moved up to the lead race, while Ron Cephas Jones is competing as a guest star. As such, there is the potential for many newcomers in this race or some perennial favorites who have always been shut out. However, Game of Thrones is back in the running this year. It could easily get two actors into this field. Peter Dinklage is an Emmy favorite going for his seventh nomination for this role, while Nikolaj Coster-Waldau may be able to break in for the first time. Or perhaps something surprising will happen for the ensembles from Westworld, Billions, The Deuce, Legion, Mr. Robot or The Handmaid's Tale. A lot is up in the air and that is very exciting.

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

1. David Harbour for Netflix's Stranger Things
2. Peter Dinklage for HBO's Game of Thrones
3. Anthony Hopkins for HBO's Westworld
4. Mandy Patinkin for Showtime's Homeland
5. Justin Hartley for NBC's This Is Us
6. Zahn McClarnon for HBO's Westworld

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

1. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau for HBO's Game of Thrones
2. Matt Smith for Netflix's The Crown
3. Noah Emmerich and Costa Ronin for FX's The Americans
4. Noah Schnapp, Sean Astin and Paul Reiser for Netflix's Stranger Things
5. Brendan Fraser and Harris Dickinson for FX's Trust
6. Jon Voight for Showtime's Ray Donovan
7. Christian Slater, Bobby Cannavale and BD Wong for USA's Mr. Robot
8. Delroy Lindo for CBS All Access' The Good Fight
9. Tobias Menzies for Starz's Outlander
10. Joseph Fiennes, Max Minghella and O-T Fagbenle for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
11. Asia Kate Dillon, David Costabile, Clancy Brown and Jeffrey DeMunn for Showtime's Billions
12. Harry Lloyd, Ulrich Thomsen, Stephen Rea and Nicholas Pinnock for Starz's Counterpart
13. James Marsden, Louis Herthum, Simon Quarterman and Clifton Collins Jr. for HBO's Westworld
14. Miles Heizer, Brandon Flynn, Derek Luke and Christian Navarro for Netflix's 13 Reasons Why
15. Jason Isaacs, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp and Shazad Latif for CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery
16. Richard Schiff for ABC's The Good Doctor

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Joe Morton and Jeff Perry for ABC's Scandal
2. Toby Huss for AMC's Halt and Catch Fire
3. Jemaine Clement, Navid Negahban, Bill Irwin, Hamish Linklater and Jeremie Harris for FX's Legion
4. Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Kerry, Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin for Netflix's Stranger Things
5. Steven Williams, Alex Hibbert, Jacob Latimore and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine for Showtime's The Chi
6. Dylan Baker, Linus Roache, Costa Ronin, James D'Arcy and Morgan Spector for Showtime's Homeland
7. Scott Speedman, Shawn Hatosy, Finn Cole, Jake Weary and Ben Robson for TNT's Animal Kingdom
8. Peter Gerety for Amazon's Sneaky Pete
9. Jharrel Jerome and Scott Lawrence for Audience's Mr. Mercedes
10. Jordan Gavaris and Kristian Bruun for BBC America's Orphan Black
11. Gary Carr and Gbenga Akinnagbe for HBO's The Deuce
12. Kim Bodnia for BBC America's Killing Eve
13. Oliver Stark and Kenneth Choi for FOX's 9-1-1
14. Rhys Ifans, Richard Jenkins and Leland Orser for Epix's Berlin Station

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

1. J.R. Ramirez and Eka Darville for Netflix's Jessica Jones
2. Sean Bean for Sony Crackle's The Oath
3. Jonathan Rhys Meyers for History's Vikings
4. Jim Carter for History's Knightfall
5. James Purefoy for Netflix's Altered Carbon
6. Arturo Castro for Netflix's Narcos
7. Esai Morales for Netflix's Ozark
8. Rufus Sewell for PBS' Victoria
9. Ne-Yo for YouTube Premium's Step Up: High Water

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