The one drama acting category guaranteed a new winner at the Emmys this year is Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and many worthy men could contend for the trophy.

The Emmys have been well known to repeat themselves from year to year, as seen with four consecutive wins for Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the five consecutive wins for Modern Family. But such a trend will not be the case for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series this year. That's because Mad Men star Jon Hamm won the category last year for the show's final season.

This makes the Drama Lead Actor race much more exciting, as it's not entirely clear which way the voters will go in determining a winner, let along the nominees themselves. The Newsroom's Jeff Daniels will not return either considering that show ended as well. That leaves four possible returning nominees, with two open slots.

Let's dive deep into who we think will be nominated for Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2016 Emmys.

1. Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood in House of Cards
 

Despite Spacey's movie star status and his House of Cards character being a modern classic, he has yet to win an Emmy for this role. He has, however, been nominated every year since the show began in 2013, and there's little reason to believe he would drop out now. Additionally, Spacey has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance, suggesting his acting peers truly love him.

2. Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul
 

It wasn't clear if Emmy voters would take to Better Call Saul, a less flashy spinoff of the very popular Breaking Bad. But voters chose to embrace it in a big way last year, including nominations for Odenkirk, supporting star Jonathan Banks and the show itself for Best Drama Series. The series remained strong in season 2 this year with many standout moments for Odenkirk, so he will surely be back.

3. Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot
 

It's rare for relative newcomers to burst onto the Emmy scene, but Malek has that potential this year. Malek's performance as a troubled computer hacker has been widely acclaimed already, with nominations at all the major precursors: the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards and the TCA Awards. Assuming voters like (and understand) the USA drama, he should be a definite nomination.

4. Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan in Ray Donovan
 

Schreiber was not nominated for the first season of Ray Donovan even though his co-star Jon Voight was nominated. Then last year, for season 2, Voight was snubbed and Schreiber broke through with a nomination in this category. These are also the show's only two nominations, suggesting there's not a lot of support within the TV Academy. However, Ray Donovan's network, Showtime, has done really well with nominations lately, so we expect at least one more nomination for Schreiber.

5. Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn in Bloodline
 

Like with Ray Donovan, it doesn't seem like Emmy voters are all that crazy about Bloodline as a whole. Its only nominations for its first season were for Chandler and Ben Mendelsohn. Therefore, Chandler's spot here is shaky, especially if you consider the weaker reviews for season 2 as well. But Chandler is an Emmy winner after all, so his popularity should help carry him through to another nomination.

6. Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades, Jr. in Billions
 

There's very little certainty with this prediction, though there are couple factors that could put Giamatti over the edge here. One, he's on a flashy Showtime show where he's doing a whole bunch of Acting with a capital A. Giamatti is also a huge Emmy favorite, winning in 2008 for playing John Adams and nominated three other times for different roles. While Billions did not exactly set the world on fire when it came out, we think Giamatti's star power within the industry will help get him a nomination.

As for other contenders, there's also Bobby Cannavale for Vinyl, though the knowledge of his show's failure may be too ubiquitous for him to overcome. Giamatti's co-star Damian Lewis is also possibility, as he too is an Emmy winner, but the former does have the more dominant role. Then there's The Americans star Matthew Rhys, whose show the Emmys just can't seem to bring themselves to embrace, even if his performance is a critics favorite.

Other possibilities include Hugh Bonneville for Downton Abbey, Aaron Paul for The Path, Sam Heughan for Outlander, Clive Owen for The Knick, Freddie Highmore for Bates Motel, James Spader for The Blacklist, Michael Sheen for Masters of Sex, Steve Buscemi for Horace and Pete, Louis C.K. for Horace and Pete and Justin Theroux for The Leftovers.

Who will be nominated at the Emmys for Lead Actor in a Drama Series?

Tags: Primetime Emmys television