Real Officials Make Return on Thursday Night Football; NFLRA Officially Approves New Labor Deal

Earlier this morning the NFLRA met and voted on the new labor deal which passed just prior to Thursday night's game between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.

Fortunately, the deal was agreed upon on Wednesday night and allowed the regular officials to return to action Thursday night before the NFLRA even finalized the deal by voting on it. The vote on the new eight-year labor deal was made and approved by the officials this morning. Which means the end to the lockout was finally made official.

Week 4 got underway in rainy Baltimore two nights ago, as the now 3-1 Baltimore Ravens knocked off the feisty, yet winless, Cleveland Browns.

It was Cleveland's defense, led by linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, that kept the Browns in the game all the way through. Sacking quarterback Joe Flacco four times and picking him off once more, in addition to holding Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice to just 49 yards on 18 carries, allowed Cleveland to limit Baltimore's offense to just 23 points.

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden and his offense were forced to settle for three field goals and had two turnovers, therefore preventing any further damage than the team's 16 points. Weeden did look pretty solid on the team's final drive of the game.

Though the team failed to knot the game up at 23 in the end, Weeden drove the team 72 yards down the field on 10 plays. It took just over a minute and was helped out by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Baltimore's Paul Kruger, but Weeden showed poise and patience in the pocket. His desperation pass to Greg Little fell to the ground as time expired, but I think Weeden managed to walk off the field with a bit more self-confidence after keeping it close against a defense of Baltimore's caliber.

But no matter what happened in the Cleveland/Baltimore showdown, we all knew that the return of the officials was going to steal the show on Thursday. And that they did.

In fact, they were basically given a standing ovation as they took the field prior to the start of the game. The National Football League is back, and it's integrity appears to have been restored after zero controversial calls were made. It's a great feeling heading in to Sunday's slate of games, isn't it?

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Key to Eagles Success: Less Vick, More McCoy

Week 1 nearly turned disastrous for the Philadelphia Eagles, who narrowly escaped with a victory. Leading 10-3 at the half, Philadelphia blew the lead by surrendering 13 unanswered points in the third and fourth quarters.

It wasn't until quarterback Michael Vick threw for a four-yard touchdown to third-year tight end Clay Harbor with just over a minute to play that the Eagles finally re-took the lead for good. The Eagles may have gotten the eventual W, but in the end the Browns may have gotten more out of this one.

Cleveland's rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden struggled all the way through, completing just 12 of his 35 pass attempts for 118 yards and four interceptions. But considering it was his first NFL start and he received little support from the running game, led by fellow rookie RB Trent Richardson, this was expected.

Philadelphia's offense controlled the game clock, running for 150 yards on 30 attempts and possessing the ball for nearly 36 minutes of play. Despite his 317 yards and 2 TD passes, Vick had one of the worst passing games of his career. Setting a career-high in attempts, with 56, Vick completed just 52% of his passes and tossed four interceptions to Cleveland defenders, including one of which went for a touchdown.

What's most confusing about the game is the fact that Vick threw so many passes while All Pro running back LeSean McCoy carried the ball just 20 times throughout the game. Last season's fifth-ranked rushing offense was extremely effective with its 30 total carries, averaging five yards per carry. Vick's career yards per pass attempt sits at just over seven yards, while he managed just around 5.5 Y/A Sunday against Cleveland's 24th ranked pass defense.

So what went wrong for Philadelphia's offense, and why did they manage just 17 points against a team that ranked third-to-last in scoring offense last season and threw four picks? Simple. The Eagles used too much of Vick, and not enough McCoy.

There are numbers that prove my theory.

Last season, McCoy ran the ball more than 20 times in a game on five separate occasions. He ran for 100 or more yards in four of those games and scored six touchdowns on the ground as the Eagles posted a 4-1 record. In the remaining of McCoy's 15 games last season, he ran the ball under 20 times and recorded just two 100-yard games but, more importantly, Philadelphia managed just a 3-7 record over that span.

Sure, McCoy scored more times on the ground (11) in games in which he received less touches, but overall he was much more productive when comparing yards/game and TDs/game.

>20 carries: 118 yards, 1.2 TDs per game

<20 1.1="1.1" 71.9="71.9" carries:="carries:" game="game" i="i" per="per" tds="tds" yards="yards">

How Andy Reid and his coaching staff has yet to realize this and put this into effect, A.K.A. give McCoy more carries, is beyond me. I'm sure they have realized it and maybe are just too stubborn to take the ball out of Vick's hands and into the 24-year old back's hands.

But I will not stop here. No, I have just a bit more findings to share with you concerning Vick's poor passing day against the Browns. From what I've seen, Vick is actually the opposite of McCoy. He's most effective in smaller doses.

In his eight seasons with Atlanta and Philadelphia, Vick has never thrown more than 50 passes in a single game, which is exactly why this puzzles me so much. Over his career he has passed 40+ times just eight times (including Sunday) and has posted a record of 1-6-1 in those games. Another interesting stat of Vick's is that Sunday was also just his second career 4 interception game, the other coming last October against the Bills, a game in which he attempted 40 passes.

His TD/INT ratio in those eight games sits at 12/14 with a completion percentage of a mere 55. Clearly he has proved ineffective and the results haven't been in his favor when receiving a considerable amount of attempts per game. Other quarterbacks in pass-heavy offenses such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and even Ben Roethlisberger can handle a large workload (in terms of pass attempts/game) and still be effective. But that's just not Vick's style.

His career record as starter, when you take away those eight games, is 54-31. Since taking over the starting role for Philly at the beginning of the 2010 regular season, Vick's record is 16-9. Taking away any games in which he threw for 40+ passes and his record as the Eagles' starter stands at 15-5.

He's 2-4 in the postseason during his career, but 2-0 in postseason games in which he doesn't throw an interception. As quarterback, mistake-free football is vital. And, though it isn't quite evident in his postseason history (hasn't thrown 40+ in a postseason game before), Vick's team, whether it was in his Falcon days or his current Philly days, has the best shot of victory when he's passing between 20 and 30 times.

And McCoy is most effective when he receiving more than 20 carries a game. So why, exactly, has Reid and Co. chosen to ignore this interesting finding? Well, that's beyond me. Does anyone really know what goes on inside of his head?

McCoy's career-high in attempts per game is 30, and that number has been reached just one time. But I'd expect him to see 30+ on numerous occasions this season. He should've reached that feat this past Sunday actually, considering the Eagles held a lead for nearly the entire third quarter of play.

McCoy ran the ball just five times in the third while Vick attempted 12 passes, two of which were intercepted by Joe Haden and L.J. Fort. Reid should have come out of the halftime break pounding the ball with McCoy to run down some clock. With a 7-point lead, why wouldn't you?

Anyways, maybe Reid will get it right eventually. If he wants to improve to 2-0 this weekend he will absolutely need to find the right mixture (30+ touches for McCoy; >40 attempts for Vick). Baltimore's defense––two turnovers forced, four sacks in 44-13 victory over Cincinnati Sunday night––will not be taking it easy on Vick and this offense. And why should they?

McCoy will need to see the ball early and often in order to be successful against a team such as Baltimore.

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Is There Anything More Intimidating on the Football Field than A Bloody Face?

If that's not the face of intimidation, then I'm not so sure what is.

Brian Cushing, the leader of Houston's fourth-ranked defense in 2011, knows a thing or two about being bloodied on the football field. Back on November 6, against the Cleveland Browns, Cushing found himself in the middle of a post-play tussle with a Browns lineman. Right after being pushed from behind by the player while walking away, Cushing took off his helmet as he turned around to face the said Brown player, guard Shawn Lauvao. Unfortunately for Cushing, Lauvao head-butted him (looked unintentional as Lauvao simply got in Cushing's face).

The picture above was the end result: An angry, bloody Cushing. Houston went on to easily win the game, 30-12, to improve to 6-3 on their way to a franchise-best 10-6 season, a division title and the first playoff appearance in Texans' history.

Despite losing All Pro defensive end/outside linebacker Mario Williams, who signed elsewhere (Buffalo) this offseason, the Cushing-led Texans will be on the prowl once again in 2012. I expect even bigger things as this defense continues to mature and add depth.

A couple of days ago I expressed how confident I am in the Carolina Panthers as the favorites in the NFC South, and now I am expressing how much confidence I have in Houston capturing a second consecutive AFC South division title.

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Contract Extensions: Niners, Browns Net Long-term Deals with Linebackers

Two notable players have reached agreements on the first two contract extensions of the 2012 off-season. First, it was the Cleveland Browns' inside linebacker D'Qwell Jackson agreeing to a five-year, $42.5 million extension yesterday.

Then, earlier today, it was the San Francisco 49ers making a move on outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, signing him to a six-year extension worth $44.5 million ($17.5 million guaranteed).

Jackson, 28, is a product of the University of Maryland, where he won ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2005) and was a two-time All-American (2004, 2005). After being selected 34th overall in the 2006 draft by Cleveland, Jackson combined for just 274 tackles, three sacks and four interceptions in just 48 starts from 2006-09.

However, in 2011 Jackson bounced back from his injury-riddle 2010 campaign with an AFC-leading 158 combined tackles and a career-high 3.5 sacks. Unfortunately Jackson was overlooked for the AFC Pro Bowl squad, but that doesn't take away from his career year in Cleveland.

San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh clearly has a plan for his defense in mind, locking up the overall under-achieving Brooks for the next six years. Not to mention the stack of money they are guaranteed to be throwing his way. But there's no doubting what Harbaugh has in the team-oriented mind of his, considering he turned around the Niners' D from 16th overall in 2010 to 2nd overall this past season.

Brooks does make a great complement playing outside 'backer alongside the likes of Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. Brooks, 27, completed his first full season since entering the league as a third round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2006 Supplemental draft.

Brooks (50 combined tackles, 7 sacks, 1 FF, 3 passes defensed) had a career-year in one of the league's most dangerous defenses. He forced just one turnover all year, but has plenty of room to improve with permanent defensive figures around him (Willis, Bowman, etc.) for the next several years.

Although I wanna say Brooks may be a little overpaid with this extension for the simple fact he's had just one outlandish season so far, I think both will prove to be smart moves by these two teams.

Photo credit: belongs to Ohio.com

Sidenote: Now that the NFL Scouting Combine is over, I will start to provide insight on the prospects and draft preview in the coming weeks...including my 2012 Mock Draft!

Cleveland Browns Update: Colt McCoy is the Future

Cleveland has been on the search for its franchise quarterback ever since the departure of its third all-time leading passer, Bernie Kosar, in 1993. For the 14 seasons since then (Cleveland was without a franchise from 1996-98), Cleveland has tried, tried again to find the one. Failing each and every time.

Vinny Testaverde: 16-15 record as starter, 80.9 QB rating, one playoff appearance in three seasons under center from 1993-95.

Tim Couch: First overall selection in 1999 draft. He then proceeded to post a 22-37 record as Cleveland's starter before his release in 2004. With the Browns, he was sacked 166 times, posted a career 75.1 rating and threw 67 interceptions (64 touchdowns). Remains in the top five for biggest busts in NFL history.

Kelly Holcomb, Jeff Garica, Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye: Cleveland's leading passers over the next four seasons (2003-06). It's clear that Cleveland struggled mightily over these seasons, considering they did not have a consistent starter and went from year-to-year.

The Browns went a combined 19-45 over these four seasons, going through two different head coaches at the time–Butch Davis and Romeo Crennel.

Derek Anderson: FINALLY! A winning season came in 2007, though they barely missed the playoffs due to the Steelers owning the tiebreaker. Anderson, who made his only career Pro Bowl this same season, showed great promise, leading the Browns to its first 10-win season since they went 11-5 in 1993.

Unfortunately this success did not last as Anderson struggled the next year and placing them back at the bottom of the AFC North with a 4-12 campaign.

Brady Quinn: Another first round selection goes to waste on a quarterback bust. Quinn was taken 22nd overall in the '07 draft, but in his most complete season with the Browns in '09 (nine starts), Quinn completed just over 50 percent of his passes and led them to a second consecutive five-win season.

Jake Delhomme: The former Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl-caliber signal caller was brought in just before the 2010 regular season began as a temporary fix at the quarterback position. With an 18-interception campaign in his final hoorah with Carolina, not much was expected from Delhomme, other than to mentor the younger quarterbacks. Delhomme made four starts, posting a 63.4 rating and throwing seven interceptions (just two TDs) as Cleveland went 2-2 over those games.

This leads us to today...

In last April's draft, the Browns front office focused on improving the defense, selecting Florida cornerback Joe Haden with the seventh overall pick. Big improvement was evident when he produced 64 tackles, one sack and six interceptions as a rookie.

But I think the most important selection came in third round (85th overall), when they snagged University of Texas' quarterback Colt McCoy to add to the offensive arsenal.

As a rookie, Colt McCoy was asked to step up for Delhomme, who was battling an ankle sprain throughout the season. In eight starts in his first season, McCoy's stats were not eye-popping, but he sure did get the job done when he needed to, despite his 2-6 record.

His eight game stat-line (60.8 comp%, 1,576 yards, 6 TD, 9 INT, 74.5 rating, 23 sacks, rushing TD) does not tell the entire story. What it does not show you, is that his first three career starts–weeks six, seven and eight–came against playoff teams.

In his first regular season action in mid-October, McCoy threw for 281 yards and a touchdown against last year's No. 1 rated defense (Pittsburgh). His two interceptions proved costly in the 28-10 defeat, but you'd expect that from a young'n such as McCoy. Especially against that defense.

One thing surely impressed me with McCoy's debut, and that was his relentlessness. He never gave up and kept getting up after being sacked six times with nonstop pressure up the middle. He didn't receive much help from his bruising running back Peyton Hillis, either, as he ran for just 41 yards on 12 carries without a touchdown.

The following two weeks McCoy caught the attention of every player, coach and NFL follower by shocking the defending champion New Orleans Saints, 30-17, and the Super Bowl favorite New England Patriots, 34-14, in back-to-back games (he did get a bye week in between them, however).

He managed the game very well, combining for 23/35 and 248 yards in the two outings. He wasn't able to put a passing touchdown up on the stat-sheet in either game, but didn't throw any interceptions against the two top 10 defenses at the same time.

There's no doubt he did an amazing job, leading the Browns offense down the field on scoring drives and putting up 30 points in both games in a total team effort.

McCoy ended the season with two straight three-interception games against division rival, and playoff-bound, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. He struggled to complete passes against those two defenses but, again, wouldn't you expect games like that from a rookie quarterback against, not only two inter-division playoff teams, but also two of the top five defenses in the game?

If I've noticed one thing this off-season, it's that Colt McCoy, though a smaller guy behind center (6'1''/216 pounds), knows nothing is going to just be handed to him. He has worked extremely hard this off-season in learning the offense and improving on his game.

I can guarantee you he is not the same guy who, some claim, "gave up" in the 2009-10 BCS Championship game. First of all, I believe him when he said he could not feel his arm and didn't think he could return to the game. And second of all, McCoy knows what it takes to win and he will be a successful NFL quarterback as long as he continues to improve and has the right pieces around him.

Derek Anderson is gone, Brady Quinn is gone, Jake Delhomme is gone. This leaves only Seneca Wallace and Jarrett Brown to potentially steal his job away. Yeah, not going to happen.

It's McCoy's time in Cleveland, and he's here to stay.

(One last sidenote: I feel it is appropriate to add the fact that, much like Delhomme, McCoy suffered an ankle sprain during the '10 campaign as well. And that may have had an affect on the outcome of his final three starts of the season.)

**Photos found on Google, no copyright infringement intended**

Peyton Hillis, Michael Vick two finalists for Madden Cover

The Cleveland Browns haven't been to the playoffs since 2002, and have had just three winning seasons since 1990. But, when it comes to Cleveland's fan base, they are as strong as ever.

With the 32-player tournament to determine the NFL player to grace the cover of Madden '12 down to just two players, Cleveland's crazy fans managed to vote their running back, Peyton Hillis, past Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers.

Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Michael Vick seemed to be an early favorite to win it all, and I still think he may very do just that by beating out Hillis. Either way, just getting this far is quite the accomplishment for the 240-pound bull-of-a-running back.

Hillis never rushed for more than 348 yards and six touchdowns in a given season throughout his college career at Arkansas, and was a seventh round pick (227th overall) of the Denver Broncos in 2008.

In Denver's system, Hillis ran for 397 yards and six touchdowns on 81 carries (4.9 YPC) in two seasons. Last off-season he was moved to Cleveland in the Brady Quinn trade, and made an impact on his new team right away.

Hillis ran for a touchdown in each of his first four games, which included two games of 100-plus yards. By season's end, Hillis had racked up a career-high 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns on 270 carries.

We all know of Vick's story, as well.

Released from home confinement on July 20, 2009, Vick returned to the league with the Philadelphia Eagles that August. With a limited role, it didn't seem like Vick would ever fully return to Pro Bowl form having been out of the league since 2006.

That was, until this past season. After an injury to starter Kevin Kolb during a week one matchup with the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, Vick took over as starter and never looked back. Before his jail time, Vick was known as an inaccurate passer who was always looking to run. But, apparently he worked on this problem while playing in jail(?) because he then proceeded to set career-highs in yards (3,018), touchdown passes (21) and completion percentage (62.6).

Of course, he still managed to wow everyone with his legs, running 676 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. Vick's Eagles were knocked off by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the opening round of the playoffs, but that does not take anything away from Vick's phenomenal season. Like I said with Ben Roethlisberger and his off-field issues...winning seems to cure all. Apparently everyone forgets how much they used to hate this guy?

Unfortunately I expect Vick will win the voting, and I say unfortunately because I would love to see Hillis win cover athlete.

The winner will be announced on April 27 on ESPN2 at 4 P.M. Stay tuned.

Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Saints "Huge" Addition: Why the Shaun Rogers Signing was Smartest Move of Off-season

The New Orleans Saints made a huge acquisition last night, literally

The addition of 340 pound defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, whom they signed to a one-year contract worth over $4 million, was a great way to start the off-season in ‘Nawlins.

This move, which has the potential to pay dividends by the time the 2011 season is in the books, seems to have gotten overlook by all of the hoopla we like to call the NFL draft.

Rogers, turning 32 in less than two weeks, is the opposite of taking a younger approach and improving via the draft, but it is a quick fix to a weakness in New Orleans. The running game--both the lack of production on the offensive side due to injuries, and the inability to stop it on defense--was the Saints' achilles heel in 2010. Excluding the turnovers of course, but that's a different story.

Lucky for New Orleans, its pass defense bailed the rest of the team out of tight situations, allowing the fourth-least passing yards per game, and just 13 touchdowns through the air all season (least amount in NFL).

If the Saints can bring back its 2010 defense, plus add a run-stopper with the size and ability of a healthy Shaun Rogers, just think of the possibilities for New Orleans. Of course an aging Darren Sharper isn't ideal for the pass defense, but if he can return to full health in 2011 there's no stopping this defense.

Rogers was the key factor in the run game for 10 seasons while playing in Detroit and Cleveland. The three-time Pro Bowler has recorded 37.5 sacks in 124 starts at tackle, meaning he's no slouch when it comes to bringing the quarterback to the ground, either.

Playing nose tackle for Cleveland’s 3-4 defensive scheme for the last three seasons, and defensive tackle in Detroit's 4-3 scheme for the seven seasons prior to that, Rogers has been well-prepared to play both NT and DT on the defensive line. He will likely be playing the latter of the two in Gregg Williams' 4-3 scheme with the Saints.

Recording 60 tackles as a tackle is unheard of in today's game, and Rogers did that not once but twice with Detroit and Cleveland. Not even Albert Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork came close to matching that feat in their prime as an interior lineman.

The one thing that scares me a bit with the big guy, is the fact that he started just one game in 2010, and missed five additional games in 2009. If Rogers can return to his 2008 form, Sean Payton will be one happy man. But whether he’s healthy in 2011 or not, Rogers is a low-risk, high-reward scenario and any team looking to improve on run stopping would love to have him in uniform.

Rogers’ former head coach, Romeo Crennel (in Cleveland), tried to add him to his defense in Kansas City, but the Chiefs failed to do so. To tell you the truth, I think it's a great thing that not only did Kansas City miss out on adding him, but just the fact that he's finally with a true contender.

No more cellar-dwelling for Rogers, meaning he should finally get a little more recognition for what he has done throughout his career in the league. And, of course that also means he will know what it feels like to actually win games while with New Orleans.

Photo: No copyright infringement intended

One Player From All 32 Teams Who Must Step up this Season (Part I: AFC North)

American football is the ultimate team game.

If all 11 players on the field do their job, one team can dominate the rest of the league each and every week. But, at the same time, there are certain players who make a bigger impact than others.

Here are four players, one from each of the teams in the AFC North, who will have to bring their A games this season if they want his respective team to go all the way this season.

Baltimore: Tom Zbikowski

With All Pro safety Ed Reed likely out for at least the first six weeks of the season, Baltimore's defensive success will hinge on the performance of the secondary. Baltimore's defensive backfield suffered a second huge blow with the news that cornerback Domonique Foxworth will miss the entire season with a torn ACL which he suffered in camp.

In four starts for the Ravens last season, Zbikowski recorded 14 tackles and intercepted two passes. This is his chance to prove himself as he is entering his third NFL season.

Cincinnati: Cedric Benson

Benson ran in to more trouble this offseason, but will not be suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell, fortunately for him. Despite the addition of future Hall of Fame wideout Terrell Owens, I think Benson is one of the most important pieces of this offense. Palmer has weapons with Owens and Ochocinco, but that just means defenses are going to adjust their gameplan to stop the two All Pros, in my opinion. Cincinnati is going to have to keep the offense as balanced as possible, so Benson will still get his carries and will need to put up numbers much like his 2009 campaign if the Bengals want to be able to wrap games up late in the fourth quarter.

They can finish the regular season with a great record just by having Palmer air it out to Ochocinco and T.O., but if they expect to play well in the playoffs, the success of Benson is extremely important.

Cleveland: Shaun Rogers

Cleveland's defense ranked 29th against the pass and 28th against the run last season. In my opinion this was because Cleveland's 3-4 scheme lacked a consistent nose tackle hold the front seven together. The 350 pound tackle missed five games, recording just 27 tackles and two sacks this past season. When healthy, Rogers can really do some damage to an offensive and wreak some havoc in the backfield.

He looks to be close to his regular self so far, meaning we could see another 2007 or 2008-esque campaign (played all 32 possible games in those two seasons while making a combined 87 solo tackles and 11.5 sacks).

Pittsburgh: whoever wins the quarterback battle in camp

It's likely that Ben Roethlisberger's suspension will be downgraded to four games instead of the original six, but Pittsburgh's quarterback for the first four weeks will need to play mistake-free ball in order to put Roethlisberger in a good position once he does return. Right now it looks as though the battle is between Dennis Dixon and Byron Leftwich.

Next: AFC East

Early Outlook: AFC North

There is still a lot of things that will need to be--and will be--settled when training camp is in full swing in the first part of August.

But until then, the speculation surrounded certain teams will continue to spread around the league. Here are the early favorites, darkhorses, storylines, etc. that litter the AFC North division.

Favorite: Baltimore Ravens

With another year under young Joe Flacco's belt, plus the addition of a couple play-making receivers (YAC pro Anquan Boldin and deap threat Donte' Stallworth), Baltimore's offense seems to be exactly where head coach Jim Harbaugh wants it to be. Ray Rice will get his fair share of carries and continue to be a threat out of the backfield as well. The biggest question mark surrounding this team is, believe it or not, on defense.

There's a rather large possibility that All-Pro free safety Ed Reed will miss the first six weeks, maybe even more. With that said, Baltimore's secondary will surely be lacking. The affect of the gaping hole in the lineup could be equivalent to the Polamalu injury of last year (in Pittsburgh). However, the Ray Lewis-led front seven will be intact and the Reed injury may not be all that bad considering the improvements made on the other side of the ball.

With or without Reed, Baltimore is still the favorite up North.

Darkhorse: Cleveland Browns

Mike Holmgren has completely rebuilt the Browns this offseason. Getting rid of quarterbacks Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn and signing veteran Jake Delhomme, who was in dire need of a change in scenery. If the offensive line can keep Delhomme off his back, Cleveland's offense may have a shot at scoring some points as long as he limits the turnovers. Young Cleveland wideouts such as Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie will get their chance to shine with a proven quarterback under center.

It will be interesting to see how Jerome Harrison adapts to being the new No. 1 running back, although he will receive help from James Davis and rookie Montario Hardesty.

On defense, Cleveland boosted its secondary by drafting cornerback Joe Haden in the first round. Cleveland will hopefully be able to improve on the overall defense, which was ranked 29th against the pass, and 28th against the run (31st overall in yards allowed; 22nd in points allowed). If they can get a healthy Shaun Rogers (NT) and D'Qwell Jackson (ILB) back in the lineup, that would help plug running lanes and hopefully open up the pass a bit more.

Offensive MVP: Ray Rice
Defensive MVP: Troy Polamalu
Best Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger (despite 4-6 game suspension)
Best Running Back: Ray Rice
Best Receiver: Anquan Boldin
Best Tight End: Heath Miller
Best Offensive Lineman: Joe Thomas
Best Defensive Lineman: Haloti Ngata
Best Linebacker: Ray Lewis
Best Defensive Back: Troy Polamalu
Best Special Teamer: Josh Cribbs
Best Head Coach: Mike Tomlin

Rookie of the Year: Montario Hardesty
Comeback Player of the Year: Troy Polamalu

The Other Two:

Steelers...Big Ben's 4-6 game suspension is the only thing holding Pittsburgh back this season. Dennis Dixon isn't quite the same player as Ben, and may struggle a bit early on. The loss of Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes may end up being devastating if Mike Wallace doesn't live up to his expectations. Troy Polamalu's return is the headline on the other side of the ball and may turn this team around. The reason for Pittsburgh's 9-7 record last year is because of the loss of Polamalu in the secondary. Once Roethlisberger returns, Pittsburgh should turn things around for the good.

Bengals...A healthy Carson Palmer will be a huge plus, but I have my doubts about the offense as a whole. Ochocinco has certainly seen better days and seems to be focused on other, non-football activities (such as his MTV show). Cedric Benson, the big surprise of last year, has run in to more off-field troubles this offseason and his days may be numbered. With this offense in a wreck, I would have to say that Cincinnati may find themselves in third, maybe even last place behind the rebuilding Browns.

Discussing Rumors Around the NFL

With just three days until the start of the 2010 draft, it is rumors-galore out there in the NFL world.  So I am here to discuss a couple of them that have been heading our way, whether I think they are true or not..

Clausen to Browns at No. 7?

New Cleveland Browns team president Mike Holmgren has been caught thinking about whether taking Jimmy Clausen with the seventh pick of the draft.  With Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn both gone this off-season and the recent signing of veteran Jake Delhomme, I say why not?  Delhomme was obviously just a temporary fix, considering the guy is already 35 years old.  It's unlikely that Sam Bradford will still be on the board at this point, so why not snag Clausen before another QB-needy team does?  Delhomme would, of course, mentor the young kid and Cleveland would then start Clausen when he's ready (or when Delhomme gets in trouble, whichever happens to come first).


LenDale White: Draft-day Trade?

Another report out there is that the Tennessee Titans may look to deal their goal-line back on draft-day, for the "right price" as they say.  What that price may be, who knows.  His stock surely fell after his 2009 campaign (222 rushing yards, 2 TDs), but there still may be a few teams out there looking for a bruising 240 pound running back to turn their team around.

Possible candidates:

Colts: Not sure how much longer Addai will be a Colt and it may take a while for Donald Brown to get accustomed to a bigger work load.

Bears: Chicago's Matt Forte had a huge dip in production from his rookie season in '08 to his second season last year.  There really isn't much depth there at running back either.

Bills: It's obvious Marshawn Lynch's days are numbered in Buffalo.  He may not even be a Bill by opening weekend.  Fred Jackson broke 1,000 rushing yards last season but with just five total rushing TDs in his three NFL seasons, Buffalo could use quite a bit of help at the goal-line without Lynch.

White shouldn't go for anything more than a fourth- or fifth-round pick, considering that's all Santonio Holmes went for, despite his knack for getting into trouble.  That price seems affordable for basically anyone.  Maybe he leaves, maybe he stays.  We will just have to sit and watch come draft-day.


With Favre's Future Still Uncertain, Vikes Re-Sign Jackson

The Minnesota Vikings organization seems to be in no rush to hear from future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre on his future.  But we did find out today that the Vikes have not given up on Tarvaris Jackson, for now.

The restricted free agent signed his tender today, meaning the only Viking left to sign it is DE Ray Edwards who may ultimately hold out as we approach training camps this summer.

Jackson, in 33 games, has posted a career 77.9 rating with 21 TD passes and 18 interceptions.  Jackson has certainly shown some inconsistency, which is exactly what urged Childress to bring in Favre to begin with.  This may be Jackson's final chance to earn a starting spot.  Even if Favre does not return in 2010, don't expect Jackson to just be handed the starting job any time soon.  He will certainly have to prove he deserves it.

More rumor discussions headed your way...we're just getting started.