Football
Training Camps are underway and the preseason has begun. A few questions still remain for NFL teams as the regular season approaches:
Most NFL teams are preparing for the grind of the regular season and they will certainly address many of the questions that face their roster on and off the field. While most of the questions will come from cutting down rosters to fifty three players, other major issues still exist on the rosters of many teams.
The first series of issues revolves around the player who runs the show, the quarterback. There are a few quarterback controversies brewing around the league in places such as Chicago, Arizona, and Miami. The most interesting of these dilemmas could be in the desert where Matt Leinart was named the starter at last season’s end, while Kurt Warner was a more than adequate back up for Leinart as a broken collarbone sidelined him for the season early in 2007. In Chicago the seemingly never ending quarterback carousel is still going on as questions remain between Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman. A strong showing in the preseason should propel one of the two to the starter’s role by the beginning of the season. In Miami, three quarterbacks will probably be competing for the starting job: Chad Pennington, who was recently signed after being released from the Jets, John Beck, second year quarterback from BYU, and Chad Henne, rookie quarterback from Michigan.
Another major question facing teams around the league concerns new players in key positions. The figurehead of this scenario is Brett Favre in New York with the Jets, but an even bigger story could be Aaron Rodgers, Favre’s successor in Green Bay. The offense Rodgers is surrounded by in Green Bay is very good, and the receivers along with Ryan Grant in the backfield will give him weapons he needs to succeed. Other players that have moved and will provide an impact for their new teams include Atlanta running back Michael Turner, Philadelphia cornerback Asante Samuel, Cleveland defensive tackles Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers, Buffalo defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, and New Orleans tight end Jeremy Shockey and linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
Rookies will play a vital role in the success of some teams, and other teams will look to rookies to provide a spark on special teams. Perhaps the rookie with the most pressure to succeed is Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons quarterback. Atlanta desperately needs stability at the quarteback position and have been searching for it since Michael Vick left for prison. Other rookies looking to make an impact this year are Darren McFadden in Oakland, Matt Forte in Chicago, Glenn Dorsey in Kansas City, Chris Long in St. Louis, and Jake Long in Miami.
The season is looking to consist of the parity that has been in the league over the past few years, and divisions such as the NFC East and AFC South look primed to send three teams to the playoffs. As the preseason continues and winds down, preventing injuries will be a serious concern for most teams, and teams have to remember that you cannot win meaningful games in the preseason, but you certainly can lose games at this time of the year with injuries to key players.
