A Round-Up of Recent NFL Off-Season Chatter
Spring practices, "voluntary" or no are underway, mandatory mini-camps are unfolding, and we are just about 60 days from the first NFL teams dragging into real training camp. The latest decent NFL chatter:
---There is one undisputed MUST read working the major sites right now in my view, and that is Don Banks at si.com. His stuff always feels fresh and relevant, without the overlay of smarm that Peter King imparts, or locked away on Insider like Len Pasquarelli and Chris Mortensen on espn.com. On top of that, he is usually good for three new columns a week. And they are pretty much always worth a look. His most recent, before he takes a few weeks off, is a quick overview of the unsettled quarterback situations heading into August. 12, count 'em, 12 such situations (between starting issues to cavernous drop-offs at back-up).
---Paul Zimmerman, in the front seat with Don Banks for quality, with his latest mailbag, including another swipe at Terrell Owens. That's always fine by me.
---Clark Judge is the class of the sportsline.com crew, and has a very solid read on why he says you can cross the Bears off the list of Super Bowl contenders in 2007. Not surprisingly, part of Judge's thesis is the Bears' off-field labor unrest, which is a nice reminder that the Lance Briggs situation remains very unsettled. And Briggs is doing the no-show thing at Chicago's mini-camp.
---Very good read on foxsports.com from Peter Schrager on how each team has done this off-season, from worst (Tennessee---Schrager calls their off-season "disastrous" ) to first (he too loves him some Pats, natch. Look me up after Randy Moss goes four straight uneventful months in the Boston area).
---Finally, an off-season power ranking! Thanks espn.com. Pats on top. Can't wait to hear how the Colts are feeling disrespected. They should be borrowing that page from New England's scripts any minute now.
