There aren't many good things about summer coming to a close, but the return of football (for me, that's all three varieties: NFL, college, and soccer) is definitely one of them.
Six months have passed since my last blog post dealing with all things NFL. During that time, we've had a draft, some big money free-agents signings, some high-profile players getting on the wrong side of the law, and a lot of contract holdouts. Just another boring old NFL off-season....Oh, and Jamarcus Russell finally got his marching orders, sealing his place in the Hall of Fame of first round draft busts.
I start my coverage of the 2010 NFL season with a preview, broken into a few parts, which will be appearing over the next two weeks.
Year 2 of roughing-the-passer. Here goes....
Top 5 NFL teams with questions at quarterback (in no particular order)
Arizona Cardinals: Matt Leinart / Derek Anderson / John Skelton / Max Hall
Ever since they drafted him with the tenth overall pick of the 2006 draft, the Cardinals have been waiting for Matt Leinart's on-the-field performance to force their hand into making him the unquestioned starter and long-term answer at quarterback for their franchise.
Unfortunately for Arizona, that hasn't happened. At the start of this off-season, after Kurt Warner's retirement, Leinart came into the starting job through the backdoor.
However, even with his main source of competition for the job over the last four seasons gone, Leinart hasn't impressed in training camp or in the preseason so far.
Leinart's most recent low point came in Arizona's second preseason game against the Titans. He played three series, completing 4 of 6 passes for 28 yards, but failed to get a first down.
Hot on his heels is Derek Anderson, already a journeyman at 27 playing on his third NFL team, who the Cardinals signed in March ostensibly to back Leinart up. Anderson was named the starter for the third preseason game after outplaying Leinart in the first two, much to Leinart's chagrin.
Behind Leinart and Anderson are two rookies: John Skleton (selected in the fifth round) and Max Hall (undrafted). Barring injuries, neither is expected to play much of a role once the regular season rolls around and in all likelihood only one will make the final roster.
That means that the Cardinals will live and die with either Leinart and Anderson at quarterback. Whether Leinart can finally live up to the hype that surrounded him as a Heisman trophy winner coming out of USC or Anderson can shake off the dreadful inconsistency that has plagued him throughout his career will play a big role in determining how Arizona fares this season.
St. Louis Rams: A.J. Feeley / Sam Bradford / Keith Null / Thaddeus Lewis
According to Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, A.J. Feeley remains ahead of rookie Sam Bradford in the quarterback depth chart despite Feeley's recent thumb injury.
However, Spagnuolo said that before Bradford's impressive first preseason start against New England when he went 15 of 22 for 189 yards and 2 touchdown passes. His performance in that game led some to speculate that the precocious Bradford might already be ready to be thrust into the starting role.
Regardless of which quarterback is under center week 1 against the Cardinals, the roles of both Rams quarterback are indisputable this year.
Feeley, an able back-up for most of his career but who has little upside, is the caretaker quarterback, manning the position until Spagnuolo says otherwise. Bradford is the new face of the franchise, the first potential NFL superstar to grace St. Louis in a good long while.
At some point this season, their order will be flipped and Bradford will make his first NFL start. And expect it to be sooner rather than later: the Rams, and Spagnuolo, need to win too badly to hold Bradford back for too long.
As for Keith Null, a sixth round pick in 2009 who has 3 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in his career so far, and Thaddeus Lewis, an undrafted rookie out of Duke, expect only one of them to make it through final cuts.
Philadelphia Eagles: Kevin Kolb / Michael Vick / Mike Kafka
Eagles fans are hoping Kevin Kolb in his first starting year can be the latest incarnation of Aaron Rodgers or Tony Romo: a young quarterback who excels after being given a few years behind an established starter to learn the system and adapt to the speed of the NFL.
Much of the hype around Kolb emanates from the back-to-back 300 yard passing games he threw in his first two NFL starts last season (he was the first quarterback ever to do so).
However, given the huge shoes he has to fill – Donovan McNabb was the Eagles' best ever quarterback- and the chronic high expectations of Philadelphia fans, Kolb won't have much time to find his feet.
His performances in the preseason so far have been uneven. He was good against the Bengals, mediocre against the Jaguars and poor against the Chiefs.
Behind him, Michael Vick does not appear to have recaptured the explosiveness that made him a household name before his legal problems. He had a particularly brutal outing against the Bengals, completing only 1 of 5 passes and tossing two interceptions.
Mike Kafka, a rookie out of Northwestern, completes the trio. He has flashed potential during the preseason but shouldn't take the field this fall.
San Francisco 49ers: Alex Smith / David Carr / Nate Davis / Jarrett Brown
Alex Smith has arrived at the last chance saloon.
A former number one pick in 2005, Smith has played under five offensive coordinators over the course of his underwhelming professional career to date.
This season, however, both Smith and 49ers offensive coordinator, Jimmy Raye II, return. He has a talented offense around him, complete with a host of talented play-makers, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, and a revamped offensive line featuring two new first round picks, Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati.
If Smith plays well, the 49ers have a very good chance to win the weak NFC West and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
If he doesn't, he'll be the scapegoat for another season of wasted potential in San Francisco.
At times this preseason, he has appeared to have a much firmer grasp of the 49er offense than in past seasons, running it efficiently without trying to do too much. But can he carry that form into the regular season?
Both his back-ups, David Carr and Nate Davis, have their flaws and aren't polished enough to be full-time NFL starters. Neither will press him for playing time unless Smith takes a huge step back this season.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger / Charlie Batch / Byron Leftwich / Dennis Dixon
Sure, both the Browns and the Bills could have been selected at this slot, but Ben Roethlisberger's six game suspension (which will most likely be reduced to four when he meets with Roger Goodell later this week) raises questions at quarterback for the Steelers for the first time in a while.
Even if Big Ben ends up missing only four games, in the cut-throat AFC North, that could prove extremely costly for Pittsburgh. Of those four games, three are losable without Roethlisberger (Falcons, at Titans, and Ravens).
That means the Steelers need one of their three backups to step up and at the very least put enough points on the board to allow the defense to dominate.
Of the candidates, you get the feeling coach Mike Tomlin has a soft spot for the dual threat Dennis Dixon. It was Dixon who got the start against the Ravens after Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch went down injured last November and Dixon has been getting plenty of snaps this preseason.
But Dixon struggled mightily against the Broncos on Sunday, throwing two ugly picks deep in Denver territory. Byron Leftwich, signed this off-season due to Roethlisberger's suspension, is competing with Dixon for those four starts and hasn't played well so far: he's completed only 9 of 20 attempted passes.
Batch, who has been with the Steelers since 2002, hasn't really been part of the discussion despite getting playing time this preseason.
Whoever wins the battle, the level of quarterback play will drop off in the first part of the season. And once Roethlisberger comes back, he'll be dealing with rustiness, a lot of booing fans and a tough run-in schedule (at Saints, at Ravens, home and away to Bengals, Patriots and Jets).
