This is my shitter material in case ya'll interested
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New Orleans Saints
One of my favorite aspects of training camp starting in about three weeks is the fact that we will then be able to focus on actual football.
"Bountygate" has been the NFL equivalent to watching cable news cover the presidential election. Enough with it already; let's start talking about something of actual substance.
The effect that Bountygate might have on the balance of power in the NFC South is going to be profound.
Joe Vitt is being tasked with replacing head coach Sean Payton, who is currently serving a year-long suspension. Vitt doesn't even have as much as coordinating experience in the NFL. You can expect the Saints coaching to suffer early on in 2012 because of this.
Drew Brees has not attended any offseason activities and is currently in a contract dispute with the Saints. While the future Hall of Fame quarterback has stated that he won't miss a season due to a contract issue, this is still a relatively big story.
Assuming that Brees reports to camp on time, this Saints team will be right in the thick of the NFC postseason race and one of the top five contenders for the conference championship.
Atlanta Falcons
The issues that New Orleans has had to deal with this offseason have only helped the Falcons.
This is a team that continues to perform extremely well in the regular season before laying eggs in the postseason. In reality, Atlanta is almost etched in stone as a playoff team because of the superior talent that they boast.
In the end, the Falcons' success as a team is going to be dependent on a lengthy playoff run.
Matt Ryan is entering near-elite status. He has progressed as a quarterback in each of the last two seasons and had his best year in 2011. Ryan completed over 60 percent of his passes, threw for nearly 4,200 yards and a career-high 29 touchdowns last year.
He was helped by vastly improved play from the skill positions.
Roddy White and Julio Jones combined for over 2,200 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. While we all know White is a true No. 1 receiver in the NFL, it appears that Jones is on the brink of taking that next step.
Team those two up with Michael Turner and Tony Gonzalez, and the Falcons have what looks to be one of the most dynamic offenses in the league.
The addition of Asante Samuel via a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles was absolutely huge. This enables Atlanta to move Dunta Robinson to the slot, a position he seems better suited to cover. Samuel's teaming up with Brent Grimes as the starting corners is going to have a dramatic impact on the success of the Falcons defensive unit as a whole.
I am a huge fan of what Mike Smith is building here. However, the Falcons are going to have to win a couple playoff games in order for Arthur Blank's public support of Smith to be more than a PR ploy.
I have faith that Atlanta will take that next step, but it is time for them to actually prove it on the field in January.
Until they do, there will be a tremendous number of questions in Atlanta.
Carolina Panthers
Is Carolina prepared to challenge the Saints and Falcons for the division crown?
I am not sure that Cam Newton and company are actually at that point right now. What I will say is that this franchise has a tremendously bright future ahead of itself after seemingly being stuck in the doldrums of ineptitude just 16 months ago.
Newton had one of the most spectacular rookie seasons in the modern league history in 2011. His total yards (4,757) and touchdowns (35) were absolutely stunning.
You have to realize exactly how much the Panthers offense improved from 2010 to last season. After finishing 32nd in the NFL in scoring (12.2 PPG) and accumulating 16 total offensive touchdowns in 2010, Carolina improved a great deal in each statistical category last year, averaging 25.2 points and scoring a whopping 47 offensive touchdowns.
That is simply amazing.
They now need to take the next step, and Newton must limit the mistakes that seemed to plague him at times as a rookie. A year of experience and a full offseason should help.
Defensively, the Panthers were ravished by injuries last year.
Jon Beason and Thomas Davis played in a total of three games in 2011. As the Panthers' two best defensive players, this hurt the unit a great deal. The addition of Luke Kuechly in the first round of April's draft is going to be huge for the Panthers' front seven.
Carolina will have to address issues in their run defense. They gave up 150 or more rushing yards a total of six times in 2011, ranking them in the bottom third of the league in that category.
Overall, Carolina is definitely on the upswing and could actually contend for a postseason spot in the ultra-competitive NFC.
Their major issues are going to be the level of talent of other teams in the conference and the ability of Newton and company to mature a great deal.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2011 was a mighty disappointing and frustrating season for Tampa Bay. After winning 10 games in 2010, the Buccaneers accumulated a total of four wins, losing their final 10 games after a 4-1 start.
Issues arose in terms of Josh Freeman's decision-making, the run defense and actual commitment to the schemes that Raheem Morris was running on a weekly basis.
Freeman, who had a spectacular 2010 season, saw his game drop off a great deal last year. His quarterback rating dropped over 20 points, as he threw nearly four times more interceptions than he had in the previous season.
Two of the primary issues relating to Freeman's lack of progression as a quarterback were decision-making and an inability to get consistent play from wide receivers.
The latter is why general manager Mark Dominik made the decision to pursue Vincent Jackson in free agency. The talented receiver gives Freeman a true No. 1 target on the outside and is going to help Mike Williams, who will now be going up against opposing No. 2 corners.
The addition of Doug Martin in April's draft was absolutely huge. I had the former Boise State product as a top-15 overall prospect heading into the annual event in New York City. He provides a true every-down running back and is extremely strong on both pass protection and receiving out of the backfield.
Expect Martin to take over the Buccaneers' primary running back duties from the enigmatic LeGarrette Blount.
Tampa Bay's run game is also going to improve thanks to the addition of Carl Nicks, the consensus No. 1 guard in the National Football League. He opens up massive holes between the hashes and fortifies what promises to be a strong offensive line.
While the Buccaneers defense has shortcomings, Mark Barron and Ronde Barber are going to be godsends at the safety positions. Barron, one of the Buccaneers' two first-round picks in April, might be a Pro Bowl performer out of the gate. Future Hall of Famer Barber is making the transition from corner to safety, which should be relatively seamless, considering his skill set.
The Buccaneers are going to be vastly improved in 2012.
That being said, it is hard to imagine their being able to shovel out of the cellar and into playoff contention.
The NFC South, let alone the NFC as a whole, is just too good at this point.
2012 Picks: Mark Barron, Doug Martin, Lavonte David, Najee Goode, Keith Tandy, Michael Smith and Drake Dunsmore
Doug Martin is an all-around football player who is likely to unseat LeGarrette Blount as the primary back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His versatility is what gives him the advantage over Blount. Martin possesses the ability to both run between the tackles and break off a long run. However, it's his ability to pick up a blitz that will earn him more playing time.
I absolutely love Lavonte David as a football player. His explosiveness, tenacity and instincts allow him to make plays all over the field. He's the type of player that's always around the football making game-changing plays. Don't be surprised if he finishes the season as the Buccaneers' leading tackler. His chances are increased because he's already in the starting lineup.
Look for Mark Barron to immediately make the rest of the defense better. He's going to line up at strong safety, where he'll be able to impact both the running and passing game. His leadership, instincts and athleticism allow him to consistently make impact plays.
If you're into it, you're typically REALLY into it, but for those of us who are not, fantasy football means imagining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going 12-4 this season, winning the NFC South and venturing deep into the playoffs.
OK, back to the fantasy stuff that folks play, make their own teams and prepare for the upcoming "fantasy drafts" that are typically held at food and drinking establishments across the country.
Seems NFL.com has this fantasy guru named Matt "Money" Smith. Now that's a pretty pompous moniker for anyone without a championship ring of some sort. "Money" has come up with something that should feel like a cool breeze in August to fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith says that running back Doug Martin, the darling of Boise State, will be the most productive rookie in the NFL this season.
Hallelujah!
Martin's been getting a lot of preseason love and that's got to gnaw a little into the craw of LeGarrette Blount, who is sounding more and more like the potential forgotten man.
It's so very tough to predict the performance of any players in the NFL outside of guys like Drew Brees, Tom Brady and those elite level guys. Rookies? Talk about a crapshoot. Who was jumping all over Cam Newton in the first round of fantasy drafts last season?
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The arrival of Martin is good news for an offense that already added the likes of Carl Nicks and Vincent Jackson. That's nothing but good news for quarterback Josh Freeman, who has no excuses to not turn around the dismal performance of last season.
Now if only Martin can stay healthy for 16 games.
That's where the "crap" in crapshoot comes for any rookie in the NFL. It's a really long season compared to college football and the pounding is intensified.
That being said, let's hope Matt Smith is on the "money" with this one.
The majority of the NFL teams now choose to train at their own facilities, as Tampa Bay will do at One Buccaneer Place for the fourth year in a row
For Stephon Gilmore, Cordy Glenn and the rest of the Buffalo Bills' rookie class, the 2012 NFL season has begun.
Opening day for the Bills is still almost nine weeks away – they play the New York Jets on September 9, the same day the Tampa Bay Buccaneers open against the Carolina Panthers – but that's hardly relevant. Every coach and player in the NFL views the opening of training camp as the de facto start of the season. The offseason program is in the books, the last bit of vacation time is gone and for the next four months (and hopefully a bit longer), it's time to eat, drink and sleep football.
Gilmore and company are the first players in the league to begin camp, as the Bills had their rookies report on Monday. The rest of the Buffalo squad will join them on July 25, which is around the time that most veterans around the league will be starting up. Next in after the young Bills are the rookies for the Panthers and the Washington Redskins, both reporting next Monday, July 16. The first veterans to report will be those of the Arizona Cardinals, who will gather in Flagstaff, Arizona on Monday, July 23.
The Buccaneers are among a group of 11 teams that have asked their veterans to report on Thursday, July 26. That creates a staggered four-day reporting window for NFC South veterans, as the New Orleans Saints will gather on the 24th, the Atlanta Falcons on the 25th and the Panthers on the 27th. The last two teams to bring their veterans in will be the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, both due to start on the 29th.
For most of the teams on the list, the Buccaneers included, the first full-scale training camp practice is scheduled for the next day after the veteran reporting day. Nine of Tampa Bay's camp practices will be open to the public; click here for a full schedule.
For the most part, the preseason schedule dictates when camp begins for the league's veterans, as teams are not allowed to start camp more than 15 days prior to their first game. The Buccaneers will start their preseason on Friday, August 10, exactly 15 days after the full team gathers for training camp. That also explains why the Cardinals and the Saints will be the first two teams to start camp for their veterans; those two squads will meet in the annual Hall of Fame Game on August 5 in Canton, Ohio.
The new collective bargaining agreement does allow teams to bring their rookies in earlier than that, and for the first time in a decade and a half the Bucs will have a two-stage start to their camp. Tampa Bay most recently started their rookies early in 1997, with what was essentially a three-day orientation period for the newcomers. This year, the Buccaneers will open the doors to their rookies on Wednesday, July 18, eight days before the veterans arrive.
The trend towards keeping training camp close to home continues across the NFL, as opposed to the common practice in the '80s and '90s of far-flung camp sites. The days of the "Cheese League" in Wisconsin, where teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints trained in cooler weather and relatively close proximity to each other, are a thing of the past. That is due in part to more teams building state-of-the-art headquarters, such as One Buccaneer Place, where the Bucs have trained since 2009.
There are now only two teams that are leaving their home states to conduct training camp, and one of those is the Panthers, who play in Charlotte, North Carolina but hold camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Dallas Cowboys are the only remaining old-school travelers, holding training camp once again this summer in Oxnard, California.
About a third of the teams in the NFL still make use of college campuses for their camps, much like the Buccaneers used to do at the University of Tampa before leaving for Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in 2002. The Panthers, for instance, go to Spartanburg because that's the location of Wofford College. The Bills (St. John Fisher College), Colts (Anderson University), Chiefs (Missouri Western State University), Jets (SUNY Cortland), Steelers (Saint Vincent College), Cardinals (Northern Arizona University), Bears (Olivet Nazarene University), Packers (St. Norbert College), Vikings (Minnesota State University), Giants (University of Albany) and Eagles (Lehigh University) join the Panthers in this group.
It's the City of Oxnard Fields (and the dry mid-70s climate in August) that draws the Cowboys to California, and the Raiders train at the Napa Valley Marriott. A majority of the 32 teams now use their own homes, however, including the Bucs' NFC South mates, Atlanta and New Orleans. All three Florida teams choose to embrace the Florida heat and humidity and stay home, with the Jaguars and Dolphins joining the Bucs in camping at their own facilities.