The Panthers have a lot of hope for the future with quarterback Cam Newton and had a very successful offense because of him, but their defense was the cause of their 6-10 season. A big part of their defensive struggles was their 8.4 YPA allowed, highest in the league. #1 cornerback Chris Gamble was solid, but their other cornerback, Captain Munnerlyn, really struggled last year.

Munnerlyn allowed a 73.8% completion percentage, 10.0 YPA, and 4 touchdowns to no interceptions, which led to a 126.9 QB rating allowed, good for 2^nd worst among all cornerbacks who played more than 60% of their team’s snaps (behind Quentin Jammer). Munnerlyn stands at a mere 5-8 and doesn’t have the size to be a starting cornerback, but played better in the past as a depth cornerback in base packages.

According to Pro Football Weekly, the Panthers seem to agree. They report that the Panthers would prefer to move Munnerlyn into the sub packages and a reserve role. The candidates to start in his absence would be Darius Butler, a tried and failed starter in New England and Carolina, who made 6 starts last year and allowed almost as bad a QB rating as Munnerlyn last season (117.6), as well as Brandon Hogan, their 4^th round pick last year who played just 57 snaps as a rookie, and 5^th round rookie cornerback Josh Norman.

The Pro Football Weekly report mentioned Hogan as the guy they’d like to see develop into the starter opposite Gamble. Their belief in him explains why they didn’t address the position in the 2012 NFL Draft until the 5^th round. This battle will be one to watch in Training Camp and the Preseason, but it appears that Munnerlyn is very much a long shot to start and someone who will probably only see the field in nickel and dime packages this year.

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The Dolphins have arguably the most unsettled quarterback situation in the league with 3 quarterbacks vying for the starting job, Matt Moore, Ryan Tannehill, and David Garrard. Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross tipped the team’s hand today by saying that he expects Matt Moore to be the team’s week 1 starter over #8 overall pick Ryan Tannehill. This is significant not just because Ross owns the team, but because Ross was arguably Tannehill’s biggest backer in the organization.

Adam Schefter originally reported that it would be “an upset” if anyone were the Dolphins’ week 1 starter other than Ryan Tannehill, but even the great Schefter backtracked today by comparing the situation to the one in Tennessee with last year’s #8 overall pick Jake Locker. Like the Titans with Hasselbeck last year, the Dolphins “will continue to play Matt Moore as long as he’s producing and winning.”

It’s doubtful Moore can keep that up the whole season like Hasselbeck did last year, so Tannehill will see starts at some point. Garrard, meanwhile, seems like the odd man out, unless the 34-year-old impresses a ton in camp after missing all of last season with a back injury. If he is, in fact, the odd man out, expect Garrard to not make the Dolphins’ final 53. Garrard is owed a non-guaranteed 2.25 million in 2012, far too much for the Dolphins to be paying an emergency #3 quarterback.

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The Titans brought in two veteran safeties in for a visit for depth behind starters Jordan Babineaux and Michael Griffin, Abram Elam and Gibril Wilson. This comes after the Titans brought in two other veteran safeties for a visit a week or so ago, Yeremiah Bell and Chris Crocker. Bell signed with the Jets earlier this week and Crocker remains unsigned. Even after using a 6^th round pick on Markelle Martin, the Titans are clearly very interesting in signing depth at the position.

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At 33 years of age, there have been some talks that the Browns could be moving Sheldon Brown from cornerback to safety. Browns GM Tom Heckert defeated any of those rumors today by saying that Brown would not play safety unless there were a “disaster.” It appears he’ll play cornerback for at least one more season, though if he is resigned after the season as a free agent, it might be at a different position like safety.

It’s worth wondering if the Browns would have a different opinion on Brown if they had a true successor behind him at cornerback. They drafted Buster Skrine in the 6^th round last year to potentially do just that, but he hasn’t shown anything much yet in very limited snaps. Dmitri Patterson was solid last year as their nickel cornerback, but he really struggled the year before as a starter for the Eagles so the Browns are probably hesitant to move him from the slot, where he seems to fit best. There were some rumblings that the Browns were considering Morris Claiborne at #4 in the 2012 NFL Draft. Cornerback could be a position of major need for them in the 2013 NFL Draft.

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Every year there is at least one player on almost every team who has a breakout season. If you ask ESPN NFL Draft Guru Mel Kiper, for the Rams, that player will be Robert Quinn. Quinn was the 14^th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and was widely viewed as a steal at that point, despite missing the entire 2010 College Football season with suspension. Mel Kiper was one of the many who were very high on him.

Quinn had 6 sacks, 9 quarterback hits, and 21 quarterback pressures on 341 pass rushes and 584 total snaps as a situational player last year. Incumbent starter James Hall is gone as a cap casualty so Quinn will be a starting defensive end opposite Chris Long. Kiper projects double digit sacks for Quinn. Despite their 2-14 record last year, the Rams were one of the best in the league with 39 sacks last year. If Quinn does, in fact, have a breakout year, the Rams could approach the 43 sacks they had in 2010.

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The Lions made the playoffs last season for the first time in seemingly forever and they are clearly headed in the right direction as a franchise. However, one area where they still lack elite talent is cornerback. Last season their starters were Chris Houston and Eric Wright, two players who are best described as mediocre to average at best. This offseason, they lost starter Eric Wright. Wright got an undeserved giant contract from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Right now, it appears that Aaron Berry will replace him in the starting lineup. Berry has never been a full time starter, but the organization has been high on him since they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Pittsburgh after the 2010 NFL Draft. He’s been working out with the first team in OTAs and will be given every chance to be the starter. He will, however, get competition from Dwight Bentley and Chris Greenwood, rookies drafted in the 3^rd round and 5^th round respectively of the 2012 NFL Draft.

They’ll be bailed out by one of the best front 7s and pass rushes in the league, but no matter who ends up starting next to Chris Houston, the Lions will have some of the worst defensive back talent of any playoff contender once again, unless one of their rookies steps up big time or Berry has a breakout season. It’s worth noting that the Lions did rank 8^th in the league in fewest YPA allowed last year with 6.8 YPA, despite only having 3 of 12 defensive backs grade out above average on ProFootballFocus. One of those 3 was Berry, who played very well in the slot last year (the other two were Chris Houston and Don Carey).

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It was originally reported that Lions’ 2^nd year receiver Titus Young was absent from OTAs because he had been suspended from practice by the team, following a fight with safety Louis Delmas. This was according to noted beat writer Anwar Richardson. However, multiple reports have refuted that report, including the official website of the Detroit Lions. If Young has indeed been suspended, the Lions do not want to publicly admit it.

It’s not clear exactly what happened with Young, if he did get in a fight or not. And if he wasn’t suspended, why was he, in fact, not at OTAs? Young was also the only Lions wideout not in attendance when Calvin Johnson threw out the first pitch at a Tigers game last week. Young is expected to start the season as their #2 receiver opposite Calvin Johnson in his 2^nd season after being selected in the 2^nd round. However, if he’s in the doghouse, it could hurt his chances and the Lions have no shortage of receivers with veteran Nate Burleson as the incumbent starter and 2012 2^nd round pick Ryan Broyles behind him on the depth chart.

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It has been revealed in a report on houstontexans.com that wide receiver Andre Johnson had knee surgery earlier this month. The surgery was described as “minor” and Johnson says he’ll be ready for Training Camp. Andre Johnson has been one of the most talented wide receivers over the past decade, but has always had issues with injuries.

Now on the wrong side of 30, it’s reasonable to question Johnson’s longevity and how long he’ll be able to remain an elite wide receiver. Even elite wide receivers drop off a cliff statistically around age 34. It’s definitely possible that Johnson, who turns 31 in July, could do so earlier than that. There’s a reason why the Texans used 2 draft picks on receivers in the 2012 NFL Draft, DeVier Posey in the 3^rd round and Keshawn Martin in the 5^th round. In 9 seasons, Andre Johnson has 706 catches for 9656 yards and 52 touchdowns. He ranks 39th all-time in receiving yards.

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The Eagles took Brandon Graham 13^th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, a pick that has been widely criticized since, especially since the divisional rival New York Giants selected Jason Pierre-Paul 2 picks later. However, Graham’s struggles so far have not exactly been the Eagles’ fault or anything they could have foreseen. Graham has had a lot of issues with injuries in his first 2 years in the league and got out of shape while not playing.

Graham is now going into what the Eagles are calling a make or break 3^rd year for him and it appears to have flicked a switch for him. He has spent the entire offseason getting in shape, dropping from 285 pounds to 265, which is around where he was in 2010 coming out of Michigan. He appears to have a fire lit under him and the Eagles still believe in his potential, both “publicly and privately,” this according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Graham will have to compete with 2^nd round rookie Vinny Curry for snaps in a rotation behind Trent Cole and Jason Babin. The Eagles were already among the league leaders in sacks with 50 last year and used that 2^nd round pick on Vinny Curry so it’s not like they need Graham, but they’d obviously prefer that Graham were able to contribute in a situational role this season. If he doesn’t, this could be his last year with the team.

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Browns’ 2^nd year defensive tackle Phil Taylor tore his pectoral earlier this month and had surgery on it last week. However, the Browns have not ruled him out totally for the 2012 season. ESPN Cleveland believes he’ll miss about 12 games, while GM Tom Heckert says he will “definitely” return this season and gives late October, early November as a target date.

Taylor was given a 6 month recovery or so, which means that date seems about right. However, if the Browns are out if it by that point, a very real possibility, the Browns might opt to shut him down for the entire season rather than rush him back for a non-contending team. Taylor will begin the season on the PUP and career backup Scott Paxson has been penciled in as the starter in his absence. Rookies Billy Winn and John Hughes will give Paxson a run for his money in Training Camp and the preseason. All 3 figure to see snaps this season.

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