Earlier this offseason, it was revealed that Joe McKnight added 15 pounds to his frame in an effort to handle more of a load this season with LaDainian Tomlinson gone and Shonn Greene still yet to prove himself as a true feature back. However, McKnight admitted today that those 15 pounds were added as a result of eating a lot of McDonalds, never a good sign. It’s possible McKnight might not be in shape. He’ll have to get in shape by the regular season or it’ll sap his explosiveness. Perhaps he can ask Head Coach Rex Ryan, who has lost 90 pounds in the last 2 years, for some advice.

Coming out of TCU, arm strength was the biggest knock on Andy Dalton and the main reason why he fell to the 2^nd round, but he proved as a rookie that he had adequate arm strength and above average everything else, leading the Bengals to the playoffs. However, he is not satisfied. In an attempt to increase his arm strength and his mere 6.6 YPA, Dalton has spent the offseason bulking up and is now at 225, up 10 pounds from his Combine weigh in of 215 and up 18 pounds from the 207 pounds Dalton admits he was at last season.

We’ll have to see how this affects him on the field, if at all. One might expect Dalton to continue to improve as a 2^nd year player, but sophomore slumps are common in sports and Dalton only surpassed 200 yards in 1 of his last 5 regular season games last year, a stretch the Bengals went 2-3 over. They went 3-5 over their last 8 overall, 3-6 if you count playoffs, and didn’t beat a single playoff team all year.

The Titans’ quarterback battle between Jake Locker and Matt Hasselbeck might be the most intriguing quarterback battle of the preseason for the sheer reason that both are solid quarterbacks and that the Titans might be the best team in the league with an unresolved quarterback situation. Hasselbeck is the proven veteran, but turns 37 in September, while Locker is inexperienced, but impressed in limited action as a rookie after being the 8^th overall pick on the 2011 NFL Draft. Adam Schefter among others believe Hasselbeck will be the starter week 1.

Today, Titans GM Ruston Webster weighed in on the situation saying that it will be more on “gut feel” than stats or anything else. This might hint at Matt Hasselbeck. The stats say Locker is the better quarterback. He averaged 8.1 YPA last year, completed 51.5% of his passes, and threw 4 interceptions to no interceptions, while Hasselbeck averaged 6.9 YA, completed 61.6% of his passes, and threw 18 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. However, Hasselbeck is an experienced veteran with savvy and leadership that Locker cannot yet possess because of his age. The Titans are set pretty well to compete for a playoff spot this year and might not want to jeopardize that by putting out a young quarterback that will have growing pains.

When healthy, Kenny Britt is one of the most talented receivers in the league. In his last 14 full games, he’s caught 56 passes for 1146 yards and 12 touchdowns, which would be very good stats over a 16 game season. However, he missed most of last season with a torn ACL and today needed surgery again on that same knee.

The Titans don’t seem overly concerned and it doesn’t sound like he’ll miss any more time. It was a relatively minor procedure, one that GM Ruston Webster even called “common.” However, it’s a setback in his recovery nonetheless and that’s never a good thing. Even if he’ll probably be good to go week 1, there will be questions about his ability to play all 16 games and play at 100%. Derrick Morgan had the same surgery last offseason and managed just 2.5 sacks in 14 games. It’ll be worth monitoring his progress because Britt could be a fantasy steal if he’s close to 100% this season.

The Bears acquired Brandon Marshall for a pair of 3^rd round picks this offseason to be their #1 receiver. That much is known. However, that’s about all that’s known. There are varying opinions on how Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Alshon Jeffery stack up 2-4 on the depth chart. ESPN Chicago reported earlier this month that Devin Hester was penciled in at the #2 receiver spot, leaving rookie 2^nd round pick Alshon Jeffery in the slot. However, they’ve since backtracked, saying that Hester will only be used in special packages.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Hester will still return kicks and punts, which doesn’t make it sound like he’ll be heavily involved at receiver. At the same time, the Chicago Tribune is reported that they’d be “stunned” if Alshon Jeffery started the season opposite Brandon Marshall. The most natural fit for the 4 receivers would be to put Alshon Jeffery opposite Brandon Marshall, line Earl Bennett up in the slot where he’s best, and use Devin Hester as a 4^th receiver so he can focus more on what he does best, special teams. This is definitely a situation to monitor in Training Camp, however, because it seems like no one knows for sure what’s going on right now.

Depending on who you ask in the Jets’ organization, Wayne Hunter is either definitely the week 1 starter or he’ll have competition for his job in Training Camp. Hunter, one of the league’s worst statistical tackles last season, has the full support of offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, who says that Hunter is the starting right tackle until they “ship him out of here” or “shoot me dead.” Meanwhile, GM Mike Tannenbaum admits that Hunter is their right tackle, but added “for now”. Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano was noncommittal on the issue, leaving the door open.

The Jets didn’t draft an offensive tackle at all, but there was some speculation that they’d try to cut or trade Hunter earlier in the offseason, which obviously didn’t happen. In my opinion, I’d say Hunter is probably going to be the week 1 starter at the position, but he’ll have competition in camp and a short leash should he continue to struggle. His main competition would be Vladimir Ducasse, a bust of a former 2^nd round pick, who has spent most of his career at guard. Ducasse has worked out exclusively at right tackle in OTAs and figures to be 2^nd on the depth chart, for now.