After losing incumbent right guard Vernon Carey this offseason, the Dolphins look poised to head forward with unproven John Jerry, a 2010 3^rd round pick, as the starter at that position. However, the Dolphins might not be too confident in him because they brought in Jake Scott for a visit twice, with the most recent time being this week, a sign that they could be close to signing him.

Scott was a starter for the Titans last year, playing every snap for the team at right guard, but has yet to find a new team because he was a large part of a Titans’ offensive line that couldn’t open up any holes for Chris Johnson last season. That being said, he’s still only 31 and would provide a good veteran backup for Jerry so it makes a lot of since for the Dolphins to sign him. While he struggled in run blocking, he was phenomenal in pass protection, allowing just 2 sacks, a 1 quarterback hit, and 11 quarterback pressures, while committing just 3 penalties.

He might be the best interior lineman still on the market, even over Carey, who played decent last year but is still without a contract at the same age as Scott. A return for Carey to Miami was ruled out earlier this offseason. Scott (6-5 280) would fit better with the Dolphins’ new finesse style up front, over the power blocking style of old which Carey (6-5 340) fit better.

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When the 49ers used a 1^st round pick on AJ Jenkins in the 2012 NFL Draft, it caught a lot of people by surprise as no one had him going in the 1^st round. Even Mel Kiper, who was seemingly higher on Jenkins than anyone was, didn’t have him in the 1^st round. Kiper also had bigger name receivers Stephen Hill and Rueben Randle going ahead of him.

49ers fans still had plenty of reason to be confident. The dynamic duo of Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke made similarly surprising picks of Aldon Smith and Chris Culliver in the 1^st and 3^rd round respectively last year and both exceeded expectations, Smith doing so drastically. Besides, Harbaugh has done no wrong since being hired last offseason, taking the team from 6-10 to 13-3 and the NFC Championship game, turning former #1 pick bust Alex Smith into a legitimate starting quarterback, and coaching breakout years out of Ray McDonald, Ahmad Brooks, Navorro Bowman, Dashon Goldson, and Carlos Rogers defensively.

However, 49ers fans can’t be encouraged by reports out of 49ers’ camp about Jenkins so far. First, it was reported that he showed up out of shape and was really struggling and now a report from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat is saying that Jenkins “looked like one of the worst receivers” at minicamp. The Santa Rose Press Democrat also mentions that Jenkins barely saw any work with the 2^nd team, which puts him at best 5^th on the depth chart.

Jenkins will start the season 4^th on the depth chart at best, behind Michael Crabtree, Randy Moss, and Mario Manningham and may be even lower if this continues. Kyle Williams, who the same report said looked like the 49ers’ 3^rd best receiver, might end up 4^th on the depth chart if Jenkins can’t leapfrog him, leaving Jenkins in a position to make essentially zero impact as a rookie.

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Chris Ivory is a talented running back with experience, 1090 yards and 6 touchdowns on 216 yards (5.0 YPC), but he’s buried on the depth chart in New Orleans’ deep running back group, behind Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles, and Pierre Thomas, and SportsNOLA’s Brian Allee-Walsh believes he’s on the roster bubble as the Saints may not want to carry 4 running backs in 2012. Allee-Walsh also mentions Ivory’s history of injury problems as an obstacle to him making the roster. If he is cut, don’t expect him to last long on the open market. He’s too talented not to make someone’s final  53 and he only recently turned 24. The Saints might actually be able to get something for him in a trade. They should at least explore the possibility.

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The Cardinals have never been ones to focus on the tight end in their offense, but times are changing. The tight end has become a focal point of offenses all across the league and the Cardinals no longer have quite the outside wide receiver talent that they had in years past when they had Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in their primes. They used a 3^rd round pick on a tight end, Rob Housler, in 2011 and he played sparingly as a rookie behind two veterans Todd Heap and Jeff King, but according to the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals will be focusing more on the tight end in their offense in 2012.

They also said that Housler would likely open the season as the 1^st string tight end, but that they would use a lot of two-tight end sets with either one of the two veterans, Todd Heap and Jeff King. Housler rarely came off the field in OTAs and minicamp and even Larry Fitzgerald says that the “tight ends are probably their strongest position on the field.”

Even if that’s not true, Housler would figure to be involved quite a bit in the offense this season, but with inconsistencies at quarterback and still good depth at wide receiver with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Early Doucet, and Andre Roberts, as well as their depth at tight end, I don’t think Housler is worth owning in fantasy leagues. However, he’s a name to know. He’s a fantastic athlete with 4.4-4.5 speed at 6-5 248.

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Greg Hardy is one of the hidden gems of the Panthers’ team, leading the defensive line in snaps played last season and accumulating 4 sacks, 8 quarterback hits, and 33 quarterback pressures. Hardy’s 8 batted passes also ranked 1st at his position, even ahead of the freakishly long armed Jason Pierre Paul. The 2010 6^th round pick played last season at around 280 pounds, but he has reportedly bulked up to 300 pounds this offseason.

According to the Charlotte Observer, GM Marty Hurney says this is all “good weight” and that the organization is fine with him playing at that weight, but 300 pounds is awfully large for a 4-3 defensive end, even if it is muscle. Perhaps the Panthers are planning on having Hardy play defensive tackle in sub packages or using him as a 3-4 defensive end if they chose to run the scheme that Head Coach Ron Rivera actually has his foundation in. We’ll have to see what they do with the now 6-4 300 pounder.

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The Broncos used a 3^rd round pick on Ronnie Hillman and while many expect him to serve as a change of pace back behind and the primary backup to Willis McGahee, the Denver Post is reporting that Hillman is currently buried in the depth chart and was the 4^th running back to get reps in minicamp behind McGahee, Lance Ball, and Mario Fannin.

Head Coach John Fox loves veterans, but both Lance Ball and Mario Fannin are mediocre backs so I would be very surprised if Hillman didn’t end up 2^nd on the depth chart by the end of the offseason. Fox is probably just making him earn it. McGahee is on the wrong side of 30 and could struggle this season with Tim Tebow no longer drawing the defense’s focus on the ground.

Hillman could end up in close to a 50/50 split with McGahee by the end of the season, assuming McGahee even makes it through the season without injuries. John Fox has always loved using multiple running backs so Hillman could definitely see action. The Broncos will likely be in the market for another back to pair with Hillman next offseason. Fannin and Ball will compete with the currently injured Knowshon Moreno to stay on the roster. None of their roster spots are safe.

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Steelers Rashard Mendenhall and Casey Hampton tore their ACLs in January and, while both have said they will be back for week 1, a more realistic source, GM Kevin Colbert, expects both to start the season on the PUP, shutting them each down for the first 6 games of the season. This makes a lot more sense because it would take a mere 8 month recovery from an injury that normally takes 10-12 months for either to be out there week 1.

The Steelers have talked up career backup Steve McClendon as Hampton’s replacement and they also used a 4^th round pick on Alameda Ta’amu. He’ll likely see some early action. Meanwhile, the Steelers have been talking up Isaac Redman as a feature back in Mendenhall’s absence. They’ve shown confidence in him, not using a draft pick on a real running back, only using a 5^th round pick on a Dexter McCluster hybrid type in Chris Rainey. If he plays well early in the season, he could still see at least a 50/50 split in carries even when Mendenhall returns. Mendenhall is a free agent after the season and the Steelers would love Redman to step up as a feature back in his absence. He’s got strong fantasy value and upside.

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The Redskins lost 2 former starters at safety this offseason in LaRon Landry and OJ Atogwe and they have brought in several safeties in the offseason to try to fill the two starting spots. They brought in Madieu Williams, Tanard Jackson, and Brandon Meriweather. Meriweather is a two time former Pro Bowler who has struggled mightily over the last 2 seasons with New England and Chicago. Tanard Jackson used to be one of the most promising young safeties in the league before missing an entire season with a substance related suspension. Madieu Williams was a starter in Minnesota as recently as 2010, but playing sparingly as a reserve last season in San Francisco.

According to the Washington Post, Brandon Meriweather is locked in at strong safety, while Madieu Williams is the favorite to start at free safety. Other safeties in the mix for the two spots are Reed Doughty, who struggled last season in a few spot starts, and DeJon Gomes, their top reserve at the position last year. Whatever happens, the Redskins will have one of the weakest safety corps in the NFL. Madieu Williams was absolutely awful the last time he was a starter, ranking 2^nd worst on ProFootballFocus at safety that year, while Meriweather hasn’t been much better. He was cut by New England and benched by Chicago last year and was overrated the two times he made the Pro Bowl.

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Josh Norman may be just a 5^th round rookie, but he’s reportedly impressing in practice and, according to ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas, the Panthers believe he could start as a rookie. Earlier this offseason, the Panthers said they wanted to move Captain Munnerlyn, who started most of the season at cornerback opposite Chris Gamble last year, into the sub packages. Munnerlyn struggled mightily in 2012, allowing 45 completions on 61 attempts (73.8%) for 607 yards (10.0 YPA), 4 touchdowns, no interceptions, 4 deflections, and 8 penalties. The 5-8 cornerback is much better suited for the slot. His struggles were a big part of the reason why the Panthers ranked dead last in YPA allowed.

Norman’s competition for the starting job, aside from Munnerlyn, is Darius Butler and Brandon Hogan. Butler struggled almost as much as Munnerlyn in a few starts last season and Brandon Hogan is a 2011 4^th round pick who is reportedly still not 100% after tearing his ACL in his final season at West Virginia. Out of desperation, the Panthers may have to start Norman, who fell all the way to the 5^th round. Rookie cornerbacks tend to struggle regardless so while Norman might have been a bit of a steal in the 5^th round, I wouldn’t expect him to have a strong season. He could be better in the future.

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Santana Moss is coming off his worst season since 2000, catching 46 passes for 584 yards and 4 touchdowns in 12 games and, on top of that, he just turned 33, which is around the age when wide receivers see their abilities fall off a cliff. This led some to speculation that the Redskins, after bringing in Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan, would be cutting Moss and his 2.65 million dollar salary.

They may have had plans to potentially do that for a while, but after the Redskins cut Jabar Gaffney, their leading receiving last year, there opened up a spot for Moss to stay on the roster and he has done nothing but impress since in offseason practices. The receiver has lost 15 pounds in order to “streamline” his body and today Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said Moss has been “possessed” this offseason.

Earlier this week, Shanahan called Moss one of the league’s “premier slot receivers” and there’s even been some speculation that Moss could start opposite Pierre Garcon, and move into the slot in 3 wide receiver sets, as he’s done for years. Moss will compete with offseason acquisition Josh Morgan and 2011 3^rd round pick Leonard Hankerson for the starting job in Training Camp opposite Pierre Garcon. At the very least, it looks like Moss will be their slot receiver and be 3^rd on the depth chart.

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