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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A report by ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas confirmed what many believed for a while, that the Falcons would be reducing Michael Turner’s carries this season. In fact, Yasinskas says that they have told him “repeatedly” that they’d be reducing Turner’s carries. This makes a lot of sense. Turner is 30 and has carried the ball 300 times in 3 of the last 4 seasons. The Falcons will be going more pass heavy and no huddle this season, which is where Turner is a liability because of his inability to catch passes.

His backups, Jason Snelling and Jacquizz Rodgers, are much better in passing situations and the Falcons are reportedly very high on Rodgers, a 2011 5^th round pick. It’s unknown exactly how much Turner’s carries will be reduced, but given all of those factors, I would stay away from Turner in fantasy leagues and make him someone else’s problem, especially at his current ADP, which is in the 3^rd round.

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Robert Quinn was a 1^st round pick of the St. Louis Rams in the 2011 NFL Draft and he was viewed as such a steal at 14 that the Rams took him even though they didn’t have an immediate need at the position. Quinn played in a situational role last season as a rookie, with 6 sacks, 9 quarterback hits, and 21 quarterback pressures, though he graded out negatively against the run on ProFootballFocus. With starter James Hall gone, Quinn is expected to have a much bigger role in 2012 as the starting defensive end opposite Chris Long, another former 1^st round pick.

ESPN Draft Guru Mel Kiper stated earlier this offseason that Quinn was a potential breakout star for the Rams with the potential to have double digit sacks in 2012. Quinn has reportedly been impressing throughout the offseason in practice and the Rams have “sky high” expectations for Quinn in 2012, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Defensive line coach Mike Waufle calls Quinn “God-gifted” and praises Quinn’s ability to play the run. Quinn definitely has the natural ability to get double digit sacks this season and flashed his talent last year. He’ll need to improve against the run from last season, but between him and Chris Long, the Rams might have league’s best 4-3 defensive end pass rushing duo.

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Kenny Britt, who missed 13 and ½ games last season with a torn ACL, caused some concern this offseason when he needed another, albeit minor, procedure on that same knee to alleviate what he called a “clicking sound.” That injury put him in a race to play week 1, but the good news is that he’s ahead of schedule so he appears to be winning the race to play week 1.

On the final day of minicamp, Britt ran cutting drills, nearly a week ahead of schedule. He says he did it without a brace and that the coaching staff “surprised the heck out of him” with their revised schedule but that he “felt good” and was able to go “all out.” Britt earlier this month said that he was “praying” he’d be able to play week 1, but now it looks like he might be back before that. There’s legitimate fantasy upside with a player who has caught 56 passes for 1046 yards and 12 touchdowns in his last 14 full games. At an ADP in the 6^th round, he’s a good value.

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With Brandon Weeden impressing in offseason practices, speculation has picked up once again about the Browns possibly trading Colt McCoy. The Browns tried to move McCoy on draft day, after using a 1^st round pick on Brandon Weeden, but could not find a suitor. According to ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi, the Browns are not only interested in moving McCoy, but won’t ask much in return for him, which suggests that they may have had their asking price too high the last time they traded him.

ESPN’s John Clayton mentioned Green Bay as a potential landing spot for McCoy and he’s not the only one with that opinion. The drop off from Aaron Rodgers to Graham Harrell if something were to happen to Rodgers would be a significant one and McCoy is an experienced starter who is still young and he’d come cheap. The Packers might be able to get him for a mere 7^th rounder and his salary for the 2012 season is only 540 thousand.

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