After missing all of last season with injury, Mikel Leshoure got arrested twice this offseason in marijuana related incidents. Given that he has a past criminal history dating back to his time at Illinois, most expect him to be given some sort of suspension by commissioner Roger Goodell, which would further delay the 2^nd round pick’s NFL debut. According to the Detroit News, that suspension could only be 2 games.

The Detroit News mentions that Leshoure has enrolled in the NFL’s substance abuse program and has been taking drug tests multiple times per week and passing them all. Because of this, Goodell could definitely be lenient with his suspension. Leshoure is also rehabbing from his torn Achilles, but he is recovering fine and should be able to play whenever Goodell lets him. He has no major past injury history like teammates Jahvid Best and Kevin Smith so he should be good to go this season. The Lions are counting on him and Best to give them the rushing attack they’ve lacked for years and bring another dimension to an already explosive offense.

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The Redskins drafted Niles Paul in the 5^th round last year as a wide receiver, but he barely saw the field in a crowded receiving corps in 2011, catching just 2 passes for 25 yards. The Redskins brought in another 2 receivers this offseason, leaving Paul as the odd man out, but rather than cutting him, Paul has begun working out with the tight ends. He was in the low 220s last season, but now he is up to 235.

He’s attended all of the team’s tight end meetings and has been lining up solely there in OTAs. At 6-1 235, you can’t expect Paul to be much of a blocker, but with a strong camp, he could make Chris Cooley and his 3.8 million dollar salary expendable as a receiving tight end. Cooley could be cut before the season. Beat writer John Keim of the Washington Examiner says Paul looks very good and could be a “major threat” in a situational role this season.

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According to the Miami Herald, free agent wide receiver Plaxico Burress would “love” to play for the Dolphins. This is a statement that can probably be interpreted as Burress saying he would “love” to play for anyone. Burress has yet to go on a single visit and would probably welcome any opportunity he gets at this point. He’s in no position to be picky and the Dolphins would give him the best opportunity to not only play, but possibly start.

While it wouldn’t completely surprise me if Burress was a Dolphin next season, given how much the Dolphins need to do something to generate more fan interest, I highly doubt they sign the soon to be 35 year old receiver. The Dolphins have one of the most inexperienced receiving corps in the league, but they’re also a rebuilding team and all Burress would do for them is take snaps away from the many young receivers they have.

Earlier this week, GM Jeff Ireland talked up his unproven (at best) receiving corps so I expect he’ll want to give them every chance to prove themselves. Signing Plaxico would be counterproductive to that goal. Burress will have to wait for the phone to ring from another team, something that may never happen.

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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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