Michael Griffin is still an unsigned franchise player, but unlike other unsigned franchise players, guys like Matt Forte, Dwayne Bowe, Ray Rice, and Drew Brees, Griffin is still attending the Titans’ minicamp. Minicamp is mandatory for all of those players under contract and since Griffin is technically not under contract, he doesn’t have to be there. In fact, he doesn’t have to report until Training Camp and he has until July 16^th to sign his tender.

Nonetheless, Griffin is there, an obvious sign that he’d be fine playing out the season under his 6.2 million dollar tender if necessary. The fact that he has still yet to sign shows that he’s still hoping for a long term deal, but he’s being very civil about it. We’ll have to see if his civility gets him the long term deal he wants. He’s a very talented player and the Titans would obviously rather keep him than watch him hit the open market next offseason. He was ProFootballFocus’ 13^th rated safety last season.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

Beanie Wells led the Cardinals in carries last season and the 2009 1^st round pick had his first 1000 yard season, rushing 1047 yards and 10 touchdowns on 245 carries. However, he had offseason knee surgery and has yet to practice this offseason, a bad sign for a player with a history of injuries. Today his Head Coach, Ken Whisenhunt, challenged him by saying that he better “bust his tail” because other running backs have impressed in practice.

By other running backs, he likely means Ryan Williams, their talented 2^nd round rookie, who missed all of last season with a torn patellar tendon meniscus and has progressed to full squad practice at minicamp. Williams was brought in last offseason to challenge Wells, who was to that point, a disappointment in his career. He played well last season, but it appears his injuries have made him a disappointment again. Williams has real sleeper value in fantasy leagues behind Wells.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

The Titans lost one stud cornerback this offseason and they apparently do not want the same thing to happen next offseason. The Titans have entered extension talks with Jason McCourty, who will become the Titans’ #1 cornerback in 2012 after the loss of Cortland Finnegan. A 6^th round pick in 2009, McCourty has well exceeded his draft range.

As the Titans #2 cornerback last season, McCourty graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 7^th ranked cornerback allowing 71 completions on 117 attempts (60.7%) for 802 yards (6.9 YPA), 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, and 10 deflections. He also graded out as the league’s best cornerback against the run, with 93 solo tackles and 34 stops, both most at his position. He’s owed 1.26 million in the final year of a 4 year rookie deal. If the Titans can’t agree to a new deal with him, they’ll probably have the franchise tag available for him.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

Aldon Smith made a major case for rookie of the year last year, with 17 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, and 43 quarterback pressures in 18 total games with the 49ers en route to the surprise berth in the NFC Championship game. 9 years out of 10, he probably wins that award, but his strong rookie year unfortunately coincided with Von Miller’s even stronger rookie year so Smith did not get that award.

However, as strong as Smith’s rookie year was, he was still just a situational player, splitting reps with Parys Haralson and playing primarily on passing downs. Of Smith’s 616 snaps in 2011, in 18 games, a remarkable 441 of them were rushing the passer, which is almost as much as an every down player (the opposite rush linebacker, Ahmad Brooks, rushed the passer 555 times on 1123 snaps). Smith was still incredibly efficient and graded out as one of the top pass rushers in the league on ProFootballFocus.

Heading into his 2^nd season in the league, Smith is expected to take over an every down role as he gets a full offseason of reps in and a full offseason with the playbook. That was confirmed today by a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. Parys Haralson will play sparingly in 2012. It won’t mean a ton more pass rushing opportunities for Smith as Haralson only rushed the passer 176 times in 2012 and Smith could easily not match his outrageous pass rushing efficiency from 2012 (had a sack/hit/pressure on 17.5% of his pass rush attempts), so I’m not predicting an increase in pass rush production.

However, Smith will have to step in and become a more well rounded player. He played alright against the run in limited snaps last season, but Haralson still graded out better on ProFootballFocus. If he can improve that area of his game, his switch from part-time to full-time will have a positive impact on a San Francisco defense that already ranked 2^nd in the league last year in points per game allowed (only .1 points more than #1 ranked Pittsburgh).

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

Bryant McKinnie sat out the Ravens’ minicamp this week to work on his conditioning, which has been a problem for him throughout his career, especially over the last year or so with Minnesota and now Baltimore. The Vikings cut him for his conditioning after the lockout last year and then he signed with Baltimore, where he played solid on the left side. The Ravens decided to keep him this offseason and already paid him a 500 thousand dollar roster bonus back in March. However, according to the Baltimore Sun, the 32 year old McKinnie’s job with the Ravens is not safe.

The Ravens don’t have a lot of depth at tackle behind McKinnie. Their 2^nd string left tackle is the inexperienced Ramon Harewood, a 2010 6^th round pick who has missed the entirety of his first two NFL seasons on IR. Right tackle Michael Oher has experience on the left side, but has played much better on the right side in his career and their 2^nd string right tackle, Addison Lawrence, is just as inexperienced as Harewood.

Jah Reid, their 3^rd round pick in 2011, is a natural tackle, but has seen most of his action at guard this offseason and he’d be better on the right side than the left. 2^nd round pick rookie Kelechi Osemele has some experience at tackle from his days at Iowa State, but was never a natural fit there. Guard Marshal Yanda has some experience at right tackle, but a lineup where Yanda plays right tackle and Oher plays left would feature their two best offensive linemen playing out of position.

Given their lack of depth at the position and McKinnie’s reasonable 3.2 million dollar base salary, I would be highly surprised if the Ravens cut McKinnie, but he’ll need to get his conditioning right. The Vikings didn’t have a replacement for him and they still cut him last offseason. McKinnie will be a free agent heading into his age 34 season next offseason so left tackle will be a major position of need for them in the 2013 NFL Draft. Heading into a crucial contract year, Joe Flacco has to be concerned about his protection up front.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

The Buccaneers traded back up into the end of the 1^st round to grab Doug Martin and many assumed that he would be the lead back for the Buccaneers this season. However, LeGarrette Blount, who has been the lead back for the last two seasons, is still getting most of the 1^st team reps in minicamp. The Buccaneers may just be making Martin earn his starting job, but both Mark Barron and Lavonte David, their other two early picks, are already working with the first team. Doug Martin will play most or all of the passing downs because, even though Blount has reportedly improved that area of his game this offseason, he’s still a liability in those situations. However, Blount could easily get a 50/50 split or more of the early downs.

I actually think Blount is underrated in fantasy circles. He’s still a talented runner that averaged 5.0 yards per carry in 2010, though he was out of shape last season. He’s worked his way back into shape this offseason, likely motivated by Martin’s arrival. Look at Joseph Addai (2009), Chris Wells (2011), DeAngelo Williams (2008), Marion Barber (2008), Fred Jackson (2010). All of those guys arguably had career years the season after their teams spent early picks on a running back. Meanwhile, backs drafted in the 1^st round since 2007 have averaged 165 carries as rookies. The Buccaneers will run a ton this season and Blount could get the goal line carries. He’s still a strong mid round running back.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

Chris Clemons missed the entirety of the Seahawks’ mandatory minicamp this week and was fined 63 thousand, the maximum fine, by the Seahawks for doing so. However, the Seahawks are still reportedly working on a contract extension with Clemons in order to get him back for Training Camp. Clemons is heading into the final year of his contract and is owed a mere 4.5 million, despite having 24 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, and 97 quarterback pressures over the last 2 seasons.

That being said, the Seahawks will be in no hurry to meet Clemons’ demands. Clemons is 31 in October, has never produced outside of Pete Carroll’s very specific scheme, and the Seahawks just used a 1^st round pick on Bruce Irvin, to potentially be his long term successor. Still, the Seahawks are willing to at least talk with Clemons, which is good news for him.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

No undrafted free agent has gotten more buzz so far than Josh Cooper, who is a wide receiver, currently of the Cleveland Browns. This is because the Browns have been praising him and his ability to get open underneath endlessly this offseason. Cooper is expected to not only make the Browns, but to compete for a slot receiver job with Jordan Norwood, Travis Benjamin, and Josh Cribbs, which shows just how thin the Browns are at receiver.

Greg Little and Mohamed Massaquoi will start outside, but Cooper is really impressing and he has past experience with quarterback Brandon Weeden from Oklahoma State, catching 71 passes for 715 yards and 3 touchdowns, playing off of Justin Blackmon last season. The 5-9 180 pound Cooper could start the season 4^th on the depth chart behind Little, Massaquoi, and 4^th round rookie Travis Benjamin. Josh Cribbs will make the roster because of his special teams ability, but Norwood and Carlton Mitchell are going to be squarely on the roster bubble with Mitchell as the less likely one to stay.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

With 3^rd round rookie TJ Graham expected to focus on the slot in his 1^st year in the league, Donald Jones has emerged as the favorite to start outside opposite Steve Johnson, but Derek Hagan also expects to compete for that starting job, according to buffalobills.com. David Nelson, who was actually the starter there for most of last season, is seen as a dark horse right now in that competition.

Nelson caught a good amount of passes last sseason, 61, but didn’t do much with them, going for 658 yards and not showing much after the catch ability. The Bills #2 receiver spot was pretty unproductive on the whole last season, but if Ryan Fitzpatrick can find his early season form from last year and keep it all season, whoever wins the #2 job might have some fantasy football upside in deep leagues.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

The Ravens signed veteran Bobbie Williams earlier this week and a report from Ravens inside Aaron Wilson today explains why. Wilson says that the Ravens’ Kelechi Osemele has yet to practice with a quadriceps injury, though he says he should be fine by Training Camp. Osemele was their 2^nd round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, but he’s missing valuable practice time so the Ravens might go with the veteran Williams, at least early on.

Williams was given an 800 thousand dollar signing bonus, despite turning 36 in September, and is currently getting the 1^st team reps in minicamp. He played well in 9 games for the Bengals last season, but injuries and age might cause his abilities to decline significantly in 2012. There’s a reason why he was still available into June.

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]