The Texans have had one of the best and most underrated offensive lines in the league over the past few years, propelling Arian Foster and Ben Tate to form the league’s most deadly running back duo, and helping protect Matt Schaub. Their scheme is a big part of the reason why, but also the continuity and how well the players fit the scheme is huge. Duane Brown, Wade Smith, Chris Myers, Mike Brisiel, and Eric Winston were not big names, but they were a great bunch.

Now, the Texans have lost two of those, Brisiel and Winston, thanks to their cap situation. The Texans and confident they can plug and play backups in there because of their scheme, but the lack of continuity will hurt. Just ask the Falcons after they lost Harvey Dahl last season and they were just as confident in their scheme.

The inexperienced Rashad Butler will start at right tackle in place of Winston and at right guard there appears to be a position battle brewing between career backup and former 3^rd round pick (2009) Antoine Caldwell and this year’s 3^rd round pick, Brandon Brooks out of Miami of Ohio. According to houstontexans.com, Brooks will, in fact, challenge for that starting job. The earlier drafted player not invited to the Combine, Brooks coming from a small school, but has an amazing mix of size (6-5 345) and speed/athleticism (sub 5.0 at his Pro Day). The Texans are confident they can coach him up.

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LeSean McCoy had a career high 321 touches in 2011 (273 carries, 48 catches), up from 285 in 2010 (207 carries, 78 catches). As he is a smaller running back, there was some talk that the Eagles could cut his touches this season, according to Head Coach Andy Reid. This made some sense. The Eagles have been talking up backup Dion Lewis this offseason and added two rookie backs that they really like, Bryce Brown (7^th round), and Chris Polk (undrafted).

However, Jeff McLane, a beat writer for the Philadelphia Enquirer, believes this is a smokescreen and that McCoy won’t see a decrease in touches. McLane points out times in the past when Reid would say they’d be reducing Brian Westbrook’s carries, but never would. McCoy is every bit as talented as Westbrook and without the injuries so the Eagles would be wise to use him as much as possible. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg has mentioned possibly moving McCoy around more and using him in the slot since he’s such a good pass catcher. He may see less carries, but just as many touches because he’ll catch more passes.

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When Wes Welker was hit with the franchise tag earlier this offseason, he said he was looking forward to signing a long term deal that would take him until 2016-2017 or so, so he could play the rest of his career in a Patriots uniform. Owner Bob Kraft seconded that sentiment today, showing the front office’s support for Welker and saying that he wants him to be a “Patriot for life.”

Kraft did acknowledge that it would take two sides to get a deal done, but after an alleged squabble between the two sides earlier this week, it sounds like the two sides are still on good terms. Welker has so far not been offered anything more than a deal he said was worse than the 2 years, 16 million he was offered last season, but he doesn’t seem too upset about it.

Unlike many franchise players, Welker seems content to play out next season under the 9.5 million dollar franchise tag if he has to. Welker, a class act, understands the Patriot way and that he’s not irreplaceable and that he might not have similar success elsewhere. He’d be more than happy with 9.5 million this year, but obviously wants a long term deal. Ownership does too so we’ll have to see how this plays out.

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Stephen Tulloch is one of the best middle linebackers in the league, especially in Detroit’s wide nine scheme, and was paid accordingly this offseason, signing a 5 year, 25 million dollar deal. However, there are now injury concerns with Tulloch. Tulloch has yet to practice in OTAs with a knee injury and while it was originally viewed as minor, Head Coach Jim Schwartz now says he’ll miss the rest of OTAs and possibly June minicamps with knee tendinitis. Tulloch insists his injury is minor, but we may differ in the definition of minor as he recently had an injection into the knee and reportedly cannot put any weight on it. He should be fine for Training Camp and onward, but these types of things can linger so it’s something to keep an eye on.

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After waiting until the 4^th round to draft a wide receiver in this past draft, the Browns still have one of the worst receiving corps in the NFL. According to Head Coach Pat Shurmur, Greg Little and Mohamed Massaquoi are penciled in as starters as of right now, but he acknowledged that could change. The organization is very high on 4^th round rookie Travis Benjamin and believe he could challenge Massaquoi opposite Little, as well as Josh Cribbs in the slot. Carlton Mitchell and undrafted rookie Josh Cooper are other players the organization really likes. It looks like it’s going to be a rough 1^st year for Brandon Weeden finding open targets, even if Greg Little has a breakout year.

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The Bengals failed to resign their #2 receiver, Jerome Simpson, this offseason as he had been arrested in a drug related incident and was facing league suspension. Simpson is now with the Vikings and will start the season with a 3 game suspension, while the Bengals are seemingly holding open auditions for Simpson’s old role opposite AJ Green.

The Bengals drafted Mohamed Sanu in the 3^rd round and Marvin Jones in the 5^th round to compete for that job and separate reports have also said that 2011 undrafted free agent Armon Binns and Patriots castoff Brandon Tate are also in the running for that job. That’s 4 players compete for one spot. With Jordan Shipley solidified in the slot, the losers will become nothing more than depth receivers and might not make the final 53 at all, unless the Bengals carry 6 receivers.

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When Leon Hall tore his Achilles last November, he was given a 9-12 month recovery. Now, it’s sounding like it will be closer to 12. He has yet to be medically cleared to practice at all for OTAs and some are speculating that he could begin the season on the PUP list. Hall is the Bengals best cover cornerback and was rewarded with a 5 year, 42 million dollar extension just 2 months before the injury. The Bengals defense was noticeably worse without him.

The Bengals have spent the offseason adding depth at the position, bringing in Dre Kirkpatrick through the draft with the 17^th overall pick, as well as Shaun Prater in the 5^th round, and adding veterans like Terence Newman and Jason Allen to go with Pacman Jones and Nate Clements. Obviously the Bengals can’t keep all of their cornerbacks and my money right now is on them cutting Nate Clements, who is injured and owed 4.3 million, and starting Jason Allen opposite Dre Kirkpatrick until Leon Hall can play.

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Along with teammate Trent Williams, Redskins tight end Fred Davis was suspended for 4 games in 2011 for failing a drug test. If he fails another one, he will be suspended for an entire year. Today, he vowed that would not happen and blamed his past failed test on the lockout. Davis is an incredibly talented tight end, who managed 59 catches for 796 yards and 3 touchdowns in just 12 games last year. With an upgrade at quarterback, he could be a very underrated fantasy tight end if he makes it through all 16 games this season.

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The Dolphins will be using a 4-3 defense in 2012, rather than their old 3-4, under new Head Coach Joe Philbin. Jared Odrick was a 1^st round pick in 2010, coming to the NFL as a defensive tackle from Penn State. In Miami’s 3-4, they played Odrick at defensive end, something college defensive tackles often do. Odrick was a prototypical fit for the position, the so called 5-technique. He missed all of his rookie year with injuries, but played well in a situational role in 2011 at a crowded position.

Even with the switch to a 4-3, it sounds like the 6-5 304 pounder will still be playing defensive end, at least in base packages. On obvious passing downs, 3^rd round pick rookie Olivier Vernon will come in for Odrick opposite Cameron Wake. Odrick could then slide inside and play defensive tackle with Randy Starks. Fully healthy and now on a less crowded defensive line, Odrick could be a full time player for the first time ever in 2012. If he is, there’s a good chance he has a breakout year and proves himself to be worth the 1^st round pick the Dolphins used on him 2 years ago.

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The Browns used the 22^nd overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft on Brandon Weeden, but it was incumbent starter Colt McCoy getting all the 1^st team snaps when OTAs opened for the Browns today. I wouldn’t read much into this at all. The inexperienced Oniel Cousins opened as the 1^st string right tackle over 2^nd round pick Mitchell Schwartz as well. Some teams just make rookies earn their starting job and the Browns appear to be one of them.

Both Weeden and Schwartz will start week 1, as will Trent Richardson. Travis Benjamin and John Hughes will also compete for starting jobs as rookies. This is more an indictment on their 2011 talent, rather than a positive for their 2012 draft class. Weeden is 29 this season and will need to make an impact right away as a rookie. Colt McCoy has been shopped about some this offseason, but if they can’t find a taker through a trade, it appears the Browns will keep both him and Seneca Wallace as backups, rather than cutting one or the other.

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