FanHouse Phillip Merling

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: The Brett Favre Fallout ended up with Chad Pennington coming to Miami. Good thing, because the Dolphins didn't have a quarterback on their roster. Well, technically they did ... but when you are having a three-man race to figure out who might be able to handle the job ... you have no QB. Pennington gives Miami what they need: an experienced, accurate passer. He's a winner, but not the kind of guy who makes those dynamic plays. Right now, they don't have great receivers, either, so a guy that can hit his target is key. Chad Henne may be the future ... but that's what we thought about John Beck last year. Heat Index: 4

Running backs: This is the biggest strength of this offense. During their 1-15 season last year, the fact that Ronnie Brown was having an outstanding season was lost on many people. Brown was worthy of a Pro Bowl spot before he tore his ACL in mid-season. All indications are that he's healed. Brown will share duties with Ricky Williams. Yep, he's back and he's bad! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Ricky has been a model teammate. He's basically lived at the Dolphins complex, is in supreme physical shape and could get back to his pre-retirement form. Of course, that is all the good. The bad is that your steadiest part of the team involves a guy with a major knee injury and another who is now 31, barely has played over the last several seasons, already has two strikes and is unreliable. At least he's not on the hippie lettuce anymore. Heat Index: 7

Now this is why people stand in the hot sun all day at NFL training camps for!

Rookies Jake Long and Phillip Merling got into a bit of a tussle at Phins camp on Monday. Of course, these are two guys trying to make an impression on their new team ... but it was a bit surprising since they have been best buddies off the field.

''But he's my man off the field,'' said Merling, in an unexpectedly bashful tone. ``I think he was surprised I hit him, because everybody knows we're good buddies off the field. I just threw a quick 1-2 off of instinct, I guess.''

Merling's (the first pick of the second round) fight with Long (the first pick in the entire draft) drew the attention of Tony Sparano ... Miami's new head coach. Sparano actually liked it, since he's been preaching a tough-guy attitude in camp.

I can see why Sparano is pleased. No, he doesn't want his rookie millionaires duking it out like that, but it shows the heart that a 1-15 team needs to have to build itself back up into relevance. They are young with some talent, but that talent won't overwhelm anyone. Miami has to out-tough people to win ... and if Sparano has his way than we could have a nice surprise in the AFC East this year.

Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland had hoped to have all the 2008 draft picks under contract by July 1. Obviously, that didn't happen, but to be honest, it was an ambitious undertaking. Training camp is still some three weeks off, and there's plenty of time to ink second-rounders Phillip Merling and Chad Henne, and third-rounder Kendall Langford.

Yesterday, Ireland appeared on WQAM's Dolphins Tonight to discuss the state of negotiations, scouting the Arena leagues and the CFL, and the risks that go along with paying unproven players obscene amounts of money. I'm guessing owners love his plan to restructure NFL salaries, but the union might feel differently:

"You just wish you could pay them five or six thousand dollars and say, Go earn it, but it's not the same anymore," Ireland said. "But really it comes down to what we're trying to accomplish from a culture standpoint. You want guys that when you do pay them the big contract, they're going to go on and do the same thing they've done..."

Ireland's exaggerating to make a point, but the bottom line -- one that most people seem to support -- is that the rookie-wage scale is out of whack. Ireland, who worked for the Cowboys before taking the Miami job earlier this year, identified Jason Witten and Marion Barber as players teams "don't ... ever have to worry about" because:

Clemson defensive end Phillip Merling was one of the big questions marks heading into today because while other top prospects spent the last three months working out for NFL scouts, Merling spent the last three months recovering from a sports hernia.

How much money did that sports hernia cost him? I don't think he would have been drafted ahead of Florida defensive end Derrick Harvey in any event, but I do think he would have gone ahead of USC defensive end Lawrence Jackson. Harvey went with the eighth pick and Jackson went 28th, so depending on how you look at it, Merling definitely dropped a few draft slots and may have dropped 20 or so.

Eventually, the Dolphins took Merling with the first pick in the second round, 32nd overall, and Miami is probably a good place for him. The Dolphins got the best offensive lineman on the board and one of the better defensive linemen, and Bill Parcells has to be happy with that.

With less than 48 hours to go before the NFL draft, you can drive yourself crazy trying to divine the thought processes of the 32 NFL teams. So take this with the usual grain of salt:

The entire Washington Redskins brain trust -- owner Dan Snyder, coach Jim Zorn, personnel man Vinny Ceratto -- traveled to the campus of Clemson today to watch the workout conducted by defensive end Phillip Merling. Why, you ask, is Merling doing a workout this close to the draft? Because he was injured and couldn't participate at the combine, and this is the first time he's been healthy enough to go through a full workout at full speed.

The Redskins were far from the only team present at the workout, but they were the only team that brought all of its high-level officials. That's a strong sign that they're very, very interested in drafting him in the first round on Saturday.

Or is it a strong sign that they want other teams to think they're targeting Merling because they're actually interested in someone else? Who knows? But my guess is that Merling will be the Redskins' pick.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

As the 2008 first-round rolls around, Vikings fans will have one main hope: Please let Derrick Harvey fall to No. 17. Minnesota needs a defensive end desperately. Minnesota's defensive ends struggled last year, and that was before it was learned that Kenechi Udeze had leukemia. Minnesota tried repeatedly to sign an impact defensive end in free agency, but they struck out on Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy and Jevon Kearse.

The team has lacked a consistent pass rush over the past two seasons, which is a big reason the pass defense has struggled. Harvey would fill that need perfectly, but unfortunately for the Vikings, in this mock draft, Harvey is a Panther, leaving Minnesota with few good options.

Merling is not really worthy of the No. 17 pick, especially now that he's battling a sports hernia injury, but he is the best defensive end left on the board, and the need is that great. Merling works hard, has a good set of pass rush moves and will give the Vikings an honest effort every week. What he lacks is that game-changing speed/athleticism that gives left tackles nightmares. But on a Vikings defense with defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams eating up double teams, Merling will get lots of single blocking, which should help free him up to create havoc.