FanHouse Tarell Brown

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

After generating a significant amount of hype over the past few years, the 49ers will enter 2009 with no expectations on the board. Division rival Arizona went to the Super Bowl, while many expect a rebound from long-time division champion Seattle. To me, this makes the 49ers a dangerous team.

We haven't even gotten to training camp, but teams are already losing players for the 2009 season. Veteran 49ers cornerback Walt Harris tore his right ACL during practice on Tuesday and will likely miss the entire season, according to Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

The injury occurred when Harris got tangled up with the wide receiver Dominique Ziegler during a drill. The Niners aren't ready to rule him out for the entire campaign, but the odds are against seeing Harris on the field again this season. Or any season.

Last Year: 10-3 (6-2), # 13 AP, # 13 Coaches

Fans Are: Delusional, as always. God didn't create Texas, Texas created him don't you know?

There would be more noise made about last year's somewhat disappointing effort but the national championship afterglow is still in effect. People tend to savor something that takes 35 years to happen, especially people who talk like it happens every year.

Expectations: Another typical Mack Brown season: 12-2 or so, beat Oklahoma, play in the Big 12 Championship game, contend for a BCS bowl and maybe even a national championship.

Questions:

1. Jamaal Charles' sophomore slump was cute. Not. That's over with and he will go back to being Mr. 7 yards-a-carry again, right?

One would hope. He's apparently worked with the weights in the offseason and is finally running over teammates at practice. Thing is, he also ditched track and has two full seasons of football on his body, chances are he's lost a fraction of a step (or two) in exchange. So maybe he doesn't break away as many big runs but he'll become a more consistent inside runner.

2. The secondary was not very Texas-like last year. Any chance for improvement this time around?

Hard to tell. It's very rare to have that kind of talent assembled as happened last year with All American Aaron Ross, veteran Tarell Brown and the Griffin brothers at safety. They should have been outstanding. Oops. I guess they miss Michael Huff more than they thought they would.

The experience and overall talent will definitely be down this year in the Texas secondary, but sometimes overshadowed guys end up doing alright. Look at Ohio State last year, they lost nearly their entire secondary yet a cast of nobodies went out and throttled an increasingly pass-happy Big Ten. Mind you Chris Leak picked them apart underneath in the national championship game but they were good enough to stabilize that defense to get to that game in the first place in spite of all the personnel changes. Maybe that happens with this year's Longhorn secondary. Linebacker Drew Kelson's making a run at one of the safety jobs, if that means anything.

Chykie Brown and Deon Beasley are the names to know at cornerback this spring.

3. Will Sergio Kindle earn himself a starting job?

There's a shot. Coaches hate to bump established starters and Texas' three linebackers from last year all return. However, there's nobody special like Kindle in that group and it'll just plain look bad if he's still logging backup minutes two years into his Longhorn career.

Senior Texas linebacker Drew Kelson has packed up and moved to a new position ... again. This time it's somewhere familiar as he competes this spring for a starting job in the secondary with the safeties.

Kelson has played tailback and linebacker his entire career after signing with the Longhorns as the nation's top safety prospect several years ago. Now he's back where it all began and just in time to take a stab at rescuing the shaky Longhorn secondary.

Despite having All American Aaron Ross and steady veterans Tarell Brown and Michael Griffin in their secondary, Texas was repeatedly torched last year through the air. With only a handful of reliable veterans in the secondary, Kelson gets his shot to add some stability to the new-look Longhorn defensive backfield.

Having played linebacker and tailback, two high-impact positions, I'm guessing he's probably a little more banged up than most defensive backs. He may also be carrying linebacker weight still which could affect his range. But it's a smart move as he's a veteran player who knows the game having spent time at several positions and is moving to an area of team need.