FanHouse TrainingCampBattles

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

When Alan Faneca took off for the Jets in the offseason, he took with him seven Pro Bowl appearances. Left behind is a Steelers offensive line filled with aging veterans, inexperienced youngsters and very little in between.

The Steelers have as many as five candidates to fill Faneca's spot. But this is a case where quality would be a lot better than quantity.

Instead they have a fourth-year pro who's never been able to win a starting job (Chris Kemoeatu); last year's starting right tackle, who might move inside (Willie Colon), a failed center who is expected to lose his job (Sean Mahan), a highly paid but underachieving guard (Kendall Simmons), and a second-year pro who was an undrafted agent just last year (Darnell Stapleton).

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

As you would expect with a team that is coming off a season that could best be described as a train wreck combined with a earthquake topped off by a nice little forest fire just to make things tidy, the Falcons have a lot of wide-open starting jobs as training camp begins.

They'll be looking to see if second-round pick Curtis Lofton is ready to take over at middle linebacker, which would allow Keith Brooking to move back outside. They'll be watching disappointing Michael Jenkins to see if he can outplay the unhappy carcass that once was Pro Bowler Joe Horn. And we'll have to see if rookie Sam Baker is ready to step in and start at offensive tackle.

But the battle that will define the Falcons 2008 season will be the quarterback competition. If Chris Redman starts more than eight games this year, it either means that the Falcons are playing much better than expected, or that the offensive line is such a disaster that 0-16 seems possible.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

It says something about the Vikings roster that one of the biggest battle during this year's training camp will be for the No. 4 receiver job. The reality is that besides a lot of drama about Brett Favre and the quarterback situation, there aren't many positions where Minnesota doesn't have a clear starter.

And even more encouragingly, there's some pretty good depth at several spots. Chester Taylor is one of the best backup tailbacks in the league. Second-round pick Tyrell Johnson gives the team an excellent back-up safety, and Jared Allen's acquisition means that Brian Robison goes from being an every-down starter to a very useful backup defensive end.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

For a team that is now built around its franchise quarterback, the Tennessee Titans sure don't do a lot to help him out.

The day the Colts drafted Peyton Manning, they already had Marvin Harrison. But they also made sure that they gave him other targets. Between Brandon Stokley, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, Manning has always had a plethora of quality pass-catching options.

Tom Brady may not have had Pro Bowlers at wide receiver until Randy Moss and Wes Welker showed up, but between David Givens, Deion Branch and Troy Brown, he always had a set of very reliable targets.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

The battle between Oliver Ross and first-round pick Levi Brown will be an intriguing one in Arizona for a variety of reasons. The fact that the Cardinals drafted Brown is a testament to what they thought about Ross protecting Matt Leinart. However, since Brown is likely to be late to camp, it could give Ross a head start and that may be all he needs to lock up the starting role.

Even if Ross leaves training camp as the starter, it will probably only be for the immediate future. Brown is poised to be a stud at right tackle and it would be a shame if the Cardinals didn't start him as soon as possible.

At the same time, we would all be foolish to overlook Ross. He's back under the tutelage of Russ Grimm, whom he had his best years playing for in Pittsburgh.

Training camp battles: See them all

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Strong safety Clinton Hart enters his fourth year with the Chargers and in that time he's started six games. Hart tops the depth chart heading into training camp because Terrence Kiel -- last year's starter and in-house croupier -- was released this off-season. The San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee writes that Hart, a former college centerfielder, is the secondary's best ballhawk.

But a lot can change in a month; the Chargers traded up to grab Utah's Eric Weddle in the second round. That San Diego gave up their 2007 second-, third-, and fifth-round picks, and a third-rounder next year, suggests that they expect Weddle to find his way on the field sooner rather than later. During minicamp, defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell said "[the strong safety job is] still up for grabs, but Clinton is leading the pack at that position."

Weddle, the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in '05 and '06, played both cornerback and safety in college. Because of his versatility, Weddle is good in pass coverage (he held Calvin Johnson to two catches for 15 yards in a 2005 game), but also lays the wood to would-be pass catchers.

Hart might be the starter in September, but as Weddle gets more comfortable, it'll only be a matter of time before he takes over the job full-time.

Training camp battles: See them all

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Rod Smith holds Broncos franchise records for career receptions (849), receiving yards (11,389), touchdown catches (68) and overall touchdowns (71), but there's a very real chance the former undrafted free agent out of Missouri Southern State doesn't make the team coming out of training camp.

Smith is still recovering from off-season hip surgery that kept him out of minicamps. He's also 37 years old and facing stiff competition from second-year wideout Brandon Marshall, and former Colt Brandon Stokley.

Marshall, the team's 2006 fourth-round pick, caught 20 passes for 309 yards as a rookie, and if he can avoid the nagging injuries that limited him last year, he'll get first crack at the No. 2 job opposite Javon Walker.

Denver signed Stokley to play in the slot -- just like he did in Indianapolis -- but he could see a more prominent role if Marshall struggles and Smith is slow to return to his 2005 form, when he had 1,105 receiving yards and six touchdowns. But Stokley is also coming off an injury -- he tore his Achilles tendon last year -- and has to prove he's 100 percent.

Ultimately, it's Marshall's job to lose. If he can stay healthy, he'll be opposite Walker when the season starts. If he stumbles during training camp, Stokley and Smith will get looks.

Training camp battles: See them all

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

To be honest, this one is a bit of a stretch. Truth is, while Mike Nolan will have you believe competition is alive and well at just about every position on the roster (wink wink), take one look at the roster and it's pretty obvious that all of the starting spots are spoken for.

This includes right tackle. Take a quick glance and you can't really tell the difference between Kwame Harris and a revolving door. The 49ers were so inspired by Harris' play that they traded back into the first round after selecting Patrick Willis to grab Joe Staley, widely considered the third-best tackle in the draft.

If Harris wins this battle, it's because he'll have seriously outplayed Staley for it. The fact that Staley avoided a holdout means Harris won't have first-team reps handed to him, and the 49ers seem more than willing to give the job to Staley as long as he proves capable of standing still and putting his hands out in front of his chest. But there's one important variable here -- Harris' contract. It's not exactly a secret that players tend to up their game in a contract year, and after seeing the huge paydays handed out to less-than-mediocre offensive linemen lately (Leonard Davis anyone?), Harris might be inspired to have a "breakout" year.

Training camp battles: See them all

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Between Tatum Bell, Kevin Jones, and T.J. Duckett, the Lions might have one complete workhorse back. Unfortunately, the science doesn't yet exist to mold those three together (thankfully, at that, who knows what kind of ugly mug those three would produce). Still, one of these three has to emerge with the majority of the touches.

The early money is on Bell -- they traded for him, so they must feel like he fills a need somewhere. Besides that, we've heard about as much on Jones' health status as Osama Bin Laden. Speaking of, I think Bin Laden's last video tape came around the same time as Duckett's last notable game performance. So Bell, it seems, wins by default.

But if Jones gets healthy, he's the most complete back of the crew despite never really living up to his lofty draft status. Bell hasn't proven to be incredibly durable, has issues protecting the ball, and can't run between the tackles. Duckett can run between the tackles but has all of the agility of the MacBook with which I type this. The three will split carries at some ratio, but as truly (and potentially naively) optimistic as I am about the Lions this year, this running game is still a mess. Picking a winner here is like voting in a South Park mascot contest.

Training camp battles: See them all