The college football season is fast approaching, with many fall camps set to open this week. Thus it's time to lay aside our interregional bickering and turn our thoughts to, you know, what might actually happen on the field.
The big question in the Big Ten this season is whether Penn State's conference championship was just a momentary burp in the conference's Buckeye-dominated food chain, or whether things might actually be shifting just a bit in the conference. Do the Buckeyes claim the title again? Will the Nittany Lions defend last year's crown and make a run at the national title? Will there be some giant, world-rocking surprise team that comes in and knocks them both out of the BCS?
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet The ... Team who invented the Wildcat formation! Cue all sorts of zeal from the dramatic broadcasters. Of course, the formation has actually been around for decades, we just hadn't seen a ton of usage in the NFL until the Dolphins seemed to perfect it -- peaking with Ronnie Brown's ridiculous game against the Patriots.
The Dolphins have a careful quarterback, two solid runners, a good, young receiving corps, and have added a great all-around athlete via draft. It might be tough to predict who is going to consistency amass yardage, but we know one thing: They are going to be fun to watch.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
For the fourth straight year, the Miami Dolphins used a second-round pick on a quarterback, selecting West Virginia's Pat White with the 44th overall pick. White, a record-setting player in college, joined John Beck (recently released) and Chad Henne as recent selections, to go along with the trade that brought Daunte Culpepper to Miami prior to the 2006 season.
While there is still some debate as to what type of future White will have in the NFL, the Dolphins view him as a quarterback, while one scout recently told Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel that Miami is trying to "revolutionize pro football by bringing the spread to the NFL."
No one disputes that Vontae Davis has the athletic ability to be a great NFL cornerback. But some observers were surprised that the Miami Dolphins chose Davis in the first round of Saturday's draft, because there were concerns about Davis's attitude and work ethic, and because Dophins front office boss Bill Parcells has made clear that he values character in assembling a roster.
Davis's college coach, however, insists that there's absolutely no reason at all to be concerned about Davis -- and even compares his abilities to those of the Hall of Famer Rod Woodson.
Bill Parcells has a history of being aggressive, and the results suggest he knows what he's doing. He's taken five different teams to the playoffs as either a coach or front-office type, and is the NFL equivalent of Mr. WhiteWinston Wolfe: he solves problems.
He took the Dolphins from a one-win outfit in 2007 to AFC East champs a year later. And if he thinks Pat White is a special player, I'm not going to argue with him.
On Day 1 of the Draft, the Dolphins selected Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis with the 25th pick, and double-downed with White a round later (44th overall). Davis has been described as a top-10 talent, but character issues saw him drop to the end of the first round. But if there's anybody who can keep Davis in check it's Parcells.
Although the Dolphins had a huge need in the secondary, White might be the best value pick in this draft.
The Detroit Lions took all the suspense out of the first pick in Saturday's NFL draft by signing quarterback Matthew Stafford to a six-year contract Friday night. But the Lions made a couple of surprising picks later in the day, drafting Brandon Pettigrew with the 20th pick and Louis Delmas with the 33rd.
Pettigrew is a talented tight end from Oklahoma State who will be a good target for Stafford, but I'm not convnced he was the right pick at 20. I would have preferred a player like Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin or Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
A year ago, the Dolphins were coming off a 1-15 record and had locked up Jake Long with the first-overall pick a week before the 2008 draft. Now, one year into Bill Parcells' Reclamation Project, Miami is 11-5, defending AFC East champs, and hold the 25th selection in Saturday's draft.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
In 2008, the New England Patriots became the first team in over 20 years to win 11 regular season games and fail to qualify for the postseason. Considering they lost their franchise player -- Tom Brady -- just about five minutes into the season, forcing them to turn to a quarterback who hadn't started a game in eight years -- Matt Cassel -- an 11-5 campaign isn't all that disappointing.
With Brady back under center in 2009, the Patriots look to be a strong bet to return to the playoffs, especially if they address the one or two holes that remain on the roster.
So, remember those "reports" of players who had failed drug tests at the combine? B.J. Raji (pictured), Vontae Davis, Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing had all allegedly tested positive -- Raji and Davis for marijuana, Matthews and Cushing for steroids -- according to the irresponsibly named NFLDraftBible.com (who I refuse to link to, due to the fact that they are looking increasingly like an absolute farce).
Well, the more distance we get from the faux-report, the more the facts come to the surface, and it doesn't look good for the credibility -- if they even had any in the first place -- of this supposed "bible." Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk is reporting that Raji is clean, as are the other three.
Believe it or not, there is going to be an important storyline at next week's NFL draft that won't involve Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez or offensive tackles.
Even through all the posturing and coach-speak, it's still fairly easy to pinpoint just a handful of locations where Stafford or Sanchez might wind up. You can also more or less figure out which team needs a burly lineman or linebacker upgrade, and guess where guys like Eugene Monroe, Brian Cushing or Ray Maualuga might end up.
But I dare you to find a team that doesn't need cornerback help. There aren't many out there, which is why that position's fluidity heading into New York is a large part of the reason draft boards are still so uncertain.
The college football season is fast approaching, with many fall camps set to open this week. Thus it's time to lay aside our interregional bickering and turn our thoughts to, you know, what might actually happen on the field.
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all. 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
No one disputes that 
The Detroit Lions took all the suspense out of the first pick in Saturday's NFL draft by signing quarterback 
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
So, remember those "reports" of players who had failed drug tests at the combine? 
Believe it or not, there is going to be an important storyline at next week's NFL draft that won't involve 
