FanHouse Dante Stallworth

On Oct. 19, 1998, the St. Louis Rams' Leonard Little drove his Lincoln Navigator through a red light and crashed into a car driven by a 47-year-old mother. Later tests confirmed his blood alcohol level was .19, more than twice the legal limit in the state of Missouri. The next day the mother died.

On Jan. 14, 2003 Dallas Cowboys cornerback Dwayne Goodrich spent a night out with friends at a local strip club. At two in the morning, he hopped on the interstate. That night a car caught on fire on that same interstate and three good Samaritans rushed to aid the motorist caught inside. Goodrich struck all three, killing two.

On March 14, 2009 Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian in Miami Beach while driving his Bentley at 7:15 in the morning. Stallworth had been out drinking the night before and blood tests later confirmed he was impaired at the time of the accident.

What do all three of these men share in common besides being NFL players who have killed others while operating vehicles? They all played collegiate football for the University of Tennessee.

Perhaps the best way to ease a young NFL quarterback into the starting job is to surround him with playmakers, the support of a suffocating defense, or both. That way, he's seldom in the position of having to win a game, but has the benefit of gaining experience.

The strategy worked for the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and the Ravens and Joe Flacco and the Falcons and Matt Ryan last season. Pittsburgh was 15-1, Baltimore and Atlanta were 11-5. It helps to have most of the pieces in place before handing over the offense to a young QB, but it's not mandatory; the Ravens won five times the year before Flacco arrived, and the Falcons won four.

There were plenty of jobs up for grabs heading into Browns' training camp, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. One starting gig that was basically written in stone was the No. 1 wideout, currently occupied by one of the AFC's best young players, Braylon Edwards.

Cleveland signed Dante' Stallworth this offseason to be the No. 2 guy, but with Joe Jurevicius on the shelf, the team also is in the market for a slot receiver. Whatever, it looks like Stallworth, even if just temporarily, is the team's new top wideout. And it's all because of his on-field effort. Sort of.

Browns receiver Braylon Edwards was hospitalized Saturday night after having a gash in his right foot repaired with stitches.

Edwards suffered the cut on his foot when he was running lightly in his socks during a special teams period Saturday afternoon with some other receivers. According to a photographer who was shooting the session, Edwards and fellow receiver Donte Stallworth were vying for the lead when Stallworth's cleat gashed Edwards' right heel.

In related news, Brady Quinn was seen sharpening up his cleats and challenging Derek Anderson to a foot race.

Romeo Crennel thinks Edwards will be released from the hospital today, but didn't say when the former first-round pick would return to the team. The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot writes that a team official doesn't deem the injury serious, and that Edwards will be back in action when the stitches are removed, probably sometime after the team's second preseason game on Aug. 18.

Hat tip: PFT

Given that Wes Welker set the franchise mark for receptions, and that Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis called Welker the best slot receiver in the NFL last season, it certainly seems reasonable to assume he'll draw more attention from defenses in 2008.

Obviously, the problem with such a game plan is that unlike most other teams in the league, the Patriots offense can beat you any number of ways. Randy Moss re-upped for three more years, and even with Dante' Stallworth now in Cleveland, Tom Brady's still the quarterback.

"I could care less how many catches it is [this season]. It really doesn't matter," said Welker. "It's about improving and getting batter and helping the offense move down the field, and if that means catching 112 catches that is what it means. If it means blocking and running the ball 40 times a game then that is what it needs to be."

And it's that last sentence -- running the balls more often -- that points to the Patriots drafting Darren McFadden (to help carry the load) or Branden Albert (to improve the run blocking). Or, more likely, neither. Most mock draftniks think New England will draft a defensive player with the seventh-overall pick, and frankly, that makes the most sense. But nobody had the team taking guard Logan Mankins in the first round a few years ago.

The Browns won't make their first pick until the fourth round of this April's NFL Draft. Last year, they sent their 2008 first-rounder to the Cowboys for the opportunity to take Brady Quinn. And on Friday, they got Packers defensive lineman Corey Williams for a second-rounder, and a day later, they acquired nose tackle Shaun Rogers for Leigh Bodden and a third-rounder.

And today, the team continued to use free agency to upgrade the roster since things will be pretty quiet come the last weekend in April: according to ESPN's Michael Smith, Donte' Stallworth is now a Brown.

This must make Derek Anderson very happy (Quinn could give a crap -- barring an injury or alien abduction, he won't be playing in 2008 either), and Cleveland is quietly becoming one of the most potent offenses in the AFC. In addition to Stallworth, a deep threat, there's Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow -- both Pro Bowlers -- as well as Joe Jurevicius. And then there's running back Jamal Lewis and a very competent offensive line.

For some perspective on how quickly perceptions change in the NFL, consider the first two comments on the Mike Reiss' Pats blog on the Boston Globe:

Boston Globe beat writer Mike Reiss is already at Gillette Stadium, and reports on his drive in to work this morning:

... [I]t was hard to miss that one of the goal posts on the lower practice field had blown partially over. That was a reminder that the wind will be a factor today.

The current temperature is 24 degrees. According to weather.com, the winds are around 15 miles per hour, with gusting up to about 24 miles per hour. At this time, the orange flags on top of the goal posts inside Gillette Stadium are moving just slightly.

Conventional wisdom suggests that windy conditions are the Patriots' great equalizer. The Ravens used the weather to their advantage in their near-win late in the season. And despite several other near-misses against the Eagles and Giants, the fact remains: even God can't slow up Tom Brady.

If the winds are whipping, New England won't be able to utilize deep threats Randy Moss and Dante' Stallworth, which means more work for Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk.