FanHouse Randy Starks

Dolphins defensive lineman Randy Starks allegedly broke a few obvious Memorial Weekend rules: first, don't pile 13 people in your four-person-carrying truck. Second, when an police officer approaches your truck full of people, stop driving.

According to the Miami Herald, Starks' decision to keep his black freight-liner in motion after being approached by the officer resulted in his arrest on charges of aggravated assault.

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

Bill Parcells isn't a guy who puts much stock in quarterbacks. At least when the going rate is $35 million or so in guarantees that go along with taking one first overall. And yes, I'm aware that Parcells did just that when he drafted Drew Bledsoe with the first pick in 1993, but that deal was worth $14.5 million over six years ($4.5 guaranteed). And this was before the salary-cap era leveled the playing field.

Bledsoe aside, names like Ray Lucas, Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde and Bledsoe 2.0 all lend support to the argument. And Tony Romo, a diamond in the rough who spent his first four years watching from the sidelines, came on the cheap. Which makes the Dolphins' latest acquisition, quarterback Josh McCown, not altogether surprising.

Sure, there are still questions about the move (why waste money on McCown when the team still needs to upgrade the offensive line?), but for now, he will battle second-year quarterback John Beck for the starting job. This means that Matt Ryan is officially off the draft board, at least if the team doesn't trade out of the top pick.

So now what? Well, for starters, Miami must think enough of McCown/Beck to turn their attention to countless other needs. Or maybe they like Joe Flacco, Chad Henne or another quarterback later in the draft. There will be plenty of time to speculate on such things.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that the Miami Dolphins have reached a contract agreement with former Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Randy Starks. Schefter reports that it's a five-year, $21 million contract that includes $7 million guaranteed.

This morning, when the Dolphins and Cowboys pulled off a trade that landed nose tackle Jason Ferguson in Miami, it appeared to be a part of a transition to a 3-4 defense. But the decision to lure Starks would seem to make the Dolphins more likely to run a 4-3 defense. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have both Ferguson and Starks if they're never going to play at the same time.

For the Dolphins' defense, it's been a very good day. Ferguson is an old pro with some tread left on the tires, and Starks is a 24-year-old who has already started 36 NFL games. New boss Bill Parcells is making a splash in the first day of the new league year.