AFC Offseason Burning Questions

In our pervasive 24 hour sports world that we currently live in, the champagne isn't even dry in the bars and gutters of Pittsburgh and speculation on next year's NFL season has already begun. Can the Steelers repeat? Who will be their biggest challengers? Who is getting drafted and where? Let's take a look at a few of the burning questions on NFL fans' minds.

 

Will Brady be ready?

Anytime a professional athlete injures a knee seriously, there is some doubt as to when they will be ready to resume their career, but when you are a super model-impregnating, three time Super Bowl champion quarterback for what has been the league's marquee (and most hated) franchise for the last ten years, the spotlight is white hot. After some botched surgery and infighting on where the recovery process would take place, all signs point to Tom Brady being the Patriots starting quarterback come September. The team put the franchise tag on Matt Cassel with the sole intent of getting more than they would normally, compensation-wise, for trading him (another Machiavellin move by Bill Belichick) so the Patriots front office clearly believes that Brady will be ready for Kickoff Weekend. Many NFL experts point to the recent injury to Bengals QB Carson Palmer and note that his knee injury, while similar to Brady's, was far more serious, and he needed less recovery time to be ready for opening day than Brady has had for his, so unless major set backs are reported out of Foxboro, the Pats are clearly the biggest threat to a Steelers repeat.

 

What are the Chargers doing with LT?

When you consider some of the recent moves made by the Chargers front office, it is amazing that this franchise has remained at or near the top of the league for so long. This is a team that fired a coach after going 14-2, a team that chose an average QB in Phillip Rivers over the best QB in the league in Drew Brees and one that let a younger, hungrier and healthier Michael Turner escape to Atlanta while they kept a washed up and chronically injured LaDanian Tomlinson. Now, the Chargers front office, lead by GM AJ Smith has to decide if they want to keep LT and late season hero Darren Sproles. The knock on both these guys is their size. Sproles may have been an every down back at Kansas State, but very few in the Chargers organization think he can handle 30 rushes a game throughout the course of a season, even with the incredible speed and durability he showed at the end of the 2008 season and into the playoffs. What will Smith do? Chances are, we've seen our final game with LT in the powder blues. Tomlinson has made a point of communicating with his fans via his own personal blog since the Chargers season ended in Pittsburgh and Smith has made a point of mocking most of what LT has posted, so it is clear that his days in San Diego are over. If they don't resign Sproles, you can bet San Diego will be hitting the draft hard for a running back (how would Georgia standout Knowshon Moreno look in powder blues?), or possibly setting their sights on free agent backs like Rudi Johnson or maybe even Ricky Williams.

 

AFC Draft Spotlight

Assuming none of the current draft positions get shifted around, the first AFC team to pick will be the Kansas City Chiefs. If a proposed draft day trade for Matt Cassel falls through, this is a team that absolutely must draft a quarterback. Rumours have it that the Lions, who pick one spot ahead, will be taking Georgia's Matthew Stafford, but that doesn't mean that the Chiefs won't have a decent QB to choose from. What you might actually see happen is that the Chiefs could trade down since no other quarterback is expected to be drafted in the top 15. If they do get Cassel or another QB, expect the Chiefs to go with defence. Next up for the AFC is the Browns at pick number five. The Browns had a terrible pass rush last year, so don't be surprised if they pick a massive defensive lineman or even a linebacker. Aaron Curry out of Wake Forest, BJ Raji out of Boston College and Everette Brown out of Florida State would all make sense here. The Browns could also shock the world and go with a running back here, as well.

 

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