Offensive Line: Where do we begin? Even ESPN took a shot at these guys in their NFL draft promotions. The team’s two biggest signings of 2002 (LT Tony Boselli and RT Ryan Young) were busts. Boselli never played a down and Young fought injuries all season. For 2003, the injury plagued Boselli is penciled in as the first string left tackle (I’ll have to see it to believe it) and Ryan Young has joined his former coach (Parcells) in Dallas.

To address this obvious need the team brought in an experienced RT in Greg Randall and an experienced RG in Zach Wieggert (JAX). To make sure they got someone that can play in the NFL at each position on the offensive line, the Texans spent most of their mid-round draft selecting linemen. At this time there’s no word on Boselli’s annual shoulder/knee problems. If he can’t go, Jimmy Hearndon will (again) hold the starting LT spot. Good luck, David Carr; don’t let that insurance lapse.

TE: With Billy Miller a restricted free agent, the Texans took out some insurance by drafting Bennie Joppru in the second round. Miller was a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners in 2002 and like most restricted free agents coming off a good year, he’d like to get paid. If the team signs him early and gets him into camp, Miller is one of those fantasy dark horses that will give owners value late in the draft. If he holds out, then Joppru (a pretty decent receiving tight end out of Michigan) will get his chance in camp.

RB: In 2002, the Texans were last in rushing. Having two back-up tackles starting on an expansion team may have had plenty to do with it, but the Texans were concerned enough with their runningback stable to bring in Stacy Mack from Jacksonville and use a fourth round pick on a runningback. James Allen and Jonathan Wells have plenty to worry about as Wells has yet another experienced back to contend with this year and Allen (last year’s starter) moves to third on the depth chart. Mack has plenty of mileage on the tires and may only be a temporary fix. He has the size to pick up blitzers and the experience to know where they’re coming from. Wells or Davis may be the future featureback for this team if they settle down and pick up the pass blocking schemes. Until then, they’re just another reason why QB David Carr’s getting killed every Sunday.

WR: Corey Bradford was a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners last year. He may not have been your first choice to start, but he showed he could be productive as a number one receiver and an off-week fill-in or third receiver for fantasy teams.

Finding another receiving threat was one of the Texans highest priorities this off-season; and boy are they bringing a lot of them to minicamp this year. The last I counted, the team had no less than 13 receivers on the roster. Houston would really like first round pick Andre Johnson to take the position by storm, but most rookie WRs don’t produce right away. If not Johnson, then you’re looking at journeymen like Jabar Gaffney and JaJuan Dawson to fill the second receiving role. I wouldn’t expect either player to suddenly find their form and start lighting up the league.

Defense: The Texans spent most of the 2003 off-season trying to replace ROLB Jeff Posey. Posey, the team’s best rusher, moved on to Buffalo leaving a huge gap in a zone-blitz defense. To plug the hole, Houston brought in both Patrick Chuckwurah and Charlie Clemons and drafted Antwan Peek in the third round. Clemons is a natural defensive end and more suited to playing with his hand down. Chuckwurah is more of a standup linebacker. This may end up being a platooning situation as neither player’s the whole package. Clemons has never been a consistently effective pass rusher and Chuckwurah had better learn to rush because he isn’t a great tackler. The two free agents picked up on the left side (Taylor and Wilson) are there to motivate yet another ex-Viking (Kailee Wong). I wouldn’t expect either free agent to be a factor this year.

Offensive Line: The only significant off-season move for the club was the release of Waverley Jackson. The rest of the cast remains the same with Freitas and Sciullo brought in to learn the system and provide depth.

And speaking of Dungyball…You can’t say that the Colts offensive personnel had embraced a more conservative offensive scheme in 2002. Head shaking and bitching on the sidelines not to mention a punter calling out the head coach during the off-season isn’t what I would call “love”. Although the head coach swore that he would not change the offense, if you caught a Colts game in 2001 and 2002 you’d see the difference. To make matters worse, the head coach’s old team just won a Super Bowl a year after Dungy was shown the door. As if this fire needed any more fuel. Watch the Colts during the pre-season carefully. If they’re still feeling pissy you might want to take that into consideration on your draft day.

TE: The consensus this time last year was that the Colts loss of their starting blocking tight end would be a good thing for Marcus Pollard. The working theory being that he would be the team’s second receiver. As it turned out, Pollard became the Colts favorite blocking tight end and the dreams of fantasy owners did three circles around the bowl before heading straight down the toilet.

So the Colts use their first round pick to take receiving tight end Iowa TE Dallas Clark and it looks like Pollard owners got screwed again. If Clark pans out as a receiver the best your going to get is another situation where both players will split catches.

WR: And this team’s been looking for a number two WR for how long now? All world WR Marvin Harrison was drafted in ’96 and since then the teams been having open tryouts at the other receiver spot. Quadry Ismail was just the latest to flame out.

The contenders this year are Reggie Wayne, who spent the past two years getting every chance to claim the job…and blowing it, and free agent Brandon Stokely who was a disappointment in Baltimore (but then again, who isn’t). If neither of these guys is the answer then you’re looking for a winner from among a fist-full of free agents. The way I see it, it’s Wayne’s job until he proves otherwise, but don’t expect big things this year.

RB: Using the theory that it takes a year for a player to come back after a major knee surgery, then RB Edgerrin James should be in form this year. Unfortunately, his fullback won’t be there to open holes for him. Jim Finn will try his luck in New York and two new players (Detron Smith and Tom Lopienski) will battle it out for the roster spot. It’s a good thing the Colts play lots of one back sets.

Defense: The Colts albatross in recent years, the team’s new-found commitment to playing sound defense was fortified by a number of new personnel. Gone are DE James Cannida and starting MLB Mike Peterson. To fill their shoes the team brought in a veteran (Nelson) and a rookie (Whiteside) to compete for the starting MLB spot. Nelson should get the nod here. In 2002, Cannida played when Larry Triplet was injured (meaning most of the season) and didn’t show enough when on the field to earn a roster spot this year.

The team’s unhappiness with the play of SS Cory Bird led to two players (Coady and Doss) brought in to compete for his position. Coady is first on the depth chart followed by Doss and then Bird. Coady joins the team from the Titans, but will be challenged by the rookie Doss who, despite his size, is a much better tackler. I wouldn’t be surprised if Doss isn’t the regular SS by the end of the season.

Offensive Line: Who’s left? Ravaged by the cap and free agency, the Jaguars are in a rebuilding cycle. Gone from last year’s offensive line are starting RT Zach Wiegert, starting LT Todd Fordham, and C John Wade. If you’re an older, fragile QB like Mark Brunell that’s not a good thing. The rest of the line juggles around. Last year’s second round pick Mike Pearson becomes the everyday starter at LT; Jamar Nesbit was signed from Carolina to be the starting RG; Brad Meester learns to play center; Chris Naeole starts at LG; and the often injured Maurice Williams plays at RT. If any of these guys goes down, your guess is as good as mine.

TE: Kyle Brady is as full-time as it gets in the NFL.

RB: Marc Edwards was brought in to be the team’s starting fullback; that would count as an upgrade. Stacy Mack won’t be around this year to steal Fred Taylor’s goal line carries and the Jaguars used a 4th round pick to select LaBrandon Toefield. Toefield should beat out second-stringer Elvis Joseph and play behind the fragile one (Taylor) at RB making Toefield an interesting fantasy late round free agent prospect.

Defense: While the Jaguars offensive team goes through a transition period, Jacksonville’s defense is going to have to carry this football club. And if you’re going to build a team around defense, bringing in Hugh Douglas, Mike Peterson, Keith Mitchell, and James Trapp is a great way to start.

This could be a pretty good fantasy unit if they offense can move the ball a little and keep them fresh. Douglas joins Stroud, Henderson, and Coleman on the defensive line. Coleman is a crafty veteran and Stroud and Henderson were first round picks in ’01 and ’02. Coleman may be a little old and small, but the two big young kids in the center are going to suck up plenty of blockers. Douglas will play the rush end and should be free to tee off on the quarterback.

Of the others, Peterson comes over from the Colts and is penciled in as the starting MLB replacing TJ Slaughter who will fight hard in camp to regain his starting position. Mitchell will have a harder time winning a starting spot, but will provide needed depth at the OLB position regardless. Trapp’s job is to provide some veteran leadership in a secondary (outside of Fernando Bryant and Donovin Darius) that does not have that much playing time.

Offensive Line: You wouldn’t expect a lot of changes on a team that nearly made it to the Super Bowl and the Titans front line remains unchanged from a year ago. That’s a good thing considering the team’s two best offensive players (McNair and George) aren’t getting any younger. They’re not ancient by any measure, but after you get seven years under your belt in the NFL you’ve taken a lot of licks and the wear and tear takes its toll.

RB: Last year’s back-up RB Mike Green has moved on to Cincinnati. The team brought in Chris Brown to challenge John Simon as Eddie George’s caddie.

WR: The Kevin Dyson experience has finally ended. Moving on to Carolina should prove beneficial for the Titans and Dyson. He never got out from under the rap of having been drafted before Randy Moss and new scenery may jump-start his career. Then again, maybe not. FYI he’s already injured and out for the year.

Defense: The defense has changed little over the off-season. Maybe Jevon Kearse is finally healthy and may once again be “the freak”. He pairs with Kevin Carter whose mercurial career is once again on the upswing. The secondary is solid, although it plays too much two deep zone for my taste. Tank Williams becomes the every day starter at SS and he joins the other big hitters (Lance Schulters, Sumari Rolle, and Andre Dyson) in one of the league’s most physical secondaries.

AFC WEST

Offensive Line: One of the few areas on the Broncos that hasn’t seen major changes this off season, the 2002 starters are back for 2003. Always one of the league’s top units, they should leg whip open holes for rookie sensation RB Clinton Portis.

TE: Shannon Sharpe is once again a Bronco; all is well in the world. He pushes aside TEs Dwayne Carswell and Patrick Hape at least for another year. In his 13th season, you wonder how much Sharpe has left in the tank, but as obsessed as he is with his own conditioning he should hold off the kids for another year.

WR: It seems like Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey have been in the league forever. I was surprised to read Smith was only in his ninth year. McCaffrey enters his 12th year as the league’s number one tackling dummy (I don’t know how he gets up from all those highlight film shots he takes). With a year under his belt, last year’s number one pick Ashley Lelie should be more productive this year. Given McCaffrey’s age, the team would like Lelie to make a run at his job this year. Watch his progress in camp to see how this one plays out.

RB: Clinton Portis made fantasy owners look smart last year. Starting camp 3rd (at best) on the depth chart last summer, he was starting by the middle of the season and never looked back. His production made Orlandis Gary expendable and Terrell Davis retirement worthy. Mike Anderson will play fullback this year and KaRon Coleman and fourth round pick Quentin Griffin will back up Portis.

Defense: Cap problems and a bunch of aging free agents forced the Broncos hand this off-season. Two of their starting defensive linemen (DT Keith Washington and DE Kavika Pittman) are long gone and Denver spent most of their draft picking players to replace them. He of the bad back, DT Darrell Gardener, was signed to immediately replace Washington. When Garner can play, he can still play well; but it requires a needle before games and no practice between games to get him on the field.

The secondary also took some hits. CB Tyrone Poole has left and a free agent from ’01 Kelly Hearndon has his starting spot. In fact, other than the other starter, Deltha O’Neal, the team doesn’t have a single drafted player at CB on the roster. BTW, that sound you hear is the Oakland passing game licking their chops.

Offensive Line: Best unit in the league a year ago. No changes this year.

WR: And that’s the last time I ever say anything nice about Johnny Morton. One of my sleeper picks from 2002, Morton finally got his chance to be a number one receiver on a rising team and rewarded my kind words by laying a Mothra-sized egg right on the field every Sunday. I still don’t get how this offense, supposedly patterned after the Rams, is going to be the next Greatest Show on Turf with Morton, Eddie Kennison, Snoop Minnis, and Sylvester Morris running patterns. At times, the team’s most productive receiver was fifth stringer Marc Boerigter. Go figure.

RB: No, Priest Holmes, you’re not getting paid. That was the message sent on draft day and the Chiefs used their number one pick to select bruising RB Larry Johnson. Rather than using the pick for need (pick any position on defense) the team selected the highest rated RB in the draft.

And you know what, a medical miracle happened. Suddenly, the hip injury Holmes sustained at the end of last season became a whole lot better and Holmes announced he would be at camp. ‘Got to love that modern medicine.

So, now what? My opinion is, besides the whole contract angle, the team really doesn’t believe Holmes body can take 30 touches worth of beating a game. You may see a Barry Sanders situation here where Johnson becomes the short-yardage goal line back and Holmes plays between the 20’s. If this scenario plays out, Holmes won’t have the obscene TD numbers he’s had the previous two years.

Defense: The Chiefs defense didn’t need a band aid this off-season, it needed complete reconstructive surgery. In 2002, they were simply brutal. This was a team that couldn’t even slow down opposing receivers without playing eight men in pass coverage. When they did contain enemy receivers they did so by watching helplessly as opposing runningbacks played keep away from the Chiefs offense, putting up long, clock consuming drives.

The two biggest changes were the addition of DE Vonnie Holiday and LB Shawn Barber. Holliday is a big body that, when his knees are healthy, can pressure the pocket. Barber brings speed and aggression to the linebacking corps. Dexter McCleon immediately upgrades the secondary although he’s currently listed behind William Bartee on the depth Chart. You might as well say that, given the Chiefs’ 2002 performance, no one’s job is safe this summer and McCleon has as good a shot as anyone to be a starter in September.

I have my doubts Kansas City has done enough to overtake the Raiders or the upstart Chargers, but they shouldn’t be the embarrassment on defense they were in 2002 either.

Offensive Line: Aside from the Pre Super Bowl meltdown by C Baret Robbins this unit had an outstanding 2002 season. When they were good, the Raiders were very, very good; and when they were bad QB Rich Gannon was horrible. Big, deep and powerful, Oakland’s front wall gave Gannon all day to pick apart secondaries last year.

WR: The emergence of WR Jerry Porter gave the Raiders yet another receiving threat. He’s clearly the heir apparent once Rice and Brown decide to retire (if that ever happens) or fossilize. Meanwhile, he’s was worth an emergency fantasy start as the third receiver on the league’s best passing offense last year and may be better this season.

RB: The Eagles and the Raiders swapped fullbacks this off-season with Jon Ritchie going East and Cecil Martin becoming the new starter in Oakland. This looks like a wash to me. Martin is a better receiver (as if the Raiders needed one more) but Ritchie is the better blocker.

Defense: Okay, here’s hoping that I never have to pronounce or spell some of these names ever again. I think Al Davis was screwing with the media this year. My thoughts go out to the Bay Area’s sports writers, just try and say those last three names three times fast.

Nevertheless, the Raiders defense was hit hard in free agency. Meat-mountain Sam Adams will be bellying up to the buffet barge elsewhere this year and defensive line teammate Reagan Upshaw now calls Washington home. That’s two big holes to fill. DT Rod Coleman will be called on to fill the hole in the interior line and Tony Bryant gets the start at DE. Both players are younger and faster than the veterans they replace are, but they still have to prove that they rate a double team.

The Raiders secondary needed its own M*A*S*H unit in 2002. There were times when the only legitimate, healthy CB on the roster was Tory James and he’s gone to Cincinnati. CB Charles Woodson and FS Rod Woodson were in and out of the hospital for most of the campaign and Phillip Buchanon went though the normal rookie learning process. If the secondary stays healthy this year, there may be no stopping the Raiders.

Offensive Line: The Chargers gave the Raiders all they could handle until injuries hit the squad last year. The antithesis of Oakland’s spread it out and throw it around style of play, the Chargers dared defenses to stop their powerful running game-most couldn’t. A no-name group of players, San Diego has quietly built one of the better units in the NFL.

TE: Stephen Alexander is the latest player to try out at the position. The Chargers haven’t gotten production from that position since the “Air” days. Alexander gets hurt a lot making Justin Peelle an interesting free agent prospect sometime during the fantasy season.

WR: The Chargers stole WR David Boston from the Cardinals. Actually, given the Cardinals’ ownership problems, they “took advantage of” if your kind or “screwed them like they were John Elway running a gauntlet of drunken Raider fans armed with plungers and junior high anatomy text books” if you’re not would also apply. Needless to say the best wide receiver from two years ago is an upgrade from the departed Curtis Conway. Off the field character and injury problems may have led to the one-sided trade, but the Chargers don’t seem to mind right now.

Boston better stay on the field because there’s no depth behind him. Tim Dwight will hold down the second spot and after that it’s anyone’s guess. Reche Coldwell is still a project, but if he can’t play the third receiver then all bets are off.

Defense: Three fantasy favorites are gone this year; CB Alex Molden has joined the Redskins, S Rodney Harrison is a Patriot and number 55 Junior Seau moves on to Miami. Rodney Jenkins has also left the team.

Needless to say, there will be some fresh faces in the defensive huddle this year. Donnie Edwards will be the new defensive leader and he’ll be teamed with Ben Leber and Zeke Moreno at linebacker. Tay Cody will fight for one of the starting cornerback jobs and CB Quentin Jammer will have to match-up with the opposition’s best receiver. Ryan NcNeil and Rodgers Beckett will try and fill Harrison’s shoes.

The team was so unsure of it’s secondary that it used nearly its entire draft to plug holes. If injuries hit the secondary, some of the kids are going to line up against the Raiders hall-of-famers one day. If that happens, it’s up to the Chargers ground game to keep opposing offenses off the field and shorten the game.