This, That, & Then Some

We've hit a lull in the NFL offseason. Up until now there had been some sort of story for us to follow and blow out of proportion. But now it seems like everything has been sewn up with one week before the first training camps open. Chris Johnson has reached an agreement with the Titans on his contract situation, Michael Vick had faded into the background once again, and the biggest holdout to speak of right now is Reggie Wayne, and that's not even a holdout yet. Albert Haynesworth is still a no show in Washington, but nobody really cares. And Favre watch is still going on, but I don't really care. Seeing as there is nothing big to talk about, here are a few things I've been thinking about:

• No first round draft picks have signed yet. This time last week I wouldn’t have been surprised, but camps are getting close. I doubt we'll see anything like the Michael Crabtree holdout of last year, but not all first round picks will be signed before they are supposed to report. Gerald McCoy recently said that he's waiting to see what happens with "King Sam [Bradford]" before he signs a deal. That's probably the case with many early picks. I'd really like to get inside some of these rookies' heads and learn just how much of a holdout is due to what their agent says or what the player really wants.
• Ray Rice recently said that he feels that he is an underrated running back. I'm a big fan of Rice and think he's going to have a very successful career, but to feel underrated after just two years of playing is ridiculous. In his first season he rushed for less than 500 yards as part of a running back by committee group. Last year was when he became a star, accounting for 2,041 yards from scrimmage. If you didn't know about him when the season ended you probably did after he ran over the Patriots for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That said, how many times have we seen guys in the NFL have huge years and then never play at the same level again? Anybody remember Derek Anderson? Rice is the fourth rated player in NFL.com fantasy rankings, and I'd say that that's good enough for now.
• Speaking of Ray Rice I just drafted my first of two fantasy teams the other day. I do one before camp starts and the other right before the season starts. Here's Team Broken Buckhalter:
• Tom Brady - QB
• Kevin Kolb - QB
• Ray Rice - RB
• Maurice Jones-Drew - RB
• Ronnie Brown - RB
• Ladanian Tomlinson - RB
• Greg Jennings - WR
• DeSean Jackson - WR
• Santana Moss - WR
• Steve Breaston - WR
• Eddie Royal - WR
• Chris Cooley - TE
• Zach Miller - TE
• Lawrence Tynes - K
• Chargers - DEF

I took a flier on a few players, most notably Tomlinson and Miller. Breaston, Kolb, and Moss and also a little risky, but I'm more confident in them. Rice and MJD are strong running backs (ranked 3rd and 4th overall) and Brown is an above average bench guy. All in all I think I'm set for a good year.