We're a day away from yet another big game for the 49ers.  The team is 2-2 and as with any early .500 team, there is cause of optimism and cause for pessimism.  I remain optimistic, although the offensive line is not giving me a lot of reason to.

Heading into tomorrow's game I'm not sure how to describe my expectations.  The Patriots were annihilated by the Dolphins but they're still coached by Bill Belichick and the hooded one had two weeks to prepare for the 49ers.  I do not expect the 49ers to roll out a 38-13 victory, that's for sure.

We're only a quarter of the way through, but it's already been a loooooong season for Tully Banta-Cain.  While nothing's guaranteed, I think it's safe to say he'll be active tomorrow given Manny Lawson's injury.

Speaking of injuries, nothing surprising in the injury report for this week.  Lawson is listed as doubtful and all three Patriots mentioned Thursday (LB Eric Alexander, CB Lewis Sanders adn WR Kelley Washington) are all doubtful.

Last week Mike Nolan said he used a challenge because he wanted to call a timeout anyways and figured why not try and get a reversal.  Mike Sando put together a breakdown of the use of challenges by Nolan and Belichick.

Adalius Thomas and Mike Nolan know each other pretty well from their time in Baltimore together.  Probably why they tried to sign him last year (that and the fact that he's really good).

49ers offensive line a major concern: Thank you Captain Obvious.

Patriots scout.com site on 5 reasons the Patriots would lose tomorrow.

Brent Jones will be an honorary captain for tomorrow's game.

Jamie Martin didn't think there were any juicy theories about Mike Martz and SpyGate.

Coming off an ugly game against the Dolphins, the Patriots rush defense will have it all it can handle in Frank Gore.

This is good timing with Steve Young getting his jersey retired tomorrow.

A general look at the 49ers by a Massachusetts newspaper that thinks we're a team making progress.

Kentwan Balmer is one of nine 2008 first round draft picks not to make a start this season.  Although he did get 20 snaps last Sunday and is slowly seeing his role expand.

Brief discussion about halfway down about potential trick plays by the 49ers.  If they do decide to run some direct snaps like the Dolphins did, I really hope they use Michael Robinson or Arnaz Battle for them.  Although apparently Frank Gore thinks he can throw the ball pretty well.

I was going to open this morning with some preview stuff about the Seahawks.  However, on my way into school today I saw the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle and an an article by Nancy Gay titled, "On the NFL: Give the 49ers' and Raiders' owners an earful."

So, when I got to school I check out the article at sfgate.com and it left me with mixed emotions:

If you are sincerely disgusted with the state of your once-mighty franchise, be it the 49ers or the Raiders, then take action . . . Do something about it. Make the owners, whose teams opened the 2008 season with maddeningly predictable results, explain themselves to you.

First off, I don't think five ugly turnovers is the most predictable result, but I realize the point she is making.  The 49ers struggled in their opener, although they certainly weren't embarrassed quite like the Raiders on national tv.

Demand that John, Jed and Denise York get microphones, take hard questions and give honest answers about their football product, a 49ers team filled with high draft picks and big-money free agents who consistently fail to deliver . . .

[T]he Yorks turned over a football dynasty to a carnival barker, Terry Donahue, and a Stanford MBA with zero football background, Paraag Marathe. When it became obvious that Donahue had to go, the Yorks made an even more catastrophic mistake.

They turned over their football operation to one man, Mike Nolan, who had not been an NFL head coach and had zero front-office experience. When Nolan showed he was in over his head, the Yorks refused to fire him as head coach. Then they promoted Nolan's right-hand man and a college scout, Scot McCloughan, to general manager.

I don't think anybody will disagree that Terry Donahue was a joke.  As far as Mike Nolan is concerned, my thoughts are pretty simple.  He showed improvement from year 1 to year 2 as Alex Smith appeared to be moving in the right direction.  Ownership was willing to invest in a big time free agent like Nate Clements and hopes were high going into 2007. 

That season was obviously a disaster and I won't try and color it any other way.  Alex Smith regressed due to injury (and whatever other reasons), the offensive line was a mess and there some big communication problems.  However, I think ownership was correct in not firing Nolan.  He'd shown improvement the year before so I have absolutely no problem with him being back in 2008.  If the team starts off 0-5 or 0-6 or whatever, then it would certainly be reasonable to fire him.

As for the lack of firepower in this draft, I'm not 100% sure what to think yet.  There were guys like Quentin Groves and Limas Sweed the team might have been able to grab who might have been more immediate impact players.  However, even though this team struggled, I believe that many of the players in place after free agency and before the draft were not guys you'd expect to get beat out by rookies. 

A guy like Aubrayo Franklin certainly could have been and I really would have liked a huge nose tackle, as opposed to an apparent tweener type in Kentwan Balmer.  Outside linebacker was another spot for competition, but I think the team was high enough on Parys Haralson that they didn't want to grab a guy like Groves.  It's only been one game but Haralson has certainly stepped up so far.

So what do you think of what Nancy Gay has to say?  The Raiders are clearly a train wreck with Al Davis running things.  They've had coaching issues even after a decent first step by Lane Kiffin.  It's pretty easy to point out issues with the Raiders.  However, with the 49ers it's not quite as clear.  Stadium-issues aside, the Yorks have invested in personnel.  In reality I think is more a referendum on Mike Nolan than on the personnel side.  I think she's incorrect in her assessments of the 49ers draft picks.  The 49ers situation is not black and white, even with their struggles last year.

Nonetheless, I'd imagine with this topic people are strongly in one camp or another.

For the most part, the 49ers depth chart is relatively settled.  We know who will be starting at corner and who will be coming in as the 3rd DB.  We know our quarterback, our running backs and so on.  Wide receiver certainly is up in the air as we've discussed ad nauseum.

Along the defensive line, there isn't uncertainty, but there are some interesting pieces-parts to mix and match depending on the situation.  The depth chart has been updated since final cuts and we're left with two versions according to ESPN and the 49ers home page:

49ers home page
LDE: Ray McDonald - Kentwan Balmer

NT: Isaac Sopoaga/Aubrayo Franklin (injured) - Ronald Fields

RDE: Justin Smith - Kentwan Balmer

ESPN
LDE: Isaac Sopoaga - Kentwan Balmer

NT: Aubrayo Franklin - Ronald Fields

RDE: Justin Smith - Ray McDonald

I pulled up my TiVoed 49ers-Bears game from Week 3.  Since the starters were slated to play into the third quarter, it seems like we would get the best idea of who is where on the defensive line; particularly since everybody on the line was healthy going into the game.

When Fox ran the defensive players across the screen they went with ESPN's depth chart. However, that doesn't tell the tale if you look at the first Chicago series. 

First play of the game: They used the  4-3, lining up McDonald and Smith on the ends, with Franklin and Sopoaga playing the defensive tackle positions.

Second play of the game: They switched to the 3-4 with Justin Smith lined up at outside linebacker.  Franklin played nose tackle, while McDonald and Sopoaga played on the ends.

Third play of the game: They went with a nickel defense on 3rd and 8, with two linebackers and four down linemen.  The four linemen were lined up with a big gap in the middle and two on each side of the gap.  They went with Justin Smith and Ray McDonald in the defensive tackle positions and Roderick Green as one of the defensive ends.  I think Parys Haralson might have been the other but I'm not sure (might have been Balmer).  Even though both our linebackers they were clearly down linemen rushing the passer and both have filled this role in the past.

This is clearly a small sample size, but even before this it was pretty clear the 3-4 and 4-3 would be mixed in together liberally.  On the one hand, as the three plays above show, that certainly could create some confusion as to the roles of each defensive lineman (and even some of the linebackers).  On the other hand, the team will have plenty of opportunities to mix in fresh personnel.

So this hasn't really answered our initial question regarding the depth chart.  Ray McDonald clearly will be receiving a lot of playing time and the team has indicated they'll mix him in quite often with Justin Smith.  His biggest impact will be in pass-rush situations, but he's got the talent to be an every down lineman.

The 4-3 depth chart is easier to predict since they can move Sopoaga over to defensive tackle and slot in McDonald.  Smith is on the line and Parys Haralson/Roderick Green fill the OLB slot.  In the 3-4, I wouldn't be surprised to see Justin Smith getting more than half the OLB snaps in order to keep McDonald in the game.

The 3-4 is not designed to create a lot of defensive linemen sacks.  The down linemen open the door for the linebackers to make plays.  However, due to the mixture of defensive fronts the 49ers will be showing, I believe Ray McDonald is the key to the 49ers pass rush in 2008.  He's got a chance to be the impact pass-rushing defensive lineman the 49ers need.

The 49ers got through their second day of padded practice with a few bumps and bruises but some interesting developments as well.

1. Mr. Goldson, please answer the white courtesy phone.  Mark Roman had to sit out today's practice with a hamstring strain, meaning Dashon Goldson practiced with the first team defense.  As long as Roman gets back to healthy I'd imagine he'll hang on to the starting free safety job for at least the beginning of the season.  However, if Goldson continues to make plays, as he's done in practice so far, he could snatch the job away.  Of course, if both are playing well, I'd imagine the team would find ways to get both in the lineup.  Goldson played a good bit of cornerback in college so he has the necessary flexibility.

2. Now if only Jennings could stay healthy and keep his head on straight, for crying out loud. Both MM (see the comments at the bottom) and Barrows have pointed out that Jonas Jennings has been the best offensive lineman in camp, with MM also giving a plug to Eric Heitmann.  Heitmann struggled last season after coming back from a busted up leg.  Jennings has had off the field issues and injury issues crop up ever since he signed his 7-year deal with the 49ers.  If these two guys can stay healthy and have bounce back years, I think this offensive line goes from weakness to strength.  Staley still has to prove himself at left tackle and Baas/Wragge/Rachal have their work cut out for them.  However, the talent is there for the 49ers to have a very good offensive line this season.  That would be HUGE for whomever is leading the team at QB.

3. QB numbers. Maiocco has been so kind as to provide his unofficial pass statistics for the 11-on-11 dills: Alex Smith is 65 of 99 (65.7%) with 1 TD and 3 INTs.  Shaun Hill is 60 of 94 (63.8%) with 1 TD and 4 INTs.  A couple things to keep in mind on those statistics: 1) The 49ers have worked inside the redzone in only one practice, 2) It's not a TD if it's not caught in the TD or there is no defender between the receiver and the end zone when he catches the ball.  So those numbers certainly have to be taken with a grain of salt.

4. Thank the lord he didn't pull a Jay Moore. Kentwan Balmer injured his ankle when a teammate fell on it during a running drill.  There were worries it was a high ankle sprain, but it appears to only be a mild sprain.  Moore suffered a high ankle sprain last year and missed the whole season.

5. Some other injury news.  Arnaz Battle was held out of practice but it appears to be a simple precautionary measure.  He has had knee injuries and other bumps and bruises in the past.  Battle has reached that point where he's turning into an established veteran where you know what you're gonna get from him.  You never want a guy losing reps in practice, but if it keeps him healthy I suppose it works.

I wanted to wrap up with an interesting quote from Mike Nolan after practice:

"Yesterday we had three turnovers and a couple of incomplete passes that when we get our timing and all down will be big gains. They turn into interceptions because they bounce off a guy’s pads or something happened that we might have gone to an inside guy instead of the outside with the ball. Just little things that when we get it down is an opportunity for a big play. We have to understand that. Guys come out and say, ‘Well I saw this with turnovers.’ But when you analyze it, it’s the right decision and makes us a big play that we didn’t have before. So there’s excitement. The guys see it, but you have to point it out so they’re not wondering, ‘Did I really see that, or did I not?’ When the coach talks about it, it’s a little bit more real than them looking at each other and saying, ‘Did you almost make a big play?’ ‘Yes, I did.’ Players are always going to say, ‘Well I almost hit it out of the park.’ And they popped out. It’s not really the same thing.”

This is one thing we all have to keep in mind as we roll through training camp.  With the new offense, it will definitely take some time for the offense to come together.  Mike Martz mentioned he had never been in a situation like this with an even split of snaps between the top 2 QBs.  I certainly hope that isn't detrimental to the development of some sort of cohesiveness in the offense.

This continued development of the offense will be something to keep an eye on through each othe preseason games.  I definitely want to try and do some charting of plays and see what kind of success Smith and Hill have early on.  It's only preseason, but for a small stretch Smith/Hill will still see #1 defenses so there should be some valuable analysis available.

[EDITOR'S NOTE 7/29 11:40PM: I've noticed many people googling "49ers training camp" are coming across this post.  If you end up here and have not been to Niners Nation before, feel free to explore the proverbial studio space.  If you want to leave comments here, scroll to the bottom and you'll see an option for registering.  Registration is free and it gives you the power of commenting and writing your own Fan Posts, which are like blogs within the blog.  Anyways, hope you enjoy your time here, as we've got a great little community that is growing every day.  We'd love to hear from you.]

The long "winter" that is the NFL offseason is finally at an end.  While games do not kick for another couple weeks, practice is officially underway today.  Thursday saw the 49ers report for duty and take care of phsyicals and whatnot.  Thankfully all the rookies are under contract and in camp.  To throw some cliches your way, in July everybody's a contender.  Some more than others, but every team has some reason or another for hope.  The 49ers hope comes in the form of Mike Martz and Justin Smith among many others.

We've broken down different training camp battles (twice).  We've looked at the new 49ers on the field and amongst the coaching staff.  We've even looked at possible best and worst case scenarios.  Consider this post then a quick overview for those who may have been away from Niners Nation awhile, as well as general info on training camp in Santa Clara.

Practice Facilities
Marie P. DeBartolo Sports Center
Santa Clara, CA
8 practices open to the public: July 25, 26, 27, 28, 30; August 1, 2,3

John Clayton with quick thoughts on the 49ers training camp and things to do away from camp:

• What John Clayton says: What's better than 49er camp? First, it's located on the outside of Great America amusement park, which could make for a great doubleheader for the entire family. Catch a morning or afternoon practice with one of the up-and-coming teams in football and slide over to the theme park. The 49ers train at their headquarters and have a nice setup for fans, with stands and refreshments.
• What to do besides training camp: Santa Clara is 45 minutes from downtown San Francisco; visit 49ers' camp in the morning and shop in Union Square in the afternoon. Other must-see places in San Francisco include Alcatraz, Pier 39, Golden Gate Park and the Ferry Building. Back at team headquarters, the Santa Clara Golf & Tennis Club is located but a few feet away, should campgoers wish to take some swings while in town. For a true taste of Silicon Valley history, the Intel Museum also is just down the street. And nearby Triton Museum of Art offers free admission.

Veteran Additions
Isaac Bruce, WR
DeShaun Foster, RB
Bryant Johnson, WR
J.T. O'Sullivan, QB
LaJuan Ramsey, DT
Alan Reuber, OT
Allen Rossum, KR/PR
Barry Sims, OT
Justin Smith, DE
Dontarrious Thomas, LB

2008 Draft Class
Kentwan Balmer, DT/DE
Chilo Rachal, G/T
Reggie Smith, CB/S
Cody Wallace, C
Josh Morgan, WR
Larry Grant, LB

Training Camp Battles to watch
QB1: Alex Smith vs. Shaun Hill vs. J.T. O'Sullivan (no snickering please)
Ted Linebacker: Jeff Ulbrich vs. Larry Grant vs. Brandon Moore
RG (winner does battle with Baas): Chilo Rachal vs. Tony Wragge
CB #2/3: Walt Harris vs. Shawntae Spencer vs. Tarell Brown vs. Reggie Smith
WR #2/#3/#4: Bryant Johnson vs. Arnaz Battle vs. Ashley Lelie vs. Jason Hill vs. Josh Morgan
FS: Mark Roman vs. Dashon Goldson
ROLB: Tully Banta-Cain vs. Jay Moore vs. Parys Haralson
World Wide Supremacy: Patrick Willis and Andy Lee vs. God (trick question, Lee and Willis ARE God)

We'll have wall to wall coverage of training camp.  I'm going to attend one of the eight practices, although that may expand to more if I have time.  In the meantime, if ANYBODY here attends training camp, we'd love to hear your thoughts in a Fan Post.  In the meantime I'll be scouring the Internet for information as things happen.  I hope everyone is as excited as I am for the return of football!

And of course, if you haven't yet signed up, the random drawing for spots in the first Niners Nation Fantasy Football League will be held July 31.  For those not selected, additional leagues will be created to fill all demand and there will be equal prizes to all winners.

Good news 49ers fans.  Kentwan Balmer has come to terms with the team on a five year contract worth $8 million.  The deal could reach as high as $11 million if he reaches incentives including winning Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl appearances and playing time incentives.

"I'm glad it's over and I can just get to work playing football," said Balmer, just minutes after signing. "It was definitely important for me to be here day one, and that was something my agent and myself both stressed. I'm sure the team was eager to hear that as well, and we got it done as expected."

With that signing, the 49ers have their entire draft class into camp on time, ahead of tomorrow's first practice.

So the question for the team and Balmer is what can we expect from the young man?  On the depth chart, he's listed behind Aubrayo Franklin at nose tackle.  During the post-draft minicamp there was talk of him getting some time at defensive end.  Where does he end up and what kind of contribution will we see both immediately and into the future.  Is he the nose tackle of the future or will he end up as a defensive end?  If he doesn't bulk up, he seems just a little undersized (295 lbs) for a nose tackle in the 3-4.  Thoughts?

After taking my time getting through the intro information and explanations, I finally got down to business in Pro Football Prospectus 2008.  Each team section had general essays (the 49ers essay was by Kevin Lynch of the Chronicle).  After that they threw out a variety of statistical information about the team and individual players.  One of my favorite sections was a discussion of strategic tendencies by a team as compared to the rest of the league.

Running on Second and Long
As a football fan, one of the most frustrating plays is the running play on 2nd and long.  I realize you can't always pass, but for a poor offense that often seems like a give-up type of play.  I can't count the number of times the 49ers had 2nd and long and handed off to Gore to cut a 2nd and 14 to 3rd and 9.

Well, the 49ers ran on second and long 42% of the time, good for sixth in the NFL.  Would you consider this a lack of confidence in Smith or whomever else was QB?  My 2007 PFP is at home so when I get back I'm gonna check it out and see what the numbers were in 2006.

Sacks by LB/DB
We all realize the 49ers generated very little in terms of a pass rush last season.  It shows in the statistics as well.  For the average team, defensive linemen had 62.2% of their teams sacks.  The 49ers defensive linemen contributed 40.7% of their sacks.  In the straight up 3-4 the defensive linemen don't get as many sacks as the 4-3, but even if the 49ers ran the 4-3 100% of the time last season I don't imagine their defensive linemen would have loaded up on sacks.  This stat will be interesting to watch this season with the addition of Justin Smith and Kentwan Balmer.  It's especially interesting to see where Smith gets any of his sacks.  He may be lining up at outside linebacker or in some sort of elephant role, so we'll see where he gets pressure.

Runs, Power situation
A power situation is third or fourth down with 1-2 yards to go, or at the goal line on any down with 1-2 yards to go.  In this situation, the 49ers ran the ball 47% of the time, good for 30th in the league.  The average team ran in this situation 62% of the time.  So, does the 49ers relative lack of rushing in this situation indicate a lack of confidence in the offensive line?  When you've got a guy like Frank Gore, I'd imagine you'd want to use him as much as possible.  One possible explanation I just thought of was that maybe trailing so often they wanted to pick up larger chunks of yards and a short run for a first down would take too much time of the clock given the situation.  Any thoughts?

As the 49ers signed Josh Morgan and Larry Grant, they have continually stated that they expect no problems getting their remaining draft picks into camp.  To date, Kentwan Balmer, Chilo Rachal, Reggie Smith and Cody Wallace remain unsigned 9 days before training camp.

Well, we may have somewhat of an explanation, at least in regards to first and second round picks.  Tip of the cap to Bleeding Green Nation, for posting a link to John Clayton's blog post about the issue.  With only 3 first round picks and 1 second round pick under contract, it is definitely an important issue for the entire league:

On Tuesday, the NFLPA filed a brief seeking a decision of a Special Master. Without getting too complicated, the dispute revolves around the interpretation guaranteed one-time bonuses and the way those guarantees are interpreted within the rookie pool.

Under the rookie pool, base salaries can only increase 25 percent per year, but agents found a loophole in which a draft choice can receive a one-time bonus and guarantee it in the final year of the contract. This particularly affects second-round choices because they sign four-year deals. The problem in this summer's negotiations is that there is no collective bargaining agreement in 2011 so the fourth year of the contract can't be involved in any kind of guarantees.

While it is possible to use the second year as a guarantee, agents don't consider that an option because few teams cut a first- or a second-rounder before that. The NFLPA and the Management Council will present their interpretations and await a decision by the Special Master next week.

The 49ers don't report to camp until the end of next week, so an early week decision should give them time to wrap things up.  Clayton specifically mentions the problems would apply mostly to teams like the Redskins who report Sunday the 20th.  I'd hope the 49ers have multiple deals in place to be signed that could work in the event of any outcome.  I'll definitely keep an eye on this going into next week.

Melvin Oliver is a guy who raises a lot of questions for the 49ers.  He played a lot his rookie season in 2006.  He followed that up with a torn ACL, missing the entire 2007 campaign.  I started this blog in late December 2006 and by the time we really got going, Oliver was out for the count.  In the NFL, if you're not a name-brand player, a missed season can be a career killer.  When you're not a starter, it's easy to get shuffled out of the rotation.  Manny Lawson had the injury issue last season, but he's slotted right back where he was before.  In a Q&A, Maiocco made the best point:

Question: How do you see Melvin Oliver fitting in on the "D" line? and is he pretty much ready for camp? Love your blog, keep up the good work.

Answer: He's getting there. I think it'll be difficult for Oliver to stick. Remember, he started a lot when the 49ers played primarily 4-3. I don't believe he is suited very well for a 3-4.

While you can never have too much depth, the 49ers are in an interesting position along the defensive line.  The switch to a 3-4 has reduced the need for defensive lineman.  However, if Justin Smith is going to see a lot of time at outside linebacker, an extra defensive lineman would be very important.  The problem for Oliver is that he'll be competing with Ray McDonald AND Kentwan Balmer for backup snaps at the end.  If Balmer gets time at nose tackle that would certainly open up some more time.

What does Oliver bring to the table?  His scouting report said the following:

He has good size, plays with leverage and can anchor against the run at end. He takes adequate pursuit angles and can close down cutback lanes. He has decent lower-body strength and flashes the ability to collapse the pocket. He has some lateral mobility, can redirect inside and runs line stunts well . . . He anticipates the snap well enough and has some gap-shooting quickness when he slides inside. He is maturing and should continue to improve. But Oliver lacks ideal quickness and speed at end. He doesn't have ideal size at tackle and doesn't shed blocks quickly.

I think the biggest problem Oliver faces is the simple numbers game.  It'd be nice to keep him around, but not at the cost of another position.  Of course, it also depends on how much confidence you have in Balmer and McDonald as back ups.  McDonald showed a lot late last season.  However, Balmer is a rookie with a lot to learn.  The defensive line is built on quality rotations, so that is definitely a big factor playing Oliver's favor.  Right now, I don't think he makes the roster, but it's a lot closer than I thought when I first did the 53-man roster projection.

I like to poke around the various SB Nation football sites to see what's going on in the rest of the NFL world, and more specifically, to drum up ideas for posts.  Over at Dawgs by Nature, they had a post discussing a semi-regular feature over at cbs.sportsline.com.  Pete Prisco is doing a feature ranking the different offensive and defensive units around the NFL.  While it is just as random as the next guy, I was curious to see what he had to say about the 49ers.  While he had some positive points, the rankings are not quite so positive, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  One drawback to his rankings is that he ranked the teams alphabetically, so it requires a little bit of work to clear things up.  Rather than consider all the teams, I'll just throw up the NFC West rankings.

Offensive Line Rankings

Rating: 30

Best player: LT Joe Staley. Weak link: C Eric Heitmann.

The skinny: They will move Staley from right tackle to the left side. He played the right side as a rookie, but is more of a left tackle. Look for rookie Chilo Rachal to start at guard, although he has worked some at right tackle. The inside people are average at best. Rookie Cody Wallace could challenge Heitmann.

The OL rankings were published on June 2 and he still has Chilo Rachal slated to potentially start at guard.  The end of the OTAs will get that whole G/T business cleared up.

NFC West
Seattle: 11
Arizona: 20
St. Louis: 28

Defensive Line Rankings

Rating: 29

Best player: RE Justin Smith. Weak link: LE Kentwan Balmer or Ron Fields.

The skinny: The 49ers paid a lot for Smith, especially since he had two sacks last season. But they like his toughness. Balmer, the team's first-round pick, should be the starter at the other end spot. Fields will try to fend him off. Nose tackle will be a battle between Aubrayo Franklin and Isaac Sopoaga, who showed well when Franklin was hurt last season. The 49ers need to get more from outside linebacker Manny Lawson, who missed most of last season with an injury. Tully Banta-Cain has quickness on the other side.

Smith has been getting a lot of work at outside linebacker, which would certainly shake this up a little bit.  This breakdown was posted today and Prisco is under the impression that Sopoaga will be the nose tackle.  And of course there's no mention at all of Ray McDonald, who I see as a sleeper off the bench.

NFC West
Seattle: 7
Arizona: 20
St. Louis: 19

Obviously these are the random rankings of somebody with "insider access."  Unfortunately there are enough oversights by Prisco to leave them wide open to questioning.  Considering how poorly the units performed at times last year, it's easy to see that carrying over to preseason rankings this year.  The offensive line has as much to prove as anybody on this team.  The defensive line may take a little time to gell, but I think there is sufficient talent to make them a very interesting unit worth paying attention to going forward.