Summer Scramble: NFC South Burning Questions and Prediction

It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble, and today we look at some burning questions in the NFC South and offer a ridiculously early prediction of how the division will finish.

Will the Falcons turn Tony Gonzalez into a blocking tight end?

Atlanta runs the ball so much and so well with Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood that it's hard to imagine a 1,000-plus-yard receiving season like the ones Gonzalez used to have in Kansas City. But the Falcons didn't get Gonzalez to shore up their run blocking as much as to help avoid a Matt Ryan sophomore slump. The young quarterback was a revelation last year, and adding a veteran target of Gonzalez's caliber should only increase Ryan's comfort level in his second NFL season. The Falcons should be a run-first team, because it's their strength and because the less this defense is on the field, the better. But when Ryan has to make a play (especially down near the end zone), he's going to feel pretty good about having an option like Gonzalez to which to throw.

Can Jake Delhomme shake off last year's playoff meltdown?

The Panthers seem to think so, since they just extended their QB's contract through 2014 with an additional $20 million in guaranteed money. But there's no doubt that Delhomme's five-interception disaster against the Cardinals is stuck firmly in the memories of Delhomme, the Panthers and their fans as Carolina prepares for the 2009 season. The question is whether it was a fluky aberration or a sign that Delhomme, who wasn't too terrible but wasn't much better than average in the 2008 regular season, is on the decline. Like the Falcons, the Panthers have the advantage of being able to rely on a strong two-headed running game, with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart primed to share carries and take the load off of Delhomme's shoulders. But the Falcons' QB returns for 2009 feeling great about the way things went in 2008 and looking to build on it. The Panthers' QB returns for 2009 feeling rotten about the way things ended, and as soon as he has a bad game, half or series, the talk will once again turn to that playoff loss. These things have a way of not going away.

Can the Saints survive the first four weeks with no DEs?

Unlike their partners in the all-out pursuit of chemically assisted weight loss, Saints DEs Will Smith and Charles Grant can't count on the help of a Minnesota district court to get them out of their suspensions, and they will miss the first four games of the season. Those first four games aren't exactly a brutal stretch (they should win at least two of them and could go 3-1 without surprising anybody), but the absences of their two best defensive ends for a quarter of the season is just one of many defensive questions the Saints fans. The thought is that Gregg Williams as coordinator is enough of an upgrade to shake things up and improve the defense, but Williams is only going to go as far as his personnel will take him. The Saints have big question marks at linebacker and in the interior of the D-line as well, and while they addressed the secondary, they can't be sure what they're going to get from veteran Darren Sharper or rookie Malcolm Jenkins. You can look at the New Orleans defense and say it's improved from last year. But is it improved enough to get them into the playoffs?

Should the Buccaneers just throw Josh Freeman into the fire?

Probably, right? As long as the first-round pick shows some level of professional capability in training camp, what's to be lost by giving him the starting QB job and letting him get his feet wet right away? These Buccaneers are in full-on rebuilding mode. They're a mess on defense in the front seven. Teams are going to run like crazy against them. They brought in Derrick Ward to be a feature back even though he's never been one. Tampa Bay is loaded with guys who are going to be learning on the job. If they liked Freeman enough to identify him as their quarterback of the future, why wouldn't they want that future to start as soon as possible? Especially if they're being honest enough with themselves that they don't expect to contend in 2009.

RIDICULOUSLY EARLY PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

1. Falcons (9-7): Major questions on defense, where they lost five starters, but Ryan and the running game are enough to give Atlanta a slight edge in this underwhelming field.

2. Panthers (8-8): Questions about Delhomme, combined with the Julius Peppers contract situation, just make you wonder too much to pick Carolina.

3. Saints (7-9): If they can find a way to keep points off the board, Drew Brees makes them a contender. But that's a big "if."

4. Buccaneers (5-11): What we'd all like to see in Tampa Bay is some kind of direction, some vision for the future. They should be able to take this lost season to establish one.

Tomorrow: AFC South Position Battles to Watch
Friday: AFC South Burning Questions and Prediction
Tuesday, July 28: NFC West Position Battles to Watch
Wednesday, July 29: NFC West Burning Questions and Prediction