Ready for Some Football?

All but one draft pick is signed, most if not all of the veteran additions have been made (most recently resigning DE Bobby McCray and signing QB Patrick Ramsey) and the Super Bowl celebrations can finally start winding down ... that's because football season is here! The Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints reported to camp today and will begin practicing tomorrow morning to start their quest to "Two Dat!"

The Saints are still picked as one of the top teams in the league. Sports Illustrated's Don Banks has them #2 in his rankings, Peter King has them #5 and ESPN has them #2. ESPN's ranking is odd since all the experts picked the Saints #1 except John Clayton, who ranked them 7th, yes 7th. Unbelievable, but what else would you expect from ESPN.

The good thing, as always, the NFL lets play on the field decide their champion (BCS, we're looking at you), so these rankings are just preseason fodder for fans.

A few positions that fans will have their eye on in camp is LB, backup QB and all the draft picks. The best battle will be to see who replaces Scott Fujita at linebacker, and the coaches seem excited about the young guys on the roster. Backup QB is interesting with Patrick Ramsey battling Chase Daniel and rookie Sean Canfield. As for the draft picks, fans will be most excited about watching TE Jimmy Graham, who is raw but will be fun to watch practice.

I just can't wait to see the boys in the Black and Gold take the field again, this time as the defending Super Bowl champion!