As of right now, it’s unknown just how extensive the damage is, but the surgery should shed plenty of light on that, after which the tear in Dumervil’s tendon will be corrected.

The recovery time for this type of injury is four to five months, making it highly unlikely that Dumervil will be able to return to the field unless Denver finds its way into the postseason, although the Broncos have not yet decided whether to place the Pro Bowl linebacker on the injured reserve list or not.

Related posts:

1. Broncos lock up Elvis Dumervil with long term deal
2. Injury to Dumervil a massive blow to Broncos defense
3. Broncos ink Demaryius Thomas to five year deal

Some might say that it’s too early to begin discussing next year’s draft, seeing as training camp has only begun, but we’re not in the crowd that agrees with that sentiment. And seeing as you’re sitting here reading this, I suspect you’re in the same boat.

As always, feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the selections, along with your own picks in the comment section!

Draft order based off NFLNR’s Power Rankings: Pre-Season

* Updated on 08/09/10

	1. Robert Quinn DE – North Carolina			17. Adrian Clayborn DE – Iowa
	2. Jake Locker QB – Washington			18. Christian Ponder QB – Florida St.
	3. A.J. Green WR – Georgia			19. Marvin Austin DT – North Carolina
	4. Andrew Luck QB – Stanford			20. Allen Bailey DE – Miami
	5. Jonathan Baldwin WR – Pitt			21. Greg Romeus DE – Pitt
	6. Marcel Dareus DE – Alabama			22. Ryan Mallett QB – Arkansas
	7. Joseph Barksdale OT – LSU			23. DeAndre McDaniel S – Clemson
	8. Prince Amukamara CB – Nebraska			24. Jared Crick DT – Nebraska
	9. Mark Ingram RB – Alabama			25. Deunta Williams S – North Carolina
	10. Von Miller DE/LB – Texas A&M			26. Nate Potter OT – Boise St.
	11. Patrick Peterson CB – LSU			27. Anthony Costanzo OT – Boston College
	12. Julio Jones WR – Alabama			28. Aaron Williams CB – Texas
(OAK)	13. Ryan Williams RB – Virginia Tech			29. Pat Devlin QB – Deleware
	14. Gabe Carimi OT – Nebraska			30. Mike Pouncey OT – Florida
	15. Jurell Casey DT – USC			31. Jack Crawford DE/LB – Penn St.
	16. Travis Lewis LB – Oklahoma			32. Michael Morgan LB – USC

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According to ESPNDallas.com’s Tim McMahon, the injury is feared to be a tear of the ACL, and Phillips is expected to undergo a MRI tomorrow, to determine the just how extensive the damage is.

If the tear is confirmed, surgery to correct it will come shortly after, effectively ending Phillips’ season just after it started. Phillips had displayed a nice ability to catch the ball throughout most of the game, before going down with the injury.

Related posts:

1. Surgery for Elvis Dumervil set for tomorrow
2. Ravens lose rookie Sergio Kindle to head injury
3. Dez Bryant, Cowboys agree on five year deal

With that in mind, here’s how I see things breaking down one game into the pre-season.

1. New Orleans – With more than enough talent to repeat as champs, the Saints should stay at or near the top of the heap this season.

2. New York Jets – The Jets added more talent than anyone else this off-season on top of their AFC Championship team last year, but chemistry issues could be problematic early on, with a ton of egos competing against each other for face time.

3. Baltimore – If Joe Flacco and Co. can pick up where they left off last season offensively, the Ravens should be making a deep run into the playoffs once again this year. Having Anquan Boldin around will be a big help on that front.

4. Minnesota – This ranking all depends on whether Brett Favre decides to come back for another season or not, as without him, the Vikings are clearly a weaker team.

5. Green Bay – The Packers have more than enough talent to be a force on both sides of the ball, and as long as Aaron Rodgers stays healthy, they should be playing late in January.

6. Indianapolis – The Colts are still a force to be reckoned with in the AFC, with their offensive firepower and upgrades defensively, but they need their stars to stay healthy to make another deep run.

7. San Diego – With LaDainian Tomlinson out the door, the mantle of leadership sits squarely on the shoulders of Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, and the Chargers will go as far as they take them.

8. Dallas – The Cowboys offense should be solid once again, but they’ll need to have their defense step up more consistently to take it to the next level in the playoffs.

9. Houston – Expectations are high for the Texans this season, as they’re coming off the best season in franchise history. If they can hold their own against the Colts, look for them to make their first trip to the postseason.

10. Miami – The Dolphins are planning on big things from their top off-season acquisition, Brandon Marshall, but their defense has to be improved to make return to the playoffs.

11. San Francisco – If Alex Smith can hold things together offensively, the 49ers have more than enough talent on defense to take home their first division crown in eight years.

12. Atlanta – The Falcons will likely rise in the rankings as the season progresses, especially if they can stay healthy this year, and could end up challenging the Saints for division supremacy when things are all said and done.

13. New England – It’s hard to write the Patriots out of the playoff picture when Tom Brady is at the helm, but they have their work cut out for them this year with their division rivals all upgrading in a big way.

14. Philadelphia – It will be tough early on without Donovan McNabb leading the way, but first year starter Kevin Kolb should prove to be more than adequate in his role. If they can eliminate the mistakes that plagued them late last year, the Eagles could find their way back to the postseason.

15. Arizona – The Cardinals are another club that may have difficulty this year without their usual starter handling things under center, and given the way that Matt Leinart has played in the past.

16. Cincinnati – The addition of Terrell Owens to the mix may not be enough to get the Bengals over the hump this year, and even with him, they’ll need the defense to step up once again.

17. New York Giants – There’s no doubt that Eli Manning is up to the challenge of leading his team this year, but the Giants defense has to be more effective for them to have any chance at post-season play.

18. Tennessee – The Titans have to hope for the team that played the second half of last year to show up on opening day, instead of their first half club. Having Vince Young play well consistently will be critical as well.

19. Chicago – Jay Cutler could not have had a worse start to his stay in the Windy City last year, but Bears fans will be all to happy to forget that performance if he can be more consistent and lead his team towards a playoff spot this fall.

20. Oakland – The Raiders have a solid team and could make some serious noise in a weak AFC West if they can put aside all the mental mistakes that have plagued them in recent years. Look for Jason Campbell to play a big part in making that happen.

21. Carolina - Matt Moore established himself as a solid starter at quarterback last season, and he should handle that role well once again this year. The bigger question is whether the Panthers can generate offense outside of their stud duo at RB.

22. Pittsburgh – Not having Ben Roethlisberger running the show for the first four games at the very least this fall will hurt the Steelers for sure, but not having a definite gamebreaker at wide receiver could be more problematic in the long run.

23. Kansas City – The Chiefs still have a ton of questions, especially along their defensive line, but their offense could end up being pretty special if Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones can produce the way they did last year.

24. Washington – It’s hard to imagine that the Redskins will struggle all that much this fall with Donovan McNabb at the helm, but the talent around him offensively is significantly less than what he had in Philly, which could make things difficult early on.

25. Seattle – Trying to figure out how the Seahawks will play this year with Pete Carroll as their head coach isn’t easy, as Carroll didn’t exactly distinguish himself during his previous stints in the league. That said, having Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback should help in the transition.

26. Detroit – If the Lions can find a way to harness the talent they’ve accumulated in recent years, they should prove to be a much more difficult foe for their opponents this season. That all starts up front with quarterback Matt Stafford.

27. Denver - The Broncos haven’t exactly shown themselves to be astute in the off-season under Josh McDaniels, but none of that will matter if they can play like they did to start last season. Staying healthy will be a must though, and losing Elvis Dumervil already won’t help in that regard.

28. Cleveland – Having Mike Holmgren overseeing the overall operations of the club will be a definite plus for a team that has clearly been lacking in front office leadership. That said, they’ll need more than that to be competitive this fall, and not having a solid presence at quarterback will hurt.

29. Buffalo – The Bills didn’t exactly have a brilliant off-season, as they struck out repeatedly in their head coaching search before finally settling on Chan Gailey. They have a decent amount of talent to work with, but barring a miracle, Buffalo isn’t likely to make much noise in the uber competitive AFC East.

30. Tampa Bay – The Bucs did well with what they had in the off-season to improve their team, but like most of the other teams on the bottom, they have to get consistent play from their quarterbacks to be a factor in a tough NFC South division this season.

31. Jacksonville - It’s surprising to see the Jaguars down this far, but they just don’t have enough talent across the board to be effective against their three division rivals this year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

32. St. Louis - There is little doubt that the Rams will struggle once again this fall, but things have to be looking up now that they have definite quarterback of the future in place in Sam Bradford. Offensively, the talent should be enough to make things exciting, but the defense is still problematic, and as such they’ll likely be looking at another top 5 draft slot next spring.

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The money given to those players was astronomical in size and scope once again, shattering previous records, and likely ensuring that this will be the last class of first round talent to get massive contracts.

A new collective bargaining agreement will be on its way, regardless of any labor strife, and there’s little doubt that a rookie salary cap will be a part of that.

With that in mind, here’s a final look at the numbers for all 32 first round picks.

Related posts:

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2. 2011 Mock Draft: Round One

But for the time being, that suspension is staying put right where it is, in spite of Roethlisberger’s exemplary behavior thus far in training camp, and while it’s still possible that it could be dropped down by a game or two, Goodell was fairly non-committal when pushed on the subject this morning at the Steelers training camp:

“I’m very encouraged by what he’s doing. I’ll take the period of time that I have before making the decision and make it probably right before the regular season.”

– NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

Goodell later put to rest any speculation that Roethlisberger could see a reduction further than two games during a conversation he had at the Cleveland Browns training camp in Ohio:

“We created a framework of four to six weeks and I don’t see any reason to change that.”

For his part, Roethlisberger has stayed quiet on the topic, deferring to the commissioner and the league office on his regular season status, rather than lobbying for a reduction. While that certainly won’t be the deciding factor, it can’t hurt his cause, and will likely help when things are all said and done.

No related posts.

Nothing could have prepared the Broncos or their fan base for this disaster, as Dumervil emerged last season as the clear leader of the defense in Denver, and only recently agreed to a major contract extension.

Now instead of having the reigning NFL sack leader attacking opposing quarterbacks each week, the Broncos will be forced to rely on unproven young talent and lackluster veteran castoffs from other teams to generate their pass rush.

One player that may be high on the Broncos list of potential replacements is defensive end Aaron Schobel, who has previously expressed his disinterest in playing primarily in a 3-4 defense, but could be swayed with the right kind of money.

Schobel is an older player at 33, but still has what it takes to be a quality pass rusher in the league and would definitely be an upgrade over what Denver currently has in place.

Either way, there’s little doubt that the Broncos will do what it can to address the issue via free agency, as other teams cut players that could help throughout training camp, or potentially even via trade, but now is definitely not the best time for this injury to occur.

It’s possible that Denver could choose to place Dumervil on the injured reserve list, ending his season in its entirety, but given the possibility that he could return close to the end of the season, it’s likely that they’ll choose to let things play out for a while first, before making a final decision.

As always, we’ll keep you posted with any new information that becomes available.

Related posts:

1. Broncos lock up Elvis Dumervil with long term deal
2. Surgery for Elvis Dumervil set for tomorrow
3. Bills ready to release Aaron Schobel

According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, the text messages sent to several Vikings players yesterday are fictitious, and during a conversation he had this morning with Favre, the future Hall of Fame quarterback indicated he not yet reached a decision on whether he’ll play another year or not.

1130 KFAN talk show host and Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen later discussed the issue on his show, and revealed that his sources within Minnesota’s organization have said that Favre is not concerned about his contract, but rather the condition of his injured ankle.

This runs counter to the multiple reports issued yesterday by Minneapolis Star-Tribune beat writer Judd Zulgad.

As always, we’ll keep you posted if any new information comes to light.

8:55 am CST - While it’s not unexpected, the annual media frenzy surrounding quarterback Brett Favre and his potential retirement took yet another turn this morning, with Favre reportedly hitting the field at a local high school near his home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

This comes after reports surfaced late last night that the Vikings have made Favre an offer to increase his 2010 base salary from $13 million to $16 million, and could potentially kick in enough bonuses and other assorted incentives to take that number as high as $20 million when things are all said and done.

It’s doubtful that we’ll hear anything of substance from Favre himself anytime soon, as he’s likely to stay away from the cameras for the time being, preferring to keep everyone guessing while he mulls over his options for an umpteenth time.

That said, the news that he’s on the field practicing could be seen as a positive in Minnesota, as that would seemingly indicate that he’s testing out his injured ankle to determine if he can give it one more go or not.

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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bills will let Schobel walk from his current contract this morning, despite a need for playmakers on their defense.

Schobel finished the 2009 campaign with 56 total tackles, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, and one interception, likely making him a hot commodity on the market if he chooses to return to the game rather than retire as he has contemplated doing throughout the off-season.

Schobel is a native of Houston, and would almost certainly accept a contract with his home town team if they chose to offer him one. Other teams that will likely be interested in acquiring his services include Kansas City, Oakland, Detroit, Seattle, and St. Louis.

Related posts:

1. Injury to Dumervil a massive blow to Broncos defense

Unfortunately for San Francisco, that exact scenario played out for a short while this evening, with offensive guard Chilo Rachal falling to the ground with exhaustion. Comcast Sports Net Bay Area”s Matt Maiocco reported the news first (via Twitter).

Rachal laid fairly still on the ground with the trainers by his side before sitting up and eventually leaving the field for the locker room, where he has since received an IV and is resting for the time being.

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