Bleacher Report - TheGoRoute

Questions That Still Must Be Answered in NFL Training Camps

Ty Schalter — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:20:16 -0400

NFL offseason training activities give the NFL world the first glimpse into the coming regular season. Rookies mix with stalwart veterans and free-agent signees, and new coaches get their bearings and install their systems.

Depth charts, position battles and possible alignment changes get their first exposure to the outside world. Sometimes there are surprises, and sometimes there aren't.

Either way, the outside world only gets a peek. The general public sees nothing, and even the local beat writers and media only get limited viewing windows. From those tidbits, information-hungry fans and media alike extrapolate as much as they can about where teams and players will be at headed into training camp.

Of course, this leaves a lot of huge questions unanswered, or only partially answered. We still don't know a lot of very important things about some of these teams, even after the first wave of OTAs.

Which are the biggest questions that won't be answered until training camp?

Begin Slideshow

Rising NFL Stars Approaching MVP Status

Ty Schalter — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:43:51 -0400

The highest individual honor in the NFL is being named "Most Valuable Player" by the Associated Press.

In a sport where every team goes into the season with 53 active players and a hard salary cap figured down to the dollar, it's no wonder that the top award goes to the player who helps his team win games more than anyone else.

Everything is set for 2013.

Every team has a new crop of rookies. Every team has more or less filled its 90 roster spots and spent as much of its $123 million in salary cap space as it's going to. Every team has the coaches, the systems and the players they're going to have for the rest of the year.

Springtime in the NFL is the annual season of optimism and hope. Everything is growing, and everything is new again. Which teams will take advantage of the fresh start and dominate in 2013? Which young, dynamic players will help them take the next step? Which up-and-coming players will ascend to the rarefied air of the truly elite?

Which rising stars will approach MVP status in 2013?

Begin Slideshow

Recapping Brian Urlacher's Hall of Fame Career

Ty Schalter — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:00:02 -0400

Brian Urlacher walked away from the NFL on Wednesday, having announced his retirement via his official Twitter feed.

The 6'4", 260-pound linebacker left behind an incredible legacy: He played 13 seasons and 182 games for the Chicago Bears and was one of the best linebackers in football for almost the entirety of that span.

Urlacher set franchise records for linebackers in solo tackles (1,052), assisted tackles (306), sacks (41.5) and tied Dick Butkus for second place in interceptions (22). Among all defenders, Urlacher's tackle totals are tops in Chicago Bears history. Urlacher's sack total is sixth best, and he's tied for 10th in interceptions.

With eight Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pro appearances, Urlacher is unquestionably one of the best linebackers of his generation and should be mentioned among the all-time greats. The question is not if he'll be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but if he'll be inducted on the first ballot.

As Urlacher himself said in his announcement, his "passion and performance" last season had not been up to his usual standards. No. 54 was out there, as always, but his left knee—after undergoing multiple procedures in 2012, per Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Tribune—robbed him of the freakish sideline-to-sideline athleticism that made him so terrifying.

If Chicago Bears fans couldn't recognize their middle linebacker as the Monster of the Midway he'd always been, what would they have thought of seeing the name "URLACHER" on the back of a 5'9", 160-pound wide receiver?

During his sophomore year in high school, that's exactly what Brian Urlacher was.

Untapped Potential

In tiny Lovington, N.M., Urlacher was a natural athlete, excelling in football, basketball and even ping-pong. On the football team, he was used all over the field: receiver, running back, kick returner and defensive back.

That said, Urlacher wasn't much more than a natural athlete. Then-assistant and current head coach Jaime Quinones saw the incredible football player Urlacher had the potential to become.

As Urlacher told USA Today's Greg Boeck in 2007, Quinones was "like a father-figure to me football-wise." Quinones got Urlacher in the weight room and challenged him to reach his great potential.

Urlacher, as Boeck explained, not only made a habit of attending 5 a.m. weightlifting sessions, but he also pledged to abstain from alcohol and partying until after high school—easier said than done in a small town with few other ways for its hardworking folks to blow off steam.

In two seasons, Urlacher grew to become a spectacular 6'4", 214-pound wrecking ball. No slower or less agile than before, Urlacher took over the game on both sides of the ball.

"He was a man among boys in big games," Quinones told Boeck. "If you threw it to him, he would catch it. If you kicked it to him, he'd return it. If you tried to throw a pass at him, he'd intercept it."

He led Lovington to a 14-0 season and the 3A state championship as a senior, receiving All-State honors at receiver and safety in the process.

Overlooked Ability

Unfortunately, his mother and stepfather couldn't send him to a major college without a scholarship. Urlacher hoped for an offer from Texas Tech, but he never received one; only the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State extended offers.

Urlacher accepted New Mexico's offer, where he was immediately shelved for two seasons. Then-coach Dennis Franchione preferred to play upperclassmen, according to the bio on Urlacher's official site. Franchione was replaced by Rocky Long before Urlacher's junior season, and that made all the difference.

Long deployed an attacking, aggressive defensive scheme that called for the best overall athlete to roam the field and make plays. Urlacher, with the speed and instincts of a safety but the size of a defensive end, was a perfect fit.

According to Sports Illustrated, Urlacher racked up 332 tackles in the next two seasons. His senior year, he even caught six touchdown passes and averaged a monstrous 15.8 yards per punt return. According to New Mexico's official athletics site, Urlacher was named the Mountain West Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American.

When Urlacher arrived at the Senior Bowl, his 6'4" frame had swelled up to an incredible 258 pounds of lean muscle, 20 pounds heavier than he'd been at the end of his senior season. According to the Albuquerque Tribune, Urlacher's fellow pro hopefuls immediately nicknamed him "The Freak."

Urlacher's draft-prep trainer, Chip Smith, raved about Urlacher's potential. "He's a new class of athlete," Smith told the Albuquerque Tribune. "For somebody Brian's size to be as athletic, fast and strong as he is, it's scary. His acceleration for a man that big is really scary. It's a wonder he didn't decapitate somebody in college."

Smith trained Urlacher well. Despite lots of advice to avoid running at the combine, as Urlacher told Sports Illustrated's Jeffri Chadiha, Urlacher cut a blazing 4.57-second 40-yard-dash time. He followed it up, per NFLDraftScout.com, by bench-pressing 225 pounds 27 times, leaping 34 inches vertically and broad-jumping 10'2".

Chicago has long been the home of impact defenders, and with defensive-minded Dick Jauron then coaching the Bears, mock drafters everywhere pencilled Urlacher's name next to the Chicago Bears at the No. 9 overall slot.

As Urlacher revealed in an April 14, 2000, chat session at SI.com, he took a pre-draft visit to Chicago and "loved it." He raved about the team and facilities—and despite being born and raised in the Southwest, he said he "could adjust" to playing in the Windy City.

That was obvious from Day 1.

Impossible to Ignore

As a rookie, Urlacher exploded on the NFL scene, racking up 101 tackles, 24 assists, eight sacks and two interceptions. The Associated Press named Urlacher NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he made the Pro Bowl that season—as he would in six of his first seven years in the league.

In his second season, Urlacher led the Bears to an incredible turnaround: from the 20th-ranked scoring defense to the first overall. The Bears went 13-3 in 2001, as opponents could only muster an average 12.7 points per game against them.

Urlacher's 2001 season, as measured by Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value stat, is the third-most-valuable linebacker performance of the last 20 years. His 90 solo tackles, 27 assists, six sacks and three interceptions earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl and a first-team All-Pro nomination. In his first taste of playoff action, Urlacher racked up nine tackles and a sack.

The next two seasons were rough for the Bears, as Jauron and his staff had a harder time leveraging their offensive and defensive talent. Urlacher set a franchise single-season record for tackles in 2002 with 153, but the Bears went 4-12 and 7-9 in Urlacher's third and fourth seasons, respectively.

Jauron was let go, and new head coach Lovie Smith was the perfect hire.

Impossible to Stop

Urlacher's size, speed and extensive experience at defensive back made him a perfect fit for Smith's Tampa 2 defense.

Able to cover sideline to sideline against the run and drop back deep to smother tight ends and slot receivers over the middle of the field, Urlacher only got better as time went on.

The Bears had the 32nd-ranked (i.e. dead last) scoring offense in 2004, so wins were tough to come by in the early days of the Lovie Smith era. Urlacher also missed seven starts due to injury; it was the first time he'd missed since becoming a full-time starter early in his rookie year.

In 2005, though, it was obvious that Urlacher was still getting better—and so were Smith and the Bears. The Bears went 11-5 and won the NFC North division title; Urlacher was again named to the Pro Bowl, first-team All-Pro and was even named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

Urlacher's 98 tackles, 24 assists and six sacks stood out—even on a defense that was, once again, the top scoring defense in the NFL. Despite allowing just 12.6 points per game, though, the Bears were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2006, Urlacher finally approached the NFL's summit: the Super Bowl. Behind the running of Thomas Jones and the unleash-the-dragon passing of Rex Grossman, the Bears finally paired their suffocating defense with a capable offense. The 2006 Bears outscored their opponents by an average of 10.8 points per game and rolled to a 13-3 record.

After beating the Seattle Seahawks in overtime, the Bears knocked off Drew Brees and the storybook New Orleans Saints. Then, in Super Bowl XLI, the Bears met an offense they couldn't stop: Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.

Though cold comfort, Urlacher was again named a first-team All-Pro; this would be the last of the four times he received the honor.

The Beginning of the End?

In 2007 and 2008, the Bears struggled. A three-ring circus at quarterback between Grossman, Brian Griese and Kyle Orton hamstrung the offense, and the offense hamstrung Urlacher and the defense.

Though Urlacher had a career-best five interceptions in 2007, along with five sacks and 92 solo tackles, he wasn't named to the Pro Bowl in either 2007 or 2008.

In 2009, Urlacher's season was over almost before it started. He dislocated his wrist in Week 1, and the subsequent surgery and nerve-damage rehab kept him out for the remainder of the year.

Revitalized

With a year to rest his body and the acquisition of monster defensive end Julius Peppers, the Bears defense again became one of the most feared in the NFL.

In 2010, the Bears' fourth-ranked scoring defense led the team to an 11-5 season and another NFC North crown. The Bears were bounced out of the postseason by the rival Green Bay Packers, but Urlacher made a triumphant return to the Pro Bowl.

Urlacher again led the defense with 97 solo tackles, adding 28 assists, four sacks, one interception and 10 passes defensed.

In 2011, Urlacher continued to produce. He tied fellow linebacker Lance Briggs for the team lead with 86 solo tackles and added 14 assists, three interceptions and six passes defensed.

As Urlacher's body began to age, his between-the-tackles run-stuffing—something he was never a natural at—began to decline. Despite again making the Pro Bowl as an inside linebacker, Urlacher was graded by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the 48th best out of 51 middle linebackers in stopping the run.

He was still a difference-maker in coverage and still a perfect fit for the scheme. But Urlacher's days as an unstoppable force who must be accounted for were over.

The Beginning of the End

As Mike Mulligan explained, Urlacher's knee was killing him, causing him to regularly seek out shots of the controversial painkiller Toradol.

Seeking a permanent fix, he allegedly flew to Europe for a procedure called Regenokine, unapproved in the U.S. but increasingly popular among athletes with degenerative joint conditions. In an interview with FOX-32 (relayed via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune), Urlacher admitted that his knee was "never going to be the same."

Urlacher returned to the field in 2012, but it was apparent that he wasn't going to be the same, either.

After again captaining a Top Five defense (the Bears were the third-best scoring defense in 2012), again racking up double-digit wins, again failing to achieve postseason success (the Bears didn't make the playoffs) and again missing time due to injury, Urlacher has finally called it quits.

The Legacy

Despite playing for a Chicago Bears franchise whose storied history is filled with legendary Hall of Fame defenders, Urlacher might be the greatest of them all. Some of the units he led were every bit as nasty and stingy as the storied Monsters of Midways past.

Were it not for Ray Lewis, Urlacher would be the greatest middle linebacker of his generation. Urlacher's terrifying combination of size, speed, instincts and athleticism enabled him not only to rack up tackles, but also to scythe down quarterbacks and gobble up downfield passes.

Unlike some middle linebackers who devolved into two-down thumpers late in their career, Urlacher remained a playmaker and a difference-maker right up until the end. He not only belongs in the Hall of Fame—he belongs in the Class of 2018.

A stunning athletic talent with an oil worker's approach to the game, and a Chicago Bear from draft until retirement, Urlacher is the kind of throwback player in all too short supply these days.

The game, and Bears fans everywhere, will miss him.

Read more TheGoRoute news on BleacherReport.com

"Let Me Get This Straight" About Victor Cruz's 1-Year Tender Offer

Josh Zerkle — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:38:35 -0400

Has there been a better wide receiver in the NFC East over the last two years than Victor Cruz?

The UMass product burst onto the scene in the middle of the 2011 season, and I doubt that anyone has matched his production over the last 24 games. Sounds like a guy you'd want to lock down long-term, right?

Not if you're the New York Giants.

Cruz finished 2012 with 86 catches and 10 receiving touchdowns...only to be thanked with a shoddy one-year, $2.8 million tender offer from his team.

While negotiations have continued since that original tender, the Giants still seem reluctant to pay Cruz, whose restricted free-agency window closed in April, at market value.

Let's examine some of the other wide receiver signings from this past offseason:

Wes Welker: Signed a two-year, $12 million contract, all guaranteed, plus a $4 million signing bonus. Welker led the league in 2012 with 15 drops, and he's 32 years old.

Dwayne Bowe: Signed a five-year, $56 million contract, with $26 million guaranteed, plus a $15 million signing bonus. Bowe caught 3 touchdowns last season while his team went 2-14. He has one 80-catch season to his credit since 2008.

Mike Wallace: Signed a five-year, $60 million contract with $30 million guaranteed, plus an $11 million signing bonus. Wallace had a down 2012 in terms of production, but should bring a new look to a Dolphins offense that desperately needs one.

Cruz's contract ambitions were probably hampered by his transparent desire to stay in the New York market, but there's no reason the Giants can't get one of their best players a deserving long-term deal.

That's what today's video is about, and I hope you enjoy it. Leave your own thoughts on Cruz or any of the other wide receivers we just mentioned in the comments below. As always, thanks for watching.

Read more TheGoRoute news on BleacherReport.com

Designing the Ultimate NFL Quarterback

Ty Schalter — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:10:41 -0400

The game of professional football has changed.

Offenses are more complex, with more athletic weapons spread more widely across the field. Pass-rushers come around both corners and through every gap in the line. Tight ends and running backs are receivers, not blockers, and beating modern hybrid-front defenses with athleticism is a necessity, not a luxury.

More than ever, wins are built on the back of the quarterback. As evidence, look at Andrew Luck, who in one season transformed the Indianapolis Colts from 2-14 league backmarkers to an 11-5 playoff squad.

Quarterbacks can't just look the part anymore. It's not enough just to have the "right stuff."

To have all the qualities required to succeed in the NFL, a quarterback has to be almost superhuman. Better than he's ever been before. Bigger, faster, stronger. The ultimate quarterback.

We can build him. We have the technology.

Drew Brees' Feet

We build, like a quarterback's throwing motion, from the ground up.

Drew Brees has outstanding footwork, which is the foundation of everything a quarterback does. Whether he's under center or in shotgun, Brees has a lightning-fast, silky-smooth dropback that always ends in a firm back-leg plant. He's then up on the balls of his feet, ready to move or throw.

Watch this bomb to wide receiver Devery Henderson:

From the shotgun, Brees takes deep steps backward. He stays smooth, plants firmly and then shuffles forward with a wide base.

Here's the crucial part: From that wide base, Brees plants firmly with his front leg and transfers all his weight onto it. It's that weight transfer and resistance that lets his 6'0", 209-pound body generate enough torque to put NFL zip on deep throws like this.

Keep watching that highlight reel, and focus on just Brees' feet. You'll see over and over again how Brees is quick, light, nimble, smooth and strong—and how quickly transferring all of his weight from back leg to front keeps his passes fast and accurate from sideline to sideline, near or far downfield.

Russell Wilson's Legs

There are a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL who could provide us with dangerous wheels. Russell Wilson's legs can do it all, though: great pocket movement to avoid the rush, flushing and rolling to turn broken plays into big plays and flat-out burning a defense for yardage.

Having a sprinter's speed can be a fantastic weapon against modern zone defenses. As they're spread out to handle wide-open offenses, quarterbacks can often slice through the spaces in the front seven—or back seven.

As Michael Vick learned, though, and Robert Griffin III is finding out, using a quarterback's legs as a featured offensive weapon comes with risks. Depending on how the quarterback runs are designed and how defenses game-plan for the quarterback, running may or may not be effective. Worse, the quarterback is exposed to harder hits.

Watch Wilson—in one play—use his athleticism in every way a quarterback can:

He sees the rush, steps up in the pocket, flushes away from pressure, looks downfield, pump-fakes the pass and runs for a touchdown. What defense can hope to stop that?

Cam Newton's Torso

Cam Newton has a nearly ideal quarterback's body as it is. From him, though, we'll take his robust upper body. Newton's 6'5", 248-pound frame carries little extra weight; his combination of lean size and core strength make him incredibly difficult to bring down with one tackler, whether on the run or in the pocket.

Aaron Rodgers' Throwing Arm

When it comes to "arm strength," most fans think about how far a quarterback can throw the ball.

In reality, almost all NFL quarterbacks can throw the ball more than far enough. The question is how quickly the ball gets to where it's going.

NFL receivers don't often get wide open, so quarterbacks have to quickly deliver the ball through a tiny window. If the ball takes too long to get there, a defender will slam that window shut.

Of course, the quarterback can rocket the ball downfield at 200 miles per hour, but if it's not placed within that window, the pass is just as incomplete.

Accuracy is vital to success in the NFL. Accuracy doesn't just mean keeping the ball off the ground, but placing the ball where a receiver can effortlessly catch it in full stride. If a receiver has to stop, twist, jump or dive for a pass, it might be complete—but yards or even touchdowns that would otherwise follow those catches could be lost.

Aaron Rodgers' arm has the strength to put more than enough zip on every throw, even if he's on the run or off-balance. Rodgers also has the accuracy to consistently put the ball in receivers' hands, regardless of distance or velocity.

Watch Rodgers on this rollout:

The throw is "only" 30 yards downfield, but it's on the move and from the hash to the sideline. Rodgers launches a tightly spun bullet right from his hand to receiver Randall Cobb's; a few inches in any direction and the pass is likely incomplete.

Instead, it's a touchdown.

Matthew Stafford's Throwing Hand

Matthew Stafford weighed in at the 2009 NFL combine at 6'2" and 225 pounds, per NFL.com. That's three inches shorter and 23 pounds lighter than Newton, he of the prototypical size, whose torso we're borrowing for our ultimate quarterback.

Yet Stafford's 10-inch hands are one-eighth of an inch bigger than Newton's. To further improve his ease and confidence in handling the ball, Stafford does extensive weight training with his throwing hand and arm:

Stafford's disproportionate hand size and strength not only allow him to quickly and easily launch passes from any arm angle, but it greatly improves his ball security. Despite dropping back to pass more often than anyone else, Pro-Football Reference notes Stafford had only the 20th-most fumbles of any quarterback in 2012.

Colin Kaepernick's Non-Throwing Arm

It's the most awesome non-throwing arm in football.

Ben Roethlisberger's Ampullae of Lorenzini

Perhaps Ben Roethlisberger is not hiding ampullae of Lorenzini under his beard. However, like the sharks and other sea predators that possess these electric field-sensing pores, Roethlisberger can detect living things around him without seeing them.

Roethlisberger's ability to sense and escape the pass rush borders on the magical. Watch him elude and evade most of the Baltimore Ravens front seven while keeping his eyes downfield. He could have just gotten away, but instead he throws a touchdown:

This is critical for modern quarterbacks.

In today's NFL, more pass-rushers are coming from more places on the field, and fewer backs and tight ends are being kept in to block them. Quarterbacks have to be able to keep themselves clean with their ability to get rid of the ball—and their ability to keep the defense from touching them.

For quarterbacks to not only keep the offense moving but also keep themselves upright, they need the ability to feel the rush and keep away from it.

Peyton Manning's Head

To top it all off, there's only one choice: Peyton Manning's head.

Not the Twitter parody account, but the eyes and brain of the greatest field general of his generation—maybe ever.

Manning has an uncanny ability to break down a defense before the snap. As Chris Brown of Grantland explained extensively, Manning's offense uses a small set of plays designed to key off a defense's alignment and attack accordingly. When Manning gets to the line, he not only knows how he wants to attack the defense, he knows how the defense is going to eventually adjust—and he knows how he'll attack them when they do.

Manning stays two steps ahead of defenses by being a student of the game and a film-room fanatic.

Howard Mudd, the legendary offensive line coach who worked with Manning in Indianapolis, talked to Michael Marot of The Associated Press (via the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel) about Manning's intense study habits.

"[Manning's] preparation has never wavered," said Mudd. "Every single year, his intensity, his preparation is exactly the same—or greater. To me, that is his brilliance.”

The Ultimate Quarterback

With Drew Brees' footwork, Russell Wilson's mobility, Cam Newton's core strength, Aaron Rodgers' throwing arm, Matthew Stafford's throwing hand, Colin Kapernick's non-throwing arm, Ben Roethlisberger's senses and Peyton Manning's head, we have built the ultimate quarterback.

David Rappoccio of TheDrawPlay.com has provided an artist's conception of this space-age composite:

Perfectly evolved to attack modern NFL defenses, our apex predator will be impossible to stop. Unfortunately for our salary cap, he's going to cost a lot more than $6 million:

Read more TheGoRoute news on BleacherReport.com

The Go Route Podcast Episode 5: What If J.J. Abrams Rebooted the NFL?

Josh Zerkle — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:48:10 -0400

We're back.

Fellow NFL Lead Writer Aaron Nagler and I climb back behind the mics to bring our NFL podcast out of hiatus. The Go Route Podcast returns after a 362-day layoff to drop some SMOKING HOT FOOTBALL TAKES on all of the happenings across the NFL.

Among the litany of topics covered in this week's show:

Chargers rookie Keenan Allen tweeting out an image of himself...wearing a Raiders hat.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll's remarks on Bruce Irvin's PED suspension.
How Calvin Johnson's record-breaking 2012 season became even more impressive.
Our picks for dark-horse teams to make the playoffs.

We also riff on our topic du semaine: What would a J.J. Abrams NFL look like? Who would serve as the commissioner in such a universe? How would his vision compare to the modern-day NFL? Just thinking about it, I can almost feel the lens flares burning out my eyeballs already.

Aaron and I tackle these topics and more in our second incarnation of The Go Route Podcast. Check out our podcast here, because we'll only be making it better in the coming weeks, including video formatting and more. Enjoy it and leave your own thoughts on our topics in the comments below. And this time...thanks for listening.

Read more TheGoRoute news on BleacherReport.com

'Let Me Get This Straight' About the Atlanta Falcons' New Stadium

Josh Zerkle — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:52:17 -0400

The Atlanta Falcons will be getting a new stadium in time for the 2017 season. It will be an open-air facility that many expect to compete for Super Bowl-hosting duties upon completion.

There's just one glaring issue: the city already has an NFL stadium, one that's barely 20 years old. But the plan is to demolish the Georgia Dome as soon as the new, currently-unnamed arena is completed.

What a waste.

The NFL seems to be in an almost cannibalistic quest to get new stadiums in place for its teams, regardless of the costs for the cities that host them. While the accounting is made less and less obvious for these projects, it's still clear that the teams themselves are only interested in footing as little of the bill as possible.

And once another team gets a new stadium, all the other teams want their own home fields updated as well. This, coupled with declines in game-day attendance league-wide, presents a scenario where a building like the Georgia Dome would meet an early demise.

That's my first topic in a new series we're titling, "Let Me Get This Straight," where I'll be pointing out the awesome and the absurd in today's NFL. Check out our maiden voyage of this production with our video above and leave your own thoughts on the Great NFL Stadium Race in the comments below.

As always, thanks for watching.

Read more TheGoRoute news on BleacherReport.com

Ranking the Top NFL Free Agents Still on the Market, OTAs Edition

Ty Schalter — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:25:24 -0400

Sometimes it's hard to figure out how NFL teams scout and sign free agents. Players with short, questionable track records land monster contracts, and players with Hall of Fame résumés coming off solid seasons can't get a sniff.

Age, injury and lack of production can all rightfully scare NFL teams away from offering big contracts to free agents—but in the middle of May, the big money has already been spent.

With OTAs just getting underway, there are still plenty of quality veterans still waiting for their phones to ring, still waiting for an opportunity to prove they can step in and make a team better.

Maybe they'll get picked up once the first wave of OTAs is complete and head coaches realize they can't scrape by with an unproven player at that position after all. Maybe their phones will ring when an injury strikes and a team needs immediate help.

Whenever each of these veterans finally finds a team that wants him, he'll be able to contribute, start or even star.

Here are the top available free agents, ranked by their immediate-impact ability.

Begin Slideshow