NFC South Morning Jog: Falcons Move to Top of NFC South Power Rankings

Each morning, I like to start the day off with a workout—usually a morning jog. I can clear my head, plan my day and think about what's going on around the NFC South.

NFC South

ESPN released a post-draft NFL Power Rankings which features the Falcons at No. 12, the Saints at No. 13, the Panthers at No. 21 and the Buccaneers at No. 24.

Atlanta Falcons

One of the questions I got a lot after the Falcons traded for corner Asante Samuel with little money remaining under the salary cap was something like "How'd they do that?" Well, part of the reason came from the NFL, who awarded Atlanta $3 million in salary cap credits because of the money owed to the team from Mike Vick.

Bill Shanks was happy with what the Falcons did last week. I especially liked his "big uglies" comment.

Carolina Panthers

Now that teams have finished the 2012 NFL draft and signed undrafted free agents, Joe Person projected the Panthers' depth chart.

The NFL asked television networks not to show the all-too-famous team-to-player phone call before the draft pick was announced last weekend during the draft. However, I'm glad they still taped the calls to show later, like Luke Kuechly's call from head coach Ron Rivera.

New Orleans

I thought the NFL should have announced any player suspensions that would fall upon the New Orleans team because of the bounty program prior to the draft. John De Shazier, of The Times-Picayune, said it's time for the commissioner to "get on with it."

According to Steve Wyche, the Louisiana State Police plan to review its findings in the eavesdropping case against Mickey Loomis and the New Orleans Saints by the end of the week.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Most pundits felt that Tampa Bay had an incredibly good draft last weekend. But how does general manager Mark Dominik determine if it was successful?

Rick Stroud took a look at the Buccaneers most affected by the players brought in during the 2012 NFL draft.