5 Questions That Should Be Answered in NFL's First Week of Preseason

Tonight, at 7:30 Eastern Dayligh Time, in the lovely city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the world will receive visual confirmation that the NFL lockout is indeed over. To this point it's been seven-on-sevens and red-shirted quarterbacks and grown men in college dorm rooms. That's not football. THIS is football. Pads, stadium lights, fireworks, glory.

Careers will be made and dreams will be dashed, all in sixty minutes of fury.

For the savvier fan, however, the preseason is all about analysis and evaluation. The roster of men you will grow to love (or hate) over the next 5 months begins to take its form tonight. And riddles posed long ago, in the sweltering summer heat, will reveal themselves in perfect clarity.

Does Tim Tebow Have a Chance to Start?

I know, I know, Kyle Orton has been named the starting QB and early reports out of camp have Tim Tebow looking totally lost, but Tebow's reputation at the pro level has always rested on the assumption that he’s a “gamer.” He only further served that notion by playing capably at the end of last year.

If Tebow performs well in the first preseason game, then I think the Johns (Fox and Elway) will start to feel pressure—both externally and internally—to give Tebow a longer look. That pressure will only increase if Tebow plays better over the next couple of preseason matchups.

If Tebow plays poorly, this controversy is completely sewn shut, at least until the Broncos fall from contention (if they do).

Can Plax Shake off the Rust?

Whenever a player re-enters the league after a prolonged lay off—whether it be from injury or, you know, a self-inflicted gunshot wound—fans and pundits always place intense scrutiny on that first on-field action. During his absence, the line on Plaxico Burress has been that he would re-acclimate easily to the NFL game because he was never a fast-twitch player to begin with like, say, Michael Vick.

Throughout his career, Burress has relied more on his size and strength than his intuitive feel for the game. Some expect he will instantly re-assume his place as the NFL’s preeminent red zone receiving threat because, well, he’ll always be really freaking tall.

Maybe so, but we won’t know for sure until we finally see him take the field.*

*That is, if he takes the field. An ankle injury may prevent him from playing in the Jets’ first preseason game. Stay tuned.

Can the Rookie QBs Hang with the Big Boys?

Rookie quarterbacks are the unquestioned starlets of preseason football. Though it’s hard to separate the fact from the fiction, many point to preseason successes and failures as the ultimate referendum on a young quarterback’s future. Now maybe we’re being to hasty with our judgments, but it’s hard not to think back on The Brady 6 documentary and Steve Mariucci’s analysis of Giovanni Carmazzi’s abysmal showing in the Hall of Fame Game (6:50 in the video) and remain unmoved.

Sometimes, after day one, you just know. And that’s what the four quarterbacks drafted in the first round are up against this week. Most of the attention will fall on Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton, the two quarterbacks most likely to start Week 1. For Newton, this is an open competition and a chance to show that his exceptional skill set translates to the pro level. For Gabbert, the recent injury to David Garrard provides an open door.

And even though Jake Locker and Christian Ponder are likely stuck behind veterans, both will get a chance to put pressure on their older counterparts with strong showings in the preseason’s first week. With all four drafted in the top twelve overall, and second-rounder Andy Dalton already competing for the starting job, this rookie class will receive a heavy dose of scrutiny.

Will the Injury Bug Bite?

Injuries are always a concern during preseason, but this year there will be an extra layer of focus on conditioning. With offseason workouts nullified by the lockout, there is reasonable speculation that injuries (both preseason and regular season) will increase in the NFL this year.

Week 1 will go a long way toward exacerbating or assuaging those fears. If a couple of big stars go down, fans will point to the league’s greed as a major cause.

How Doth the QB Carousel Turn?

You say: “Another quarterback slide?”

I say: “What did you expect?”

The preseason revolves around the signal callers. Running backs, wide receivers and defensive starters won’t give max effort, but a quarterback fighting for a job will. As usual, the NFL boasts a fair share of QB controversies this year and Week 1 will go a long way toward clarifying things.

The ones I’ll be watching:

Washington—Rex Grossman vs. John Beck (vs. Kellen Clemens?)
Cincinnati—Bruce Gradkowski vs. Andy Dalton
Oakland (because no one is really ever safe there)—Jason Campbell vs. Kyle Boller
Jacksonville—David Garrard vs. Blaine Gabbert (getting closer by the day)
Seattle—Tavaris Jackson vs. Charlie Whitehurst (Jackson’s to lose)
Carolina—Cam Newton vs. Jimmy Clausen
Miami—Chad Henne vs. ANYONE (Matt Moore? Pat Devlin!?!?)
San Francisco—Alex Smith vs. Himself (Will it ever end?)
Minnesota—Donovan McNabb vs. Christian Ponder

And of course all of the various backup skirmishes around the league that may end up being more important than you think.