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Brady Quinn might wind up starting for the Browns, and that team has an intriguing, emerging offense. Derek Anderson has had a great year, but he'll be a restricted free agent. Maybe the Browns will trade him for a bounty of draft picks and move Quinn into the starting lineup. As was the case with Drew Brees and Philip Rivers in San Diego, teams are hesitant to invest too much money in multiple quarterbacks. ... Bryant Johnson of Arizona will be a free agent. I think some team will sign him with the idea he'll compete for a starting job. He'll be a No. 2 or a No. 3 somewhere. Johnson is a former first-round draft pick, but I don't think he's done enough to merit simply walking into a starting job next season. ... Robert Meachem should be on a roster. He was a bust as a rookie, but he was a No. 1 draft pick, and the Saints will want to get him on track. ... I like Anthony Gonzalez. With Marvin Harrison getting old and becoming an injury question mark, Gonzalez could be a starter there next season. Even if Harrison returns, Gonzalez's playing time should increase dramatically. ... JaMarcus Russell and John Beck will probably be opening day starters. Keep in mind, however, another rookie quarterback. Drew Stanton of the Lions. Jon Kitna gets hit a lot. Enough that Stanton, a second-round pick this year, could become a starter at some point next season. And the Lions sure pass the ball a lot. … I think the Eagles will move Donovan McNabb in the offseason. That might make Kevin Kolb a starter. … Three running backs who should make bigger impacts next year (though I don't think any will start on opening day): Chris Henry, Kenny Irons, Tony Hunt. … At wide receiver, Craig Davis (Chargers), Jacoby Jones (Texans) and Steve Smith (of the Giants) looked very good in the preseason. Let's keep an eye on them. … Finally, I'll toss out the name of Sidney Rice, who's just now becoming a starter for the Vikings. He appears to have all of the physical tools to excel at the position. If Minnesota can get its passing game in order next season, I think Rice will be very good. … And as a pair of sleeper-type wide receivers, I'll toss out Brad Smith (Jets) and Ben Obomanu (Seahawks).....Byron Leftwich of Atlanta might move up into a starting role next season; maybe the Falcons dump Harrington and draft a quarterback in the first round, but Leftwich is needed to hold down the fort for the first half of the season.

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I doubt it. The Panthers used a first-round pick on Williams, but he doesn't look like he's ever going to be anything special. He's not enough of a force, I think, between the tackles. If the Panthers were to toss him back into the NFL draft for next spring, he'd probably be selected in the fourth round. I expect Carolina will get a new coach in January. One of the first things that new coach will do will be to figure out how to get a new starting tailback. Maybe sign Michael Turner. Maybe draft Darren McFadden. Or obtain somebody else. But Williams at best will be a change-of-pace runner there. As for Norwood, I think he might be the fastest running back in the league. Put them all on the goal line and have them race to the 50, and I think Norwood is No. 1 -- faster than Adrian Peterson, maybe. Definitely faster than Willie Parker, Clinton Portis and Reggie Bush. But Norwood is a straight-line guy. He doesn't have enough wiggle, and he doesn't break enough tackles. And the coaching staff there doesn't seem to think much of him. He was unable to move past Warrick Dunn, for example. I believe the Falcons also will obtain a bigger, better tailback in the offseason. Dunn will be gone, and Norwood will be their No. 2. He'll return kicks and handle the ball five times per game as a change-of-pace guy.

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No way should Earnest Graham be sitting out there. He's filling a workhorse role for the Bucs right now. Over the last five weeks, he averages 91 rushing and 30 receiving yards per game, with 3 TDs. That team is going to win the NFC South, and he's the focal point of their offense. The Bucs have home games left against the Falcons and Panthers; I'd sure like to have him in my lineup for those games. He might not be bad in their other three remaining games either.

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Agreed. The Broncos look like a middle-of-the-pack team. Their offensive line isn't very good. Best that can be said for them is that they've got their young, emerging quarterback (Jay Cutler) in place, and now he should be pretty good next year with a year-plus of experience as a starter. But I would advise against laughing too loudly at the guy in your league with Travis Henry and Selvin Young. The Broncos are playing Oakland this week, which has the worst run defense in the league. One of those guys is going to be pretty good in that game.

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The Denver Post is reporting that the Travis Henry decision likely will be made today. That it would be announced on a Friday could be good news for him. The league tends to suspend players early in the week -- Monday and Wednesday -- to avoid screwing up team's preparations for games. If Henry is allowed to stick around and both he and Selvin Young get healthy, I imagine you'll see some kind of committee approach, with Henry getting the bulk of the work (75 percent) and Young being used in a change-of-pace role.

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Gumbel is terrible. It's hard for me, however, to articulate exactly what it is that I don't like about him. It's like porn. I don't know quite how to define it, but I know it when I see it. As I was watching last night's game, I was listening for slipups and mistakes that I could point, but there wasn't that one major signature screwup I could point to. One of his problems is that he doesn't seem to know if he's doing TV or radio. About three times, i heard him say that a guy was knocked out of bounds "on the far sideline", as if viewers couldn't see which sideline it was for themselves. He referred to Brett Favre two or three times as "Brett", like they were personal friends or something. He uses the words "stick" and "lick" too often, as in "A.J. Hawk comes up to make the lick," or " ... gains 8 yards before A.J. Hawk makes the stick." He's also tends to be too hesitant in regards to first-down calls, always opting to say, "appears to have the first down", even if the guy got tackled 3 or 4 yards beyond the markers. And I thought he missed the boat in failing to adequately question the early Al Harris interception, in which the referees ruled that Terrell Owens' forward progress had been stopped, even though Harris never even attempted to wrap Owens up in any way -- Harris was going for the ball the whole way on that play. Mostly, though, Gumbel comes off as an unemotional, wordy guy who was away from football for 20-plus years before the NFL Network hired him last year. I don't think he'll last in that role.

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Definitely check and see if Anthony Gonzalez is available in your league. As long as Marvin Harrison remains out, Gonzalez is going to be pretty good, and the Colts may opt to rest Harrison in some of their final games.

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