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Every Saturday, we do this mailbag thing, where I go through and take questions -- one for each team, generally. This week, I have to say, the mailbag's a little thin. I know it's been a slow week, but those happen. I still need the questions. Step up your game, mailbaggers! (Just kidding. You guys know I love you no matter what. And reading through some of these mailbag questions, I really mean no matter what.)

James from Blacksburg, Va., is a Virginia Tech student and a fan of cornerback Jayron Hosley, the third-round pick of the New York Giants. He's enjoying the publicity Hosley is getting as a candidate for the nickel cornerback spot with the Super Bowl champs, but he wonders if it's not fairer to assume that second-year cornerback Prince Amukamara (last year's first-round pick) should be expected to take a bigger 2012 leap than Hosley.

Dan Graziano: Yes, James. People tend to be prisoners of the moment, and for that reason this year's picks seem more exciting at this point than maybe last year's do -- especially when last year's is someone like Amukamara, who didn't make the kind of impact fans might have expected him to make as a rookie. But assuming he's over his foot problems, and given a full season and offseason in a Giants organization that likes to stress player development, yes, I would expect Amukamara to make a major leap forward and have a better chance of contributing on defense this year than Hosley should in his first year with the Giants. Just the way things work there. Also, by the way, I was covering the Yankees in March of 2008 when they went to play that game at Virginia Tech. Loved the campus. Beautiful, with all of the "Hokie Stone" buildings. That was a special day.

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Mark from Bossier City, La., is "concerned the Dallas Cowboys did not do enough to address their weaknesses in the interior of both their lines," and says he thinks specifically of the way the Cowboys were dominated on the interior of the offensive and defensive lines in the two late-season games against the Giants that effectively cost Dallas the division title.

DG: Yeah, I think your concern is legitimate, Mark. On the defensive side, they remain committed to Jay Ratliff at nose tackle (as opposed to moving him to defensive end), and the big problem with Ratliff is the way he wears down late in the season. If someone like Josh Brent can take a step forward and give Ratliff more of a breather earlier in the year, they might get to December with Ratliff still playing his best. Part of the problem in those two Giants games was that Ratliff was banged up. As for the offense, they like the two guards they drafted last year -- David Arkin and Bill Nagy -- and they specifically targeted free agents Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau this year. So while, as you point out, Livings and Bernadeau don't come with the most stellar resumes, there's something about both guys they think can work for them. They believe that something will emerge in training camp from the deep mix of guards they've brought in over the past two offseasons, and they might be right. My issue is that I think center was their biggest problem last season, and I don't know yet whether Nagy or Bernadeau can be an upgrade over Phil Costa if they decide Costa's still not good enough.

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Jeff from Gainesville, Va., wrote in with a number of questions, but the one I'm going to address is about the Washington Redskins' running back situation. Jeff thinks that, with Tim Hightower still unsigned and Roy Helu and Evan Royster each entering just his second season, that it looks as though two or three backs will share the load and perhaps rookie Alfred Morris will move to fullback.

DG: Not sure what the plans are for Morris, but I agree that you can expect to see a couple of different backs rotate in and out of the "starting" role for the Redskins in 2012. Mike Shanahan's record on this front makes that an easy prediction. I know that they consider Hightower the most complete back of the bunch and the preferred starter if he re-signs and proves healthy. But there's plenty they like about both Helu and Royster, and at various times this year I'd expect to see either or both of them as a major factor. As any fantasy football player will tell you, there's no way to know from week to week which Shanahan back to expect.

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Alex from Iowa wants to know if Philadelphia Eagles rookie wide receiver Marvin McNutt could be "Jason Avant 2.0," since "he's slightly bigger and faster with the possibility that he can develop even better hands."

DG: Sure, Alex. While Avant's been a valuable contributor at times over the past couple of years, he has yet to seize an opportunity to jump up to the next level when injuries/suspensions/whatever have thrust those upon him. They obviously see something they like in McNutt, and I believe that the Eagles' wide receiver picture behind DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin is wide open. I would not be surprised if a rookie got and took advantage of an opportunity to earn significant playing time, especially considering that tight end Brent Celek might be needed more as a blocker due to the injury to left tackle Jason Peters.

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That's this week's mailbag, but we can do better. By Wednesday of next week, I want to be looking through this mailbag and seeing so many questions that I have to do a midweek mailbag as well as a weekend one. Maybe a video one, too. Remember those? Let's go, folks. Keep the questions coming!

So John Clayton has this piece on the 10 best position battles brewing this summer between rookies and veterans in the NFL. I scrolled through it, thinking it would provide me with some material for a late-Friday afternoon post, and to my shock and dismay there wasn't one NFC East mention in the whole thing. Come on, John! Help a guy out, will ya?

Anyway, it got me thinking: There must be some interesting position battles to keep an eye on throughout the offseason and training camps in our division, right? I mean, some situations where things aren't yet set in stone? There are, and here's one for each team.

Dallas Cowboys' inside linebackers: Sean Lee is set at one of these spots, but the other will be interesting to watch. The team drafted Bruce Carter in the second round in 2011, and they believe he's part of their future on defense. But he was coming off an injury when they drafted him and played in just 10 games as a rookie, and they can't be sure he'll be ready to hold down a starter's spot full-time in 2012. So they went out on the free-agent market and signed Dan Connor, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to start next to Lee while Carter continues to acclimate himself to the pro game. The interesting aspect of this will be how good Carter looks in training camp and whether he can play well enough to demand to take reps and snaps away from Connor. The veteran, Connor, will start with the job, but Carter is the future there, and it's just a question of when he's ready.

New York Giants running backs: Ahmad Bradshaw is the unquestioned veteran starter, but he doesn't come without questions. Foot injuries have limited him over the past several seasons, and his good friend and veteran safety net, Brandon Jacobs, is off to San Francisco to play for the 49ers. Assuming Bradshaw won't be able to make it through the season fully healthy on a starter's workload, there are going to be plenty of snaps to go around. The question is how many of those snaps first-round pick David Wilson can steal from holdover youngsters like D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown (who's suspended for the first four games for drugs).

Philadelphia Eagles safeties: The team wants Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, its second-round picks from the 2010 and 2011 drafts, respectively, to be the starters. Of the two, they're more confident about Allen, who's had some injury issues but played well when healthy last season. They have him penciled in as a starter. Whether Jarrett can fight off Kurt Coleman for the other starting spot is one of the training-camp questions the Eagles will face. It's also possible they'll add a free-agent veteran to the mix, but they'd rather get the production they need from their young guys if they can.

Washington Redskins secondary: There are currently 15 defensive backs listed on the Redskins' roster, and it's safe to assume they can't all make the team. The question is which of them will play. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall would appear to be set as the starting cornerbacks, but the team did sign free agent Cedric Griffin, and intriguing undrafted free-agent cornerback Chase Minnifield will be a name to watch in the summer. The more interesting questions are at safety, where the Redskins lost starters LaRon Landry and O.J. Atowge and things are wide open. The guy they like the best for the future is 2011 draft pick DeJon Gomes, but while they view him as a starter at some point, they don't know yet whether that point is this year. Their free-agent safety signing list is a fascinating one, including Brandon Meriweather, Madieu Williams and Tanard Jackson, any of whom c0uld emerge as a starter. Griffin also might have been brought in with an eye toward playing him at safety, and Reed Doughty was a valuable injury fill-in last season and could get a shot at more playing time in this crowded field. The Redskins appear to be installing an all-out competition for safety roles, and from here it's impossible to know who will play well enough to nail them down.

What will you remember most about Vince Young's time as the Philadelphia Eagles' backup quarterback?

Will you remember him coming in for an injured Michael Vick in Week 6 in Washington and throwing just one pass, which was intercepted?

How about the Seattle game, in which he threw four interceptions and fumbled once in the loss that ensured that the Eagles could not have a winning 2011 season?

Or the New England game the week before that, in which he passed for 400 yards, rushed for 40, threw only one interception, and yet somehow the Eagles managed to lose by 18 points?

Perhaps you're the glass-half-full sort, and you'll remember that Young somehow overcame three interceptions to lead a fourth-quarter drive and beat the eventual Super Bowl champions.

Come on. Who are we kidding? You might or might not remember any or all of those games, but we all know what you and everyone else will forever remember about Young with the Eagles -- the indelible imprint he left on the glum history of Philadelphia sports. Years from now, when you are reminded that Young did in fact play for the Eagles, you'll remember that, in his introductory news conference, when he was asked what he thought of all of the free-agent signings the team was making, he replied, "Dream Team," opening a too-easy avenue for ridicule of an Eagles team that would ultimately fail to meet any of its preseason expectations. That's what you'll remember about Young. He was the guy who said "Dream Team."

Anyway, it's a slow day, and Young signed with the Bills, which are the two reasons I wrote this post. I hope you enjoyed it.

Earlier this offseason Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher raised some eyebrows when he was asked during a radio interview who the leaders in the team's locker room were and he said he didn't know. The obvious question, after the Cowboys collapsed down the stretch last year and finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs, was whether there were enough capable leaders on the roster.

Well, inside linebacker Sean Lee, who was one of the Cowboys' best players in 2011, would like the job. Per Tom Orsborn in San Antonio:

"If there is something that needs to be addressed, I have no problem addressing it," Lee said last week while working out at team headquarters in Irving.

"All my teammates realize I have their back, and I want to see them do their best, and I want to see our team win the Super Bowl and be successful. So I have no problem stepping up and saying something if I see or find something I feel is wrong."

Good for him. At the time of the Hatcher thing, my reaction was that if a guy doesn't think there are enough leaders in the locker room, the right thing to do is become one. Looks as though Lee would like to do just that. He's got the chops for it, having played at a high level early last year before dislocating his wrist and proving his toughness and dedication to the team by coming back and playing in a cast before that wrist was fully healed. If there are players on the Cowboys looking for someone who can step up and be a vocal leader, Lee is the kind of guy to whom they might pay attention.

We'll see. I tend to think this is a lot of hooey. And I have a hunch that, if the Cowboys win 11 games next year, we'll hear a lot about how great their leadership is and, if they win eight again, we'll hear a lot about how they don't have enough. And nobody cares which one's the chicken and which one's the egg if you're in the playoffs.

As we've mentioned a few times lately, there's not a lot of drama left with regard to the signing of first-round draft picks, but New York Giants fans will be interested to know their team has apparently come to terms with first-round pick David Wilson, the running back from Virginia Tech. Wilson would have been at the start of rookie minicamp today anyway, since unsigned rookies are allowed, but now the Giants know they'll have him for every part of the offseason program, in case they ever had any doubt.

What will Wilson be for the Giants? And when will he be it? They ranked last in the league in rushing offense last year during the regular season, and Brandon Jacobs, who had about 40 percent of their carries, left for San Francisco in free agency. So Wilson will get an opportunity, as will veteran backs Da'Rel Scott, Andre Brown and D.J. Ware, behind starter Ahmad Bradshaw (though Brown is suspended for the first four games for a drug policy violation). It's obviously extremely unlikely that Wilson is similar as a player to Jacobs, since no one is, and that the Giants' running game will operate differently this year no matter who gets Jacobs' carries. That might not be a bad thing, especially if Bradshaw can stay healthy for a whole season and handle a starter's workload while the Giants sort out what they have in the young guys behind him.

Incidentally, for those who decry the rookie wage scale, the Giants had the last pick in the first round four years ago, and Kenny Phillips got a $2.53 million signing bonus. The slot where Wilson was picked says he should be getting about $3.3 million. So it's not as though the new regulations are killing these guys. The only place where rookie salaries ever really looked to be getting out of control was up around the top five picks. And even that was overblown, if you ask me. But as usual, they did not.

Dallas Cowboys

Tyron Smith knows the Cowboys' expectations for him are high as he moves from right tackle to left tackle in his second NFL season. There's nothing to indicate that he's going to have any kind of serious problem with this transition. Kid's a stud.

Calvin Watkins believes the Cowboys have made themselves better this offseason, but he also believes the rest of the teams in the division have done the same, and that it's not going to be any easier for the Cowboys just because of the improvements they made.

New York Giants

Last year was, if you remember, a strange year to be an NFL rookie. There were no rookie minicamps -- no offseason program at all, due to the lockout. This year it's all back to normal, and as the Giants open their rookie minicamp today, they're expecting that normality to help this year's rookies make an immediate contribution.

Speaking of rookies, while "sign" and "rhyme" don't exactly rhyme, "Hosley" and "Mosley" do, and the Giants have signed third-round pick Jayron Hosley and fourth-round pick Brandon Mosley to their rookie contracts in advance of this weekend's camp. And even though their first-round and second-round picks haven't signed, a) they surely will soon and b) they are allowed to participate this weekend anyway.

Philadelphia Eagles

No veterans allowed at rookie minicamps this year, so as the Eagles open theirs today as well, every face will be a new face. The coaching staff is excited about it, and if you click on Les Bowen's preview story you can also find out what uniform numbers the draft picks will be wearing. If you're into that sort of thing.

Sheil Kapadia looked at the very, very early betting lines and saw that the Eagles are actually favored to win 13 of their first 15 games this season. Obviously, you don't need me to tell you that a 13-2 start would set the Eagles up rather nicely for the playoff run they hope to make in 2012-13. You also don't need me to remind you that betting lines are designed based not on which team the oddsmakers think will win but rather on which way they expect people to bet. You don't, right?

Washington Redskins

It's the Redskins' 80th anniversary season, and they're going to have a couple of games this year in which they wear throwback uniforms. They had a big shindig Thursday to unveil the uniforms and their plans for their celebration. Here's a photo of Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo in the throwbacks. The helmets are supposed to look like old leather helmets. They don't, of course, but the league probably won't let them use real leather.

The Redskins and Cowboys had their day in front of the arbitrator Thursday, arguing that the league shouldn't have imposed salary cap-penalties against them for their spending during the 2010 uncapped year. No timetable for a decision or further hearings, but this won't be resolved any time soon.

Chris Burke was one of my editors at AOL FanHouse, which was an excellent chapter in both of our lives before it went the way of subprime mortgages, the XFL and "Linsanity." Chris is now doing very well running the "Audibles" blog at SI.com, and today he's got a post on the most promising undrafted free agents for each of the 32 NFL teams. I imagine it took a great deal of time to go through all of the undrafted free agents, and I respect that. But for our purposes, we're only looking at the names he picked out for NFC East teams. And here they are. The comments are mine, not Chris'. For his, you can click the link:

Dallas Cowboys: Jeff Adams, T, Columbia. The Cowboys like their current starting tackle tandem of Tyron Smith and Doug Free, but Free was shakier in 2011 than he was in 2010, and the roster isn't teeming with backup tackles. This guy could get a chance for some preseason playing time. And he's an Ivy Leaguer, so he's probably smart.

New York Giants: Joe Martinek, FB/RB, Rutgers. Rutgers kids are smart, too, and it's not as though there aren't opportunities this offseason in the Giants' backfield.

Philadelphia Eagles: Chris Polk, RB, Washington. Yeah, we've written about him, and others have, too. Surprising that he went undrafted, but apparently there were some health concerns. He's one of the more promising sleeper guys on this list anywhere in the league.

Washington Redskins: Lance Lewis, WR, East Carolina. Chase Minnifield would have been the easier call here, given that the Redskins have about a billion wide receivers and could stand some upgrades at cornerback. But Chris went with Lewis because of his size, which is something that's not abundant in that Washington WR corps.

Interesting insight here from Tim McManus on the relationship between the Philadelphia Eagles and agent Drew Rosenhaus and what that means for the prospects of a long-term contract extension for running back LeSean McCoy. The Eagles and Rosenhaus haven't always been the best of friends, and hard feelings persisted for a time from both ends after the Terrell Owens years. But the Rosenhaus-Eagles relationship this offseason has looked as strong as ever, with the long-term deals for DeSean Jackson and Evan Mathis serving as evidence:

"Every relationship needs to be worked on," said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. "If you don't work on relationships -- especially in high-pressure situations -- they can deteriorate. I think as you go further along and you have more history with someone, you understand different perspectives."

It seems clear that the relationship in question is in a good place from which to arrive at the long-term deal McCoy is seeking. The Eagles obviously have plenty of cap room with which to work. (They already did a month ago, and since then they've unloaded Asante Samuel and his $10.5 million cap number.) And they consider McCoy a vital piece of their offense, especially after he scored 20 touchdowns last season.

But running back deals aren't easy in this day and age, when the position is becoming more undervalued and wear and tear on backs leads to shorter and less productive career primes. So it's not as though the issue is going to be resolved simply or quickly. I believe the Eagles and McCoy will get a deal done eventually. I do not know if it will or can be done before training camp, before the regular season or before next offseason. I don't think McCoy will make a huge issue of things if no deal is done -- i.e., hold out of training camp or skip the first few days as Jackson did last year -- but only McCoy and possibly Rosenhaus know that.

A lot of this stuff is more fragile than fans give it credit for. As Tim points out, McCoy fired Rosenhaus twice last season, so it's always possible the agent-client relationship could surface as an issue before this is resolved. I know Eagles fans won't be comfortable until this is all wrapped up, but in the meantime I guess you can be encouraged by the idea that at least the sides are talking and friendly.

The defending Super Bowl champions get back to work this weekend, as the New York Giants hold their rookie minicamp in East Rutherford, N.J. Repeating is hard work, though, and there are good reasons why only one team this century has been able to do it.

You lose players. You lose coaches. You become the No. 1 target for teams that have identified you as the biggest obstacle standing in their way of getting what they want. The people who run the Giants, and many of the people who play for the Giants, were in this position four years ago, and they know all about the challenges that face the defending Super Bowl champs.

But this year's Giants are not your ordinary defending champ. They were, speaking strictly in terms of winning percentage, the weakest Super Bowl champion in history. They didn't even secure their playoff spot until the final game of the regular season. With two weeks to go, they were 7-7 and in real danger of finishing under .500.

All of these things are facts, just as much as the title they won. So as they get back to work this spring and summer, the Giants face the seemingly incongruous dual task of maintaining the magic that brought them their title while also improving a 9-7 team.

They have some things going for them, and I'm not just talking about Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. The Giants run their franchise as one that's perpetually in transition.

Rather than wait for problems to present themselves, or roster holes to open, the Giants constantly churn the middle and the back end of their roster, developing players in their system so they're ready to step in when need arises. There are running backs and wide receivers on the roster who have been waiting for the opportunity created by the free-agent defections of Brandon Jacobs and Mario Manningham, and those players will get the chance to do what Cruz and Pierre-Paul did last year when presented with similar chances. The Giants never allow themselves to get so thin at any one position that they don't at least have options for replacing those who leave or get hurt or decide to sit out training camp.

That said, this Giants team does have holes to fill and problems to solve. They finished 32nd in the league in rushing offense -- a fact that, while mitigated by the improvements the run game showed in December and January -- didn't sit well with their running backs and their offensive linemen. They will need to get better there, and to do so they'll need Ahmad Bradshaw's feet to stay healthy for the first time in years. Plus, they must find someone to replace the 167 touches and eight touchdowns Jacobs contributed to last season's cause.

They'll need to shuffle the offensive line again. While Kareem McKenzie was not what he used to be, he was the starting right tackle on a team that won the Super Bowl, and they did not replace him. They hope that Will Beatty (a) comes back healthy from his eye injury and (b) plays better than he did at left tackle in the first 10 games of last season.

David Diehl isn't around to slide over and bail him out this time. Diehl's got to play right tackle in place of McKenzie. The Giants have some offensive linemen they like for the long-term, but this looks like another transition year on the line. While they have enough good veterans in place to pull it off, that's a tough tightrope act to try too many years in a row.

They have bodies at linebacker, with Keith Rivers brought in as a good veteran reinforcement and some of last year's promising rookies hopefully ready to take a next step, but they have no clear man for the middle. They have bodies at cornerback, but they have question marks there, too.

Corey Webster was awesome in 2011. Can he repeat that performance? Is Terrell Thomas fully recovered from the preseason knee injury that cost him the whole season? Will Prince Amukamara make more of a contribution?

Don't think for a second that GM Jerry Reese isn't concerned. He used each of his first three draft picks on positions at which he lost a player in free agency -- running back (David Wilson for Jacobs), wide receiver (Rueben Randle for Mario Manningham) and cornerback (Jayron Hosley for Aaron Ross). And he's smart to be concerned, because while these Giants rightfully consider themselves a championship team, they're also a team that won one less regular-season game in 2011 than it won in 2010. Had someone in the NFC East won 10 and the Giants missed the playoffs, their offseason narrative would have been that of a team moving in the wrong direction.

Instead, the Giants have a two-front problem to solve. They have a division and a conference and a league full of teams that saw what they did and now consider Super Bowl glory more attainable than ever. And they have an internal mandate to be better this year than 9-7, because they know first-hand that it's not usually good enough to get you the chance to make a Super Bowl run.

They're capable of doing it, and they'll deservedly enter the season among the favorites to win it all again. They have superstars at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive end, and in this day and age that can carry you a long way. But as far as defending Super Bowl champions go, these Giants have more issues than most -- and more work to do.

When things are slow, I can count on Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com to help fill the void. So I wasn't surprised to find his piece this morning on Dallas Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins. Todd believes Jenkins is doing himself a disservice by working out on his own this offseason instead of joining in the Cowboys' voluntary offseason workout program:

Is Jenkins, who was the Cowboys' best cornerback last season -- and that is not meant as faint praise -- upset that he does not have a new contract? Is he upset the team signed Brandon Carr to a $50 million deal and Orlando Scandrick to a $27 million deal before he could cash in? Is he upset the Cowboys traded up to get Morris Claiborne in the first round in the draft?

Maybe it's yes to all three, but staying home is not the right answer.

Todd goes on to cite the past cases of Ken Hamlin and Marion Barber as examples of players who made similar decisions that didn't work out too well. But I think the more central and present point here is that the Cowboys are investing a lot of their 2012 hope in this offseason conditioning program they've had strength coach Mike Woicik install. We've heard several Cowboys players rave about it already, and the team believes that if it had been in place last year they could have avoided some of their more serious injury problems. Miles Austin's hamstrings, for example.

Now, it may be that what Jenkins ultimately wants is not something he can get. With Carr signed, Claiborne drafted No. 6 overall and Scandrick signed long-term, there doesn't seem to be much hope of Jenkins getting a long-term deal with the Cowboys. But if he plans to test the free-agent waters next year, the best way for him to succeed is to have as healthy and productive a 2012 season as possible. And if he's not going to go along with the Cowboys' program while others are, he might not end up getting the chance to play as much or be as productive as he can be.

Jenkins showed a lot last year -- toughness while playing hurt and high-level ability when healthy. He could help someone in 2013, even if it's not the Cowboys. But I tend to agree with Todd here that the best way for him to cash in next year is to play the good soldier this year. You never know. Claiborne's a rookie and coming off wrist surgery. Jenkins might get to play a lot more -- especially early in the season -- than people are assuming he will. Best bet is to be as prepared for that chance as possible.

Good morning, denizens of the NFC East blog. We roll on into another offseason Thursday, mining quotes and notes from charity golf tournaments and rookie minicamps for discussion points. And links, of course. Can't forget the links.

Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones says the team is not planning to trade Mike Jenkins and that he actually hopes Dallas can sign him long term. I believe the first part, but I believe that it's a result of a realization that there isn't much of a market for Jenkins right now. I don't believe the second part one bit. Not with as much as they've committed to Brandon Carr and are about to commit to Morris Claiborne. I mean, I'm sure they'd keep Jenkins long term for the right price, but not for what Jenkins likely believes he's worth on the open market. I think they're wise to keep Jenkins for this year, because depth at that position is a good thing. But I don't see how it works beyond this year unless he continues to struggle with injuries and they can get him at a big discount.

Jones also says he's confident about the Cowboys' and Redskins' chances in the hearings that begin today on the salary-cap penalties. I know I wrote in the original Wednesday breakfast links that the hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, and I apologize for the mistake. I wish I had a better excuse than the fact that I didn't know what day it was. I'm caught up now, though. So don't worry.

New York Giants

Chad Jones had hoped to be on the field with Giants players at this weekend's rookie minicamp, but he still hasn't been cleared to do so. Jones' comeback from his car accident remains an admirable story for which everyone's rooting, but this is a reminder that the road back isn't easy and remains long.

As the rookie signings continue to roll in, the Giants have locked up tight end Adrien Robinson, their fourth-round pick. Ohm's rookie preview touched on Robinson recently. He's a high-upside project the Giants hope can achieve his considerable athletic potential under the tutelage of their tight ends coach, Mike Pope.

Philadelphia Eagles

Jeremy Maclin turns 24 years old Friday, and a year ago he was dealing with worrisome medical issues that limited his offseason conditioning work. Maclin and the Eagles hope that this offseason goes more smoothly and that the result is the kind of exciting, productive and fully healthy season he was hoping to have in 2011.

Here's Greg Cosell of NFL Films writing about Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and the steps he needs to take as a quarterback if he and the Eagles are to accomplish their goals in 2012. It's similar to some of the stuff we've been discussing on here about Vick lately -- about how he needs to better devote himself to the quarterback position as a "highly disciplined craft."

Washington Redskins

The Redskins are looking for almost anyone who can play tight end. A couple of weeks back, we learned that second-year wide receiver Niles Paul was taking reps at tight end. Now, it seems linebacker Lorenzo Alexander has been doing some work there. Got to think the Alexander stuff is just in-case-of-emergency stuff, but none of this portends wonderful things for Chris Cooley, whose position on the team was already wobbly to begin with due to his salary and recent history of injuries.

What else, what else ... Oh, John Beck found work. The Houston Texans signed him. Yeah, I know, but it's a slow day and I know Redskins fans have a soft spot in their heart for Beck and the promise he showed in ... which preseason game was that again last year? Jeez, that seems like a while ago.

We have rookies on the brain this time of year, what with all of these rookie minicamps all over the place, so I was thinking about which rookie in our division was likely to be under the most pressure to perform right away in 2012. And as you can see in this week's edition of the Blogger Blitz video, I'm picking Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne over Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III for that dubious honor. Watch the video for my explanation. I really don't care whether you agree, curse at my yammering face or throw popcorn at the screen. It sets me up nice with the bosses if you watch the video all the way through to the end, so you know. Just sayin. If you want to do me a solid, is all. Thanks.

I liked this story/chart from Pat Kirwan on the rate at which NFL teams sacked the quarterback on third downs in 2011. (Even though his chart claims to include all 32 teams and in fact only includes 24. Hey, it's the offseason.) And I can't say as I'm surprised that the New York Giants ranked second-best in the league in third-down sacks and percentage of third-down sacks (behind only the Ravens). For a 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl, it must be exceptional at certain things, and in critical situations, and the Giants were certainly that. One of the things Pat believes his chart shows is why it would be foolish for the Giants to entertain thoughts of trading Osi Umenyiora:

In 123 games Osi has 36.5 sacks in third-down situations for his career. That's a third down sack 1:3.3 games. Julius Peppers has 34.5 in 164 games or 1:4.7 games. The great Reggie White had 47.5 sacks on third downs in 251 games or 1:5.2 games. The Giants aren't giving Umenyiora away and probably shouldn't trade him at all. Reggie White played until he was 39, and Osi is just 31.

Fair enough. I'm not totally sure we can look at one number and say Umenyiora's the new Reggie White, but it's clear that he brings something very special and that the Giants should value it highly, as they do. My argument for trading him has been based on the idea that his value is probably at its peak right now, but I agree with Pat that they're not in a take-the-best-offer mode and should only move him if the price is good.

I also found it interesting that the Philadelphia Eagles ranked fourth on this list in the first year of Jim Washburn and the "Wide 9." From this distant, early-May vantage point, the reasons to think the Eagles should be among the first defenses taken in fantasy drafts continue to pile up.

I have been writing for some time that there's no need to panic about the Dallas Cowboys' No. 3 wide receiver position just because Laurent Robinson caught 11 touchdowns last year and signed with Jacksonville. But ever since the first night of the draft, I have detected a burgeoning opinion among Cowboys fans that I am a moron who has no idea what he's talking about. You guys are subtle about it, but I can detect these things, in large part because I have not (to answer to several of your very polite mailbag questions) had a lobotomy.

So if you won’t take my word for it, I present the word of Mr. Todd Archer, the esteemed Cowboys writer for ESPNDallas.com, who made the case in a detailed piece Wednesday morning that the Cowboys can replace Robinson without having to find a guy to replace Robinson:

The No. 3 wide receiver on the Cowboys is really Tony Romo's fifth option offensively behind Jason Witten, Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and either DeMarco Murray or Felix Jones.

The Cowboys did not dial up a ton of plays specifically for Robinson last year.

His biggest plays came when coverage filtered to the other wideouts or to Witten (hello, 70-yard touchdown versus Philadelphia) or plays broke down. This isn't meant as a knock on Robinson, because he was terrific last year. He and Romo were simpatico when plays went haywire, and that takes skill, not time.

Just ask Roy Williams that.

The Cowboys don't need to replace Robinson's numbers with one guy.

This is a fine summary of the way the Cowboys were thinking about their No. 3 wideout situation last summer, after they cut Williams and before they found Robinson on the free-agent scrap heap. And it is because of the way things worked out last year that the Cowboys remain convinced they can approach the situation the same way this year. Had Robinson not come along and did what he did in 2011, the Cowboys' offense would have found a way to replicate his production. His most significant contribution, as Todd points out, was his stint as a reliable fill-in during the times Austin had to miss due to hamstring injuries. If they can keep Austin's hamstrings healthier this year, then they won't have a need for someone to do what Robinson did last year. And if they can't, they feel decent enough about their ability to fill in, even if they need more than one player to do it this time.

So every Tuesday at noon ET we open up a SportsNation chat room and we do this thing where you guys ask me questions and I answer them. We call it the weekly NFC East chat, and it's oodles of fun. Those who don't come and join in... well, they're beyond hope at this point. So rather than fill them in with the highlights, I present these chat highlights for those of you were there, so you can relive all the fun we had together.

Wesley from Woodstock, Va. believes that, due to his lofty draft position and the attendant hype, Robert Griffin III will be targeted by defensive players in 2012 for "welcome to the NFL" hits. Considering this, Wesley wanted to know if I thought the Washington Redskins' current backup plan of Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins was sufficient.

Dan Graziano: I don't know how much better a backup QB situation can get, actually. Grossman is the exact right guy to be backing up RG3 right away -- a QB who knows the offense and can help with the new guy's education (as long as the rookie ignores the parts about throwing it to the other team 20 times a year). And Cousins is a well-regarded young guy who'll be learning along with the starter. I think they've backed him up just fine.

St8prop from Atlanta saw a rumor that the Baltimore Ravens had offered the New York Giants a third-round draft pick for disgruntled defensive end Osi Umenyiora and wondered, if the Giants don't trade him, whether it would be because they believed they could do better in compensation picks for losing him to free agency next year.

DG: I think if they don't move him it's because they determined the value of keeping him on their roster outweighed what was offered. They don't NEED to move him. They're not worried about his discontent affecting what they do, and he showed last year that he can still make a major impact when he does play. And he's cheap.

(Ed. note: Please also remember that, if the Giants lose Umenyiora in free agency next year, their compensation pick wouldn't come until the 2014 draft, and it would depend on who else they lost in 2013 free agency and which players they signed as well.)

DAN FAN from Florida asked who would lead the division in touchdowns in 2012 and offered Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo as a guess.

DG: You mean passing TDs? I'd go with Eli Manning there, taking everything into consideration including his weapons and the relative states of the Giants' and Cowboys' running games.

So then Talon from Muncie, Ind. asked me to "elaborate on the state of NYG & DAL running games."

DG: Well, the Giants were last in the league, Ahmad Bradshaw has chronic foot injuries and Brandon Jacobs had 40 percent of their carries and is now gone. I think it's fair to say the state of the Giants' run game is questionable.

Mark from Los Angeles said he thought Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick "started getting a little lazy" after signing his big contract last offseason and wondered what his state of mind is going into this season.

DG: I don't agree with "lazy" as a characterization of Vick from what I saw last year. I felt all along that the Eagles needed to see some development and maturation from him as a leader, and while he showed some of it late in the year, I don't think he showed enough of it early. I do not ascribe that to laziness, though. I think he works very hard. I just didn't feel that he showed enough improvement in his specific areas of weakness. That could be because he doesn't identify those areas correctly, or because more work needs to be done in them than he or we are willing to admit, or any number of reasons.

And Gavin from Maryland asked how much of an upgrade new Dallas Cowboys fullback Lawrence Vickers would be over Tony Fiammetta, who got a lot of press last year for his role in the run game once DeMarco Murray got hot.

DG: The folks I talked to around the time of that signing all liked Vickers a lot better than they liked Fiammetta. I think by the end of the year, the consensus was that the midseason success of the Dallas' run game was much more Murray than it was Fiammetta, in spite of what some believed while it was happening.

Enjoyed it, as always. Though we didn't hear back from our old buddy Jack from Raleigh. I hope we didn't scare him off.