Recently by Stu Humboldt

Monday brought some sad news for all sports fans with the passing of Harry Kalas. His booming baritone, instantly recognizable, served as the voice of the Phillies for 38 years. Football fans will also be familiar with Kalas's more than three decades of voiceover work for NFL Films. Kalas's enthusiasm and love of baseball, best captured in his signature "Outta here!" home run call, will be sorely missed from Phillies broadcasts. Spring and summer will never sound the same in Philadelphia. The fact that he had become so closely identified with one city and one team, a rarity for sportscasters in this day and age, makes his passing all the more difficult for fans. Thankfully Harry did live to see the Phillies finally win another World Series title last fall, and was there to make the call in a thrilling moment for the city and its longsuffering fans. Fans and friends should take comfort in the fact that he died in the pressbox doing what he loved.

After 4 weeks of football the AFC East looks nothing like I predicted. It's impossible to replace the offensive production and leadership of a player like Tom Brady, and the Patriots look like a very average team without him. Backup Matt Cassel is playing alright, but it's obvious that they've simplified the playbook and don't fully trust him to run the offense. And who could blame them? Although he's in his 4th year, the fact remains that he's barely played in the regular season. The Pats are relying on screens and short passes to move the ball, and the vertical passing attack that was so deadly last season is pretty much gone. Maybe they will open it up more as the season goes on and allow Cassel to get more comfortable with the deep passing game. If not for the fact that they have a relatively easy schedule I'd say the Pats are no longer a seious playoff contender. They may still make it, but they are defiinitely underdogs to win this division now. Just a few short weeks ago that notion would have been unthinkable.

As for the rest of the division, the Bills are clearly playing the best football. The defense and special teams have played superbly and QB Trent Edwards is not making many mistakes. They are the team to beat now. The Jets could definitely make a run, but they need to play more consistently--they look great one week and semi-crummy the next. The Dolphins simply destroyed the Pats 2 weeks ago, and they hung tough against the Jets, so they will factor into the race as well.

San Diego Chargers
The Chargers are head and shoulders above the rest of this division. They have solid playmakers on both sides of the ball, and running back LaDanian Tomlinson is still arguably the league's most dangerous offensive weapon. Phillip Rivers should continue to progress at quarterback. If they play to their potential they will be a serious contender for the Super Bowl. If I was a Chargers fan, I wouldn’t feel too good about Shawne Merriman’s decision to play the season with 2 torn knee ligaments, however—too risky.

Denver Broncos
After two straight unsuccessful seasons, Mike Shanahan has promised that the Broncos will return to the playoffs in 2008. But none of their offseason signings really excites me much. Judging by the preseason Jay Cutler seems to have stepped up his game a notch. The offense should be able to score some points. Defense could be a problem area again this year, and could cause them to miss the playoffs. If anyone can get them to play at a high level it’s Shanahan.

Oakland Raiders
The pieces are in place for this team to improve. JaMarcus Russel has a year of experience under his belt. Top draft pick Darren McFadden gives them the explosiveness they've been lacking on offense. If Javon Walker can stay on the field (and off of the pavement) they have a legitimate deep threat in the passing game. They’re not a playoff team yet, but they will beat some.

Kansas City Chiefs
Top draft pick Brendan Albert should help quickly revitalize an offensive line that looked like a shadow of its former self in 2007. That in turn should be good news for RB Larry Johnson who is healthy again and ready to prove that he can still be a productive back. Dwayne Bowe was one of the breakout players of 2007 and should continue to shine. But overall this is a mediocre team stuck firmly in rebuilding mode. I'm also not convinced that Brodie Croyle is the answer at QB, but we'll know after this year.

New England Patriots
After their Super Bowl upset defeat at the hands of the Giants, the Patriots are looking to repeat as division champs and advance deep into the playoffs. Their offense is returning largely intact, which is good news for a unit that set all sorts of records last year, including total points and most TD passes. Their defense still looks a little old and slow, despite the addition of LB Jerod Mayo, a potential opening day starter, in the first round of the draft. But the coaching staff is excellent at putting together schemes and gameplans to make this defense better than just the sum of its parts. Though they will obviously not go undefeated this year, the Pats should have little trouble wrapping up the division for the sixth straight year, for the simple fact that very few teams will be able to outscore them.

New York Jets
Before the Jets signed Brett Favre I would have ranked them third in this division, but Favre brings an instant legitimacy to the QB position that New York has not had in several years. Having a future Hall of Fame QB to lead the offense will increase the production of the Jets skill position players, and should translate into a couple more victories than they otherwise would have had. Upgrades at G (Faneca) and FB (Richardson) in the offseason should also allow the Jets to run the ball more effectively this year. The Jets loom as a wildcard contender but my gut tells me they will come up a little short.

Buffalo Bills
The Bills have been gradually improving the last couple years and that trend should continue, but ultimately this team needs better production from its offense. Will rookie WR James Hardy develop into the receiving threat they've been looking for to take some of the pressure off of Lee Evans? Will QB Trent Edwards perform better as a full-year starter (assuming J.P Losman doesn't reclaim the job at some point this season)? I have my doubts. However, the running game and defense remain decent to above average and will give the Bills a shot at making the playoffs, albeit a slim one.

Miami Dolphins
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the Dolphins will win more games than they did last year. Seriously though, this is a team with a lot of question marks heading into the 2008 season. They traded away their best player, defensive end Jason Taylor. Ronnie Brown is only 10 months recovered from a torn ACL. Their defense was downright terrible last year, and at least on paper doesn't look to be much beter in '08. And the guy expected to start at QB, Chad Pennington, was literally just signed a few days ago after the Jets dumped him. On the positive side, the offensive line will be better this year (though that's admittedly not saying very much) with the drafting of blue chip tackle Jake Long at #1. If the Dolphins win more than five games the season should be considered a massive success.

This post sums up our mock draft. There's already been one trade affecting the draft order, with KC getting the #17 pick from Minnesota, and there are bound to be more in the first round before all is said and done. Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how many of these picks we actually predicted correctly. With Jake Long just signing a deal with Miami as the first overall pick, the DC Sports Page is starting out 1 for 1.

1. Miami - Jake Long, OT Michigan
2. St. Louis - Chris Long, DE Virginia
3. Atlanta - Glenn Dorsey, DE LSU
4. Oakland - Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
5. Kansas City - Sedrick Ellis, DT USC
6. New York Jets - Matt Ryan, QB Boston College
7. New England - Vernon Gholston, LB/DE Ohio State
8. Baltimore - Ryan Clady, OT Boise State
9. Cincinnati - Keith Rivers, LB USC
10. New Orleans - Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy
11. Buffalo - Devin Thomas, WR Michigan State
12. Denver - Jeff Otah, OT Pittsburgh
13. Carolina - Derrick Harvey, DE Florida
14. Chicago - Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt
15. Detroit - Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois
16. Arizona - Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee State
17. Minnesota - Phillip Merling, DE Clemson
18. Houston - Johnathan Stewart, RB Oregon
19. Philadelphia - Calais Campbell, DE Miami
20. Tampa Bay - Aqib Talib, CB Kansas
21. Washington - Brendan Albert, G Virginia
22. Dallas - Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech
23. Pittsburgh - Mike Jenkins, CB S. Florida
24. Tennessee - Felix Jones, RB Arkansas
25. Seattle - Malcolm Kelly, WR Oklahoma
26. Jacksonville - Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina
27. San Diego - Gosder Cherilus, OT Boston College
28. Dallas - Desean Jackson, WR California
29. San Francisco - Brian Brohm, QB Louisville
30. Green Bay - Antoine Cason, CB Arizona
31. New York Giants - Kenny Phillips, S Miami

To conclude our mock draft the New York Giants are now on the clock with the 31st pick.

After winning a championship and pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Superbowl history, the New York Giants are looking to restock their team with the talent that will allow them to make another run at the title. It is really almost impossible to accurately predict what teams will do in the latter part of the first round of the draft, but there are several needy positions on this team. The phenomenal play from the Giants defensive line last season masked an otherwise average secondary, further weakened with the loss of starting safety Gibril Wilson in free agency. Michael Strahan may end up retiring, so drafting a DL here would make some sense as well. On the other hand, they may want to address the linebacking corps, which saw starter Kawika Mitchell and backup Reggie Torbor leave to sign with other teams. Finally, there are rumors that starting TE Jeremy Shockey may be traded. No TE's have been taken yet in our mock draft so the Giants could have their pick of the bunch.

To continue our mock draft the San Diego Chargers are now on the clock with the 27th pick.

After coming within a game of reaching the Superbowl, the Chargers clearly look to be the class of the AFC West once again, and should easily repeat as division champs. This is a deep team with a lot of talent and not many serious needs. After losing Michael Turner in free agency to Atlanta, they may want to address the backup RB spot relatively early in the draft. However, in our mock draft the value is just not there with all of the first-round RB prospects long gone. CB, and OT are other positions San Diego may target in the first round. They may also want to take a QB in the mid- to later rounds because of Rivers' injury.

Pick #27: Gosder Cherilus, OT Boston College
Cherilus has been steadily climbing up the boards and most mocks now have him as a late first rounder. The Chargers could use some more depth at the offensive tackle position, and although it's unlikely that Cherilus will crack the starting lineup in his first year, he should be a solid backup lineman and someone they can groom as a potential starter down the road.

The Dallas Cowboys are now on the clock once again.