The other day while watching something on TV (I'm assuming it was NFL Total Access since I can't remember the last time I turned the channel), Jamie Dukes from an Atlanta radio show was being interviewed. He was asked which division in the NFL was the toughest.

Now, I realize his job is to hype up the Atlanta Falcons to get more people wanting to listen to his show. The more people who listen, the more his radio show can charge advertisers to advertise during his show. Makes sense. I can't hate on that. But when he answered the question of the toughest division in the NFL as the NFC South, I still had to ask, "Are you bleeping serious?"

Washington Redskins columnist Brian Elliot takes a look at the team's plans for 2006. He addresses the offseason pickups and compares briefly the upcoming euphoria to the feeling from the summer of 2000. That year, the Redskins had just finished a playoff-bound season, drafted Chris Samuels and LaVar Arrington as well as signed a host of big names such as Mark Carrier, Bruce Smith and of course, who could forget, Neon Deion Sanders.

Unlike the 2000 season, though, Elliot's article seems to be a bit more optimistic. He has good arguments of why this upcoming season should be different. Different portions of the team is explored and analyzed. He even mentions Clinton Portis' explanation of QB Mark Brunell's sudden injury and the quarterback situation:


I'm an avid NFL Total Access viewer, watching it religiously and like clockwork. I saw when Clinton Portis was on the set, but I didn't hear the part when he talked about Mark Brunell. He is obviously a huge joker so there's never any telling with him, but it would be an interesting way to handle the media scrutiny and questioning that comes with a retirement comtemplating QB (see Green Bay). Then again, Clinton Portis is also the one who last year said he was going to start telling the defenses when Mike Sellers was getting the ball so Sellers would stop hogging up all the touchdowns.

It seems like every article posted on the Internet giving previews of each team for the upcoming season simply regurgitates the same stuff. Clinton Portis is gonna be one bad mofo, with a WR squad daring teams to put eight in the box. The defense is gonna decapitate QBs because Gregg Williams is a defensive genius who has a lot of weapons to play with (Sean Taylor, though, has given up his weapons). And of course, the WR corp is gonna be one of the NFL's most explosive units, especially with Al Saunders bringing his aerial assualt plan to the capital.

They say this could be Jason Campbell's year to take the helm if Brunell's legs (or arm or body or brain) can't take it. They say with a healthy Randy Thomas and Jon Jansen all year, Portis could set records (Ok, I've been saying a lot of that, too). They say Gibbs has developed the right atmosphere at Redskins Park, assembled the right people to play for the Redskins and most of all, Daniel Snyder has backed off and let football people play football. Now if he can just figure out how to get Six Flags rolling as smoothly.

But Rich Tandler, editor-in-chief at Warpath, always knows how to add a little flavor to his articles. He puts the 2006 Washington Redskins team in perspective, by comparing them to a unit we're all familiar with and know what they accomplished: the 1991 Super Bowl Championship team led by Mark Rypien, Art Monk, the Hogs, Charles Mann and so forth. Tandler goes position by position, taking a look at the key players of each position on the 91 and 06 teams. How do you feel about 91 MLB Matt Millen (Yes, that Millen) compared to today's Lemar Marshall? DL Tim Johnson compared to Cornelius Griffin?

In 1990 the Redskins finished the season 10-6 after a playoff drought, taking a shot to the dome in the divisional round. Sound familiar? Let Rich take you on a trip down memory lane as we prepare for the future.

NOTE: By the way, Rich Tandler also is the author of "The Redskins From A to Z." Get more information about Rich's book by visiting RedskinsGames.com.

Apparently I'm not the only one who believes Clinton Portis is going to have a monster year. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports expressed his views on what to expect from Portis this year going as far as writing...

Larry Johnson can have his 2,000-yard season in Kansas City. Portis could be making a run at the single-season record for rushing touchdowns.

Adding onto one of my last predictions, I will go as far as writing that Clinton Portis will outrush the Saunders-less Chiefs RB Larry Johnson. Larry Johnson is going to have amonster year, too, assuming Herman Edwards can get that offense kicking in first gear from the jump. But Portis only has to adjust to one additional offensive guru onto a staff and team that has already established a bond, a winning attitude without questioning the leadership and an offense that's more explosive than the Chiefs.