With the guts of the offseason in the rearview mirror, our good friends at Instant Debate headquarters asked which team had improved the most this offseason.
We decided to ask a group of folks who earn less money, on average, than the Instant Debate talent, but are no less important: The ATL staff. And our ATL readers.
Here goes:
Dan Hanzus chose the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "Coach Greg Schiano and the Bucs are primed for a bounce-back season, led by Josh Freeman and the key additions of a No. 1 wide receiver (Vincent Jackson), a dangerous backfield weapon (first-round pick Doug Martin) and one of the game's best guards (Carl Nicks)," he said.
(Yes, that's the first time Hanzus was ever quoted on Around the League.)
Brian McIntyre picked the Buffalo Bills. "I like the moves made on defense. Not sold on Fitzy, or their tackles, but the D could push them over .500."
(I think McIntyre picked the Bills because he's secretly Canadian. As are the Bills.)
I would vote for the Philadelphia Eagles, who improved mostly by re-signing the right players, having a nice draft and not trying to do too much. Continuity was the right approach.
As for our faithful ATL readers? You chose just about every team in the league. It usually was the team you root for. The most popular picks: the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears, with Tampa Bay coming in third. A few of our favorite responses:
@nfl #NFLMostImproved Bills...because there d-line and o-line will be among the best in the nfl. Plus @BumpNrunGilm0re is lockdown.
â Mike Nelson (@M_G_Nels) June 11, 2012