New NFL season full of captivating storylines

With the Olympics having overshadowed an August that is usually boiling over with anticipation,…With the Olympics having overshadowed an August that is usually boiling over with anticipation, it seemed that the NFL and all of its drama had gone into hiding across sports media.

Yet the NFL pre-season has arrived, and we are just getting our first glances at the new NFL teams and what they have to offer.

This month has already tossed the NFL soap-opera drama into full swing. Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid’s son passed away, aging wide receiver Terrell Owens found another new team in Seattle, the first female NFL official made her debut as the league called in replacement referees during an official strike and the Jets couldn’t stop fighting each other at training camp.

As is the case with every NFL season, the biggest question marks lie at the quarterback position. Here are some quick hits on a few major storylines — starting with the QBs — and how I see them shaking out in the 2012 NFL season.

Peyton Manning in Denver

When I hear someone doubt Peyton Manning or question the Broncos’ move on this one, I simply shake my head. I understand his neck is a question mark after he missed all of 2011 with an injury. I know he’s passed the 30-year landmark in age.

But this could be the best quarterback of all time, and he’s nowhere near out of gas. Manning has fire in his eyes and is backed by a team that won a playoff game last season with Tim Tebow throwing passes for it. I repeat: Tim Tebow. I’d be shocked if the Broncos weren’t a 10-win team.

Andrew Luck in Indianapolis

Speaking of Peyton Manning being one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, how would you feel trying to take over the franchise he led for the past 14 seasons?

That’s what’s on Luck’s plate this season, but nobody is better suited to fill Manning’s shoes than the Stanford grad. Luck will have to use both his voice and his talent to carry a team that could only manage one win last season. He is widely considered the best quarterback to come out of the draft since Manning, so you won’t catch me betting against him.

I see the Colts pulling off an 8-8 season, while Luck leaves some jaws on the floor with his accuracy and demeanor.

RG3 in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps the biggest unknown of last April’s draft was Robert Griffin III. He is the kind of quarterback that could either thrive or dive in the NFL — freakishly talented, unorthodox, big, athletic and coming from a program that has never played a top-tier college team. Nobody will really know what he has until his number gets called on opening day.

It’s tough to separate my fandom for the Redskins from logical reasoning, but this kid has impressed everyone who has seen him, and I won’t be the first doubter. It might not be Cam Newton-esque, but “RG3” will get it done in his rookie season, and other teams in the NFC East are not going to enjoy having to chase him and Eagles quarterback Mike Vick around week after week.

Tim Tebow in New York

Whoops.

Roethlisberger’s shoulder and attitude

There was a lot of talk this summer about whether Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley could coexist, but the Steelers’ track record in the front office says they know what they’re doing.

Head coach Mike Tomlin has an iron fist, and I wouldn’t expect him to let something like a coach-player controversy spin out of control. The Steelers will be fine — the real question is how Roethlisberger’s body will hold up. His rotator cuff, according to him, is torn. His ankles and knees took a beating last year and he’s aging fast.

But nobody plays better hurt, and Big Ben has proved he is a born winner. Until someone stops him, expect to see the Steelers make another postseason run.

The 49ers on paper

Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs, LaMichael James, Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn, Mario Manningham, Randy Moss, Vernon Davis, Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, Carlos Rogers, David Akers … OK, I just wanted to see if this team actually looked as good on paper as it does in my head. And it does.

The San Francisco 49ers have more talent than anyone else in the league, they did more in the offseason than anyone and they were one game away from the Super Bowl last year. This could be their year.

Dream Team tries to fall asleep

The hype around the Eagles last year was not entirely their fault, but it was entirely their fault that they only managed eight wins. Vick followed my rant on his contract being outrageous by proving (once again) that he can’t complete a full NFL season without suffering an injury.

Still, the “Dream Team” hype lingers and the birds are doing everything they can to get where they know they can be: the Super Bowl. The signing of DeMeco Ryans was big for a line-backing group that leaks like a South Oakland faucet, but he, like Vick, still needs to prove he can stay healthy.

Bucs as a Dark Horse

Nobody is talking about Tampa Bay, and I’m not sure why. The Buccaneers signed wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who may have been the biggest sure thing in free agency this year. They also picked up veterans like Carl Nicks and Dallas Clark and got rid of the cancer that is Albert Haynesworth.

They also have Josh Freeman, a quarterback who had a 25 to 6 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his rookie season before plummeting for myriad reasons, and they seem to have addressed most of those reasons. Aside from the Saints, they play in a pretty weak division. And with New Orleans in shambles, this could be the year Tampa Bay sneaks into the playoffs and surprises some people.

New Orleans gets impaled

Speaking of New Orleans, nothing like what happened to the Saints this offseason has ever happened in the NFL, and it might never happen again.

The Saints lost their defensive coordinator, their coach was suspended for the entire season and four of their best players will have to serve suspensions in the wake of “bounty gate” — a scandal that revealed that Saints players and coaches had been putting bounties on opposing players in an attempt to injure them.

But the Saints’ problems don’t stop there. They lost Carl Nicks to a team in their division, star quarterback Drew Brees had contract disputes this summer and the team was supposed to have a down year anyway. New Orleans could be in for a depressing season on the gridiron.

And jumping way ahead …

Super Bowl XLVII prediction: Green Bay Packers 27, Denver Broncos 21.