hagan714

Tampa Bay vs. Carolina - yada yada Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta - yada yada
Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans

1. CB Brandon Browner vs. WR Mike Evans
The New Orleans Saints have gone out and acquired cornerbacks before – Champ Bailey, Keenan Lewis, Chris Carr – and ended up with mixed results. That's to be expected; it's a volatile position and hitting on Lewis is probably enough to counterbalance any misses.

The signing of Browner this offseason, on the other hand, seems like a specific answer to the proliferation of huge and athletic wideouts in the NFC South. Tampa Bay's starting duo of Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans – two guys rolling in at about 6-5 and 230 pounds – is as good of a reason as any to counter with tall defensive backs. Tall cornerbacks who can move are difficult to find, but the 6-4, 220-pound Browner made the Pro Bowl in 2011.

2. RB C.J. Spiller vs. LB Lavonte David
The NFC South wasn't particularly active in the early days of the unrestricted free agent market this year. New Orleans made a splash with its trade of tight end Jimmy Graham, but none of the four South teams made news in the first few hours of the open market.

However, the Saints might have made a sneakily-important pick-up in the signing of former Bills running back C.J. Spiller. Spiller was injured and not particularly good in 2014, but he had roughly 2,200 rushing yards in the 2012-13 seasons combined, averaging about 5.3 yards per carry. If there's a new weapon in the Saints backfield, that's the purview of Lavonte David, Tampa Bay's sideline-to-sideline linebacker who seems to be able to diagnose where running plays are going before they start. Spiller is capable of breaking off big runs; David needs to make sure he doesn't get that opportunity.

Six New NFC South Matchups

CB Brandon Browner vs. WR Kelvin Benjamin,

other draft picks to watch
LB Vic Beasley
WR Justin Hardy
LB Kwon Alexander

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins