Football's done. Time for ... FOOTBALL

So, I guess most football-heavy folks are probably going through some level of withdrawal right about now, but I have to admit that I'm rather excited.

For starters, we're now fully into NFL draft season, and the draft is simply my single favorite sporting event of the year. The Super Bowl is cool, but I've watched a team I had rooting interest in at the time play in that game just twice in my life -- and neither ended in victory.

The NFL draft, on the other hand, is the ultimate setting for those of us who find thrill in projecting what particular athletes will accomplish, what specific teams should or will do and which year we'll actually see Mel Kiper and Todd McShay get into a slap fight. (Actually, Mike Mayock's terrific material, combined with the presence of Chris Berman and Meshawn on ESPN, has me now watching NFL Network almost exclusively on draft weekend.)

It's fun this time of year to get better acquainted with the prospects and start trying to figure out what we can expect from them in fantasy.

And on that fantasy front, I've recently jumped on board Fantasy Football Trader's weekly off-season roundtable and kicked off the inaugural draft for a new dynasty league with 15 of my industry brethren. A dynasty format has been the one thing really lacking from my fantasy portfolio recently, as other commitments and lack of connection with leaguemates led me away from my last such foray.

This league even uses IDPs, so I'm quite excited to get things going. I'm sure I'll mention the draft and the league itself from time to time in this space, in case anyone's interested (... or even if you aren't).

Speaking of defensive players, the last thing that has me anxious for this game-less time of year is that I plan to get more off-season content posted. The maiden launch of RapidDraft and other work duties tended to sap writing time in 2009, but I don't plan to let the same happen this time around.

In particular, I'm looking forward to restarting the division-by-division IDP-sleeper series that stalled out last winter, and there has been some interesting recent news on the defensive front that could impact some of those sleeper situations. Namely ...

The Giants release MLB Antonio Pierce

This wasn't a surprising move. I'm no NFL personnel guy or anything, but a veteran linebacker coming off a neck injury who will turn 32 in October and already appeared to be in decline doesn't seem like all that attractive a prospect.

There will be plenty said about the leadership New York's defense will lose with Pierce gone, but we're only concerned with the tangible impact on the field. The fact is that Pierce's production had slipped noticeably after a couple of pretty good seasons to start his stint with the Giants. Youngster Jonathan Goff got a crack at the middle job after Pierce hit injured reserve last year, but he fared about as well as Gerris Wilkinson has every year he headed into camp as the weakside favorite. That is to say, Goff doesn't look like the strongest bet to open 2010 in that spot.

It's way too early for us to know who will, but we can start to assess the possibilities. Chase Blackburn got a turn in 2009 as well but continues to look like little more than a fill-in player. Danny Clark spent most of the past two seasons starting on the strong side for the Giants, but he previously manned the middle in Oakland's 4-3. He will turn 33 in May and stands as no kind of long-term answer, though.

Perhaps the Giants will take a look at Michael Boley or Clint Sintim inside, but they seem more-likely pegged for the starting outside spots. That leaves free agency -- with little beyond Gary Brackett on the unrestricted market -- and the draft as options. This year's linebacker class looks strong, so I'd expect the Giants to grab a prospect at some point within the first three rounds.

Come May we should have a better idea of who will (or at least could) take over for Pierce.

Porter released by Dolphins, thrown back into captivity by NFL

Another non-shocker of a move saw Miami try to get rid of a loudmouthed, aging player at a position where the team doesn't need him. The surprising part, of course, was the league's declaration that salary-cap facts made the move illegal before the new fiscal year starts.

Whenever he actually leaves South Beach, all that matters here is that the Dolphins will be getting rid of Porter, which should excite IDP owners. This should help us to finally find out just what kind of production Cameron Wake can offer in the NFL.

Miami coaches failed to get the former CFL defensive player of the year any kind of consistent playing time, but what Wake accomplished in that sparse action indicates that he'll be a strong sack factor with more snaps. According to ProFootballFocus.com, only the lack of opportunities kept Wake from ranking among the league's most productive pass rushers in 2009. Had he reached the 200-snap threshold at the same performance level, the outside linebacker would have led their Pass Rushing Productivity rankings.

Wake did put up 5.5 sacks in limited 2009 action (though the first 2.5 shouldn't count, because they came against the Bills), so opportunity just might be the only thing between him and double digits.

Seahawks sign Ricky Foley

I saw him referred to as both "Ricky" and "Rick" in reports on the signing. I'll stick with the former, because I think the latter makes him sound more like a one-hit popster from the '80s.

Wake's trip to the NFL from the Canadian league last off-season likely helped open the market for 2009's CFL co-leader in sacks to do the same. Like with Wake last year, we can only wonder about the impact and playing time Foley will have in 2010.

Similar to Wake in size, Foley's situation is made more interesting by the fact that he joins a defense with little proven pass-rush ability and plenty of potential to change. New coach Pete Carroll retained Gus Bradley as defensive coordinator, but we have to assume that alterations will be made to a defense that tied for fifth-fewest sacks while allowing just more than 24 points a game.

The coaches involved are steeped in 4-3 fronts, so we should assume at this point that Seattle will stick to that - even if the ability on hand at linebacker might befit a switch to 3-4. One suggestion is that the team might introduce the "elephant" position that combines linebacker and defensive end responsibilities and was formerly made famous by players such as Charles Haley and Lawrence Taylor.

We'll have to see how everything gets sorted out in Seattle. For now, the best guess on Foley is he'll play a situational rush role at end, as the 245-pounder would likely have trouble holding up in extended duty on early downs. Limited snaps, of course, would limit his scoring chances.

E.J. Henderson targeting May workouts

This is a situation we'll have to monitor up to and through the time that Henderson gets back on the field, after the Alvin Mack-style injury we all watched on national TV. If he does make it back to some level of on-field workouts by May, being ready for the regular season in September should be realistic. Jasper Brinkley sure didn't do anything while filling in to make the team second-guess returning the job to Henderson ASAP.

Matt Schauf is the senior football writer for World Fantasy Games. E-mail him at matt.schauf@worldfantasygames.com. Follow him on Twitter (mschauf63).

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