Is O'Neal for real?

I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but I do like the Deltha O'Neal pick-up. He's not too old and had a few great seasons. Joining this team is incentive enough for O'Neal to regain his focus and approach his Pro Bowl level of play. Put O'Neal in a veteran locker room with coaches Bill Belichick and Dom Capers, two of the best at coaching the secondary, and you'd have to like the chances of O'Neal bouncing back.

But am I jumping the gun? We've seen a lot of players have a hard time fitting on this team, including players in the secondary. Just this off-season alone, we saw CBs Jason Webster and Fernando Bryant fail to make the team. Not too far back safety Matt "personal foul" Stevens failed to stick with the team. The worst experiment was Duane Starks, though he was so bad he deserves to be in a different category.

Success stories aren't as fruitful. Of course S Rodney Harrison was an unquestionable success, as was CB Tyrone Poole when he was opposite Ty Law. When Belichick hit on a free agent, it was a huge benefit to the team.

But signings like the ones above were huge risks. Keep in mind Harrison was considered finished by San Diego when Belichick picked Rodney out of the trash. It was the same story with Poole, who had his best season his first year with the Patriots after bouncing around from Carolina, to Indianapolis, then Denver for a year before his three year stint in New England. 21 passes defensed with six interceptions are Pro Bowl-caliber numbers, and that's what Poole did with the Pats in 2003.

So what can O'Neal do with the Pats? I can't make a prediction. All I know is they like him enough to sign Deltha to a one-year contract. O'Neal had his best seasons in year two of his stints with Denver (nine Int, 25 PD) and Cincinnati (10 Int, 20 PD). I doubt O'Neal will be with the team in 2009, so I hope the coaching staff get immediate results from Deltha.

Elsewhere in the league, Baltimore named rookie QB Joe Flacco as their starter for week one. If the Ravens are smart, they won't leave Flacco as the starter for long.