ESPN had a chat with our favorite NFC South blogger, Pat Yasinskas, and the subject of the suspensions of Smith and Grant came up a couple times. The chatters had an interesting take on it:

...maybe its not such a bad thing. maybe grant and smith will have a fire lit up under them after not being able to play for the first four games.

...i believe a 4 game suspension might be the best thing for will smith and charles grant. with the off season additions of hargrove and spicer they will actually have to earn the two DE spots. if hargrove and spicer both perfrom well in smith and grants absence gregg williams will have those two bustin their butts to get the starting jobs back.

Pat Y seemed to buy into it:

It might be just what those two need. And don't forget Bobby McCray. I think he can be a force if they use him as a situational pass rusher.

Of course, he's being cautious at this point--which, give the guy credit, is an improvement over the usual MSM "expert" pontificating about "The Ten Players Most Likely to Play at 38% Capacity in Week Three," or some such nonsense.

It sounds like a plausible scenario. And actually, if there are going to be suspensions, the first part of the season is definitely the best time for them. That block of four games is eminently winnable (only the Eagles are bona-fide playoff contenders), two of the opponents are in the AFC, and none of them are NFC South teams. Even if we lose all four--and I don't see that happening--the season is still manageable.

So what do you guys think? Is the suspension really some sort of blessing in disguise?