It's a cliché as old as the cosmos. Every year, there's at least one player who proclaims himself to be in the best shape of his life. Sometimes an amazing season follows said proclamation, while other times nothing is different. It's a poor bellwether for a great year, I'll say that.

Still, it's kind of a fun storyline to follow. That's particularly true since the Falcons have a healthy mix of older dudes (John Abraham, Matt Bryant, Todd McClure) and heretofore unproven players (Lawrence Sidbury, Spencer Adkins, Dominique Franks, etc.) Someone among that group is going to show up for training camp looking like he Hulked up, and my guess is that it will be one of the guys from the latter list. When you've got something to prove, it helps to at least look the part.

While it may be great sportswriter fodder, it's also

Place your (meaningless) bets, ladies and gentlemen.