An off-season full of personnel changes can be excruciating for fans.

The Falcons were active this off-season, trading for Asante Samuel, remaking their coaching staff at both coordinator spots, in the secondary and along the offensive line and, you know, the draft. Given that the Falcons' previous three off-seasons were more or less a trade, a free agent signing and the draft, this is sort of a big deal.

The last time there was this much to talk about in terms of change was 2008, when the Falcons were embarking on a journey with a new general manager, new coach and tons of new players. Then, as now, it was almost impossible to make it from May to July without speculating wildly. Waiting that long to find out what these new coaches and players can actually do kills me, and I know it kills all of you.

The speculation can come to an end soon. We're going to see this team in action at training camp, and then in pre-season and, finally, in the actual season. All our questions and wild guesses about Dirk Koetter's offense and Mike Nolan's defense and Pat Hill's bristly mustache powers will finally be answered. Nothing will come out exactly the way we expect it to, but we'll have concrete stats to point to and living, breathing players to watch. Our opinions and our discussions will be a hell of a lot more refined by that point.

It's coming. We just have to make it another week or so. How will you pass the time?