The fear of an extended NFL lockout has now subsided and players are headed to training camp for the next few weeks before the start of the NFL season. NFL preseason has always been an ugly affair the first few weeks. Chaos, confusion and injuries always seem to take center stage as teams try to evaluate without giving away too many secrets. However, this upcoming preseason could be the worse we have seen in a very long time. The lockout cancelled many off-season activities including conditioning programs. Players have not had access to team trainers and may not be in the best shape if they haven't done the work on their own. Conditioning especially in the off-season is a key ingredient to staying healthy during the regular season. Rookies have not had access to playbooks. Teams with new systems and new head coaches will be frantic as they try to get new players, rookies and coordinators all on the same page which is never an easy task even with extended time. “How much sloppier can it get?” said Vikings linebacker Ben Leber, a plaintiff in the antitrust lawsuit that 10 players filed against the NFL on March 11. “You look at the first couple games of the preseason, even when we have minicamps and (organized team activities), the quality of play is to the point where nobody feels good about it. Now that we’ve missed all this offseason time, there are going to be even more growing pains for everybody.” Needless to say it could get very ugly very fast. Preseason totals are always set lower than the regular season totals. However, with the above things to consider I expect the totals in many of the games to be set even lower than usual from the bookmakers. We could possibly see totals set in the 20's the first week of the preseason. If the bookmakers don't adjust expect the wiseguys and sharps to hammer the UNDER in many of the early preseason games. Defense always shines a little more than offense in the preseason because many coaches like to keep the regular season playbooks a surprise. Expect to see strong preseason moves on the UNDER in many of the posted totals. Pay close attention to the 34's and 31's posted on games but remember these numbers are not as strong as in the regular season. Many coaches will attempt to avoid overtime and this eliminates much of their value. Preseason as a whole could be an ugly affair but at least we have a preseason and for that fact a regular season. Enjoy these ugly games and cash in big on some of those early under moves.