The Facts: Unlike the past couple of years, when coaches told him that the tight ends would be more involved in the offense -- only to see his role be more limited than he would like, again -- Franks saw enough evidence during the team's off-season mini-camp and organized team activity practices to be cautiously optimistic about the possibilities. "You can see it in the offense. We are more involved," said Franks.

Diehards Line:One reason for Franks to believe the hype is his former position coach, Jeff Jagodzinski, is now the team's coordinator. Jagodzinski, who coached Green Bay's tight ends from 1999 to 2000, worked extensively with Franks as a rookie in 2000, helping him become a three-time Pro Bowl selection. "We're pretty much (being used) at every position," Franks explained. "We're at the tight end position, we're in the backfield, we're split out at the wide receiver position. We play all the positions, really. So they have no choice but to get us the ball. ..." The "us" includes Franks, David Martin and Donald Lee.