From veteran free agency, the typical handful of trades, the annual draft and the addition of all those undrafted collegians who mostly got to serve as human blocking sleds, nearly 500 new faces showed up in the 32 NFL training camps this summer.

That represents, and we're using a fairly arbitrary figure here, maybe 50-55 tons of fresh meat on the hoof.

But in fulfilling the assignment of identifying one or two new players who might well be the so-called "missing link" for their team, the guys who could represent that final piece of a Super Bowl puzzle, we've narrowed the focus to one-third a ton of run-stuffing fun.

There will be, in hindsight, a lot of franchises who were punk'd in doling out big money to players they assessed would put them over the top. But in going for poundage, for two players who are more often at the bottom of a pile and whose Q-factor is virtually non-existent, AFC East rivals New England and Buffalo made the biggest acquisitions.

Literally and figuratively.

	Newcomer Sam Adams, left, works against Marques Sullivan in an offseason session.

The Bills, who statistically ranked 29th in defense against the run in 2002, included nose tackle Sam Adams in a front seven refurbishing they enacted mostly through free agency. The Pats last week traded for nose tackle Ted Washington, adding him to an impressive influx of veterans, all meant to upgrade a defense which finished an ignominious next-to-last against the run in 2002.

Yeah, we know, the Bills also added linebackers Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey, defensive ends Keith McKenzie and Marcus Jones, defensive backs Izell Reese and Dainon Sidney. The Patriots landed sackman linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, arguably the premier defender from the unrestricted free agent market, and hitman safety Rodney Harrison.

But playing run defense in the NFL, at least playing it well, characteristically starts with having a space-eater inside. Get yourself a snobberknocker of a tackle, a human anchor who refuses to be budged and occupies a pair of blockers on every play, and you usually have a giant leg up on shutting down the opponent's ground attack.

And very few people, over the last decade, have ground up (and spit out) more running games than Washington and Adams. Their names may be presidential, but their presence is ponderous, and the pair will certainly carry some weight in determining whether the Patriots and Bills are truly Super Bowl contenders in 2003.

"The guy is a human eclipse, he's so wide, and he just camps in there like a squatter and dares people to try to move him," New England inside linebacker Ted Johnson said. "Getting him in here was huge, man, in every sense of the word."

That is not to say there weren't some other big offseason acquisitions. But in attempting to develop some sort of subjective criteria for identifying one or two premier "missing link" players, we decided that candidates had to be with teams capable of making a run for the Super Bowl. To us, at least, the ultimate final puzzle piece had to be a player who might lift his new franchise into the ultimate game.

So that eliminated some pretty solid players. Several weeks ago, for instance, we opined that the best offseason pickup in the league might well be tailback Stephen Davis by the Carolina Panthers. Given the team's style of play, the manner in which the Panthers have lost so many close contests over the past few seasons, Davis will make a difference and could well nudge Carolina to the .500 level. But a Super Bowl berth, even with Davis in the backfield, isn't realistic yet for this team.

Wide receiver Laveranues Coles, in training camp and preseason play, seems to be worth every cent of the $13 million signing bonus Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder awarded him to pry the three-year veteran away from the New York Jets as a restricted free agent. Defensive end Hugh Douglas might add some spark to the Jacksonville pass rush, although he has looked unmotivated and in dubious conditioning during camp, but the Jaguars are in a rebuilding mode. Even if Carson Palmer does get some starts for the Cincinnati Bengals this year, and chances are he won't even get off the sideline, it would be ludicrous to suggest the first overall choice in the draft can steer the club to postseason play as a rookie.

So who are some of the other "missing link" candidates?