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AFC North 2020 Preview

by

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

The 2020 NFL offseason has been anything but typical. Training camps are underway with no fans in attendance and our glimpses of the teams have been sketchy at best.

But in looking around the AFC North, at the additions from the draft, the free agency moves and the returns from injury, it seems as if it’s just another normal off-season.

I have to say the team to beat is the Baltimore Ravens – regardless of what Steeler Fan wants to believe. And while Pittsburgh and the Cleveland Browns battle to be second fiddle, I think we all know the Cincinnati Bengals need a lot more help than #1 draft pick Joe Burrow as quarterback.

Let take a look at what each team has been up to so far this year.

The Baltimore Ravens started the draft taking linebacker Patrick Queen from LSU. Then they grabbed Ohio State running back stud J.K. Dobbins in the 2nd round to show you what this team will be about in 2020: Fierce defense and rushing options galore.

With QB Lamar Jackson returning, they should have no problem holding on to first place in the division. With Dobbins in the backfield, defenses will seriously struggle to figure out where the rush is going to come from and how to defend either of these guys.

Add Queen in on defense and the turnovers should greatly improve for that unit this year.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers survived the loss of wide receiver Antonio Brown, but it was the injury to QB Ben Roethlisberger in week 2 that really derailed their season. While his replacement, Mason Rudolph, was adequate, the end of the season drama really kept him from being a viable option for the future.

The return of Big Ben could mean really good things for this team – or could show that maybe he needs to start thinking about retirement. That right elbow is going to be the key to making or breaking the team this year.

With no first-round pick, their second-round choice of WR Chase Claypool, from Notre Dame, could be just the outlet Roethlisberger needs to move the ball and stay healthy. Plus, maybe we’ll actually get to see safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, linebacker T.J. Watt and inside linebacker Devin Bush make some impacts this year.

 

Meanwhile, the Browns have a new general manager, Andrew Berry, and a new coach, Kevin Stefanski. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… that’s all they need to make a run for the Super Bowl! Oh and maybe a quarterback?

But QB Baker Mayfield returns, along with WRs Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr. The running game should be strong with RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both being fired up and ready to go. Nothing can stop them, right? Oh, yeah….

I will say I gave them an A on the draft…. Snatching up offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr, from Alabama, was a smart move. The offensive line took a lot of heat from fans for the lack of production last season so this should either fix the problems or at least get them focused on another unit.

They always seem to find some way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Will this year be any different? I’d like to hope so, but I just don’t have the emotional bandwidth to hope for better than 8-8 this year. Maybe too many years of being disappointed in my home team has finally made me a cynic, but I’ll just call myself cautiously optimistic. I am putting them 3rd in the division after all….

And last, but certainly not…. nevermind…. The Cincinnati Bengals took QB Joe Burrow first in the draft. No one was shocked. No. One.  And while you can’t argue that he was absolutely on FIRE last season at LSU, will that translate to the NFL game? Can he handle the speed, pace, SIZE of the opposition? Is he enough to fix all their problems? OK that last one I can answer with a resounding “NO!” But he’s absolutely the perfect start to their rebuilding process.

Head coach Zac Taylor seemed to avoid any real criticism last year due to the fact that this team sorely lacked talent. Now, with Burrow under center, there will be no room for excuses. Anything less than six wins will bring the fans screaming for his head. But I think they’ll get there.

In the draft, they made the kind of picks that don’t jump out at you but when you look at them, they were pretty smart. They gave Burrow another weapon with WR Tee Higgins (Clemson), who will create matchup problems opposite A .J. Green. Guard Hakeem Adeniji (Kansas) will protect Burrow and keep him upright.

Then they used four of their final five picks to help a defense that was ranked near the bottom in almost every category last season. They’ve got a long road ahead of them in a division that is looking to provide real competition for the first time in a long time, but I think that, so far, they are moving in the right direction.

 

Talk AFC North with Kate on Twitter // @ClvlndK8

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