Baltimore Ravens: The 2013 Ravens are going to look a LOT different than the team that went on an emotionally-charged run to win the Super Bowl last year. A number of the key figures that were instrumental in that run are now gone (Ray Lewis retired, Anquan Boldin got traded to the 49ers, Ed Reed signed with the Texans, Paul Kruger signed with the Browns, Dannell Ellerbe signed with the Dolphins, Carey Williams signed with the Eagles and Bernard Pollard was released and later signed with the Titans) and making it even more difficult for the new-look Ravens, tight end Dennis Pitta fractured his hip in training camp and is now out for the entire season. About the only free agent the Ravens retained this offseason is quarterback Joe Flacco. Flacco got a huge payday and now has it to back it up and prove his playoff heroics weren't a fluke. Flacco has to yet to throw for 4,000 yards or 25 TD's in a single year and reaching either one of those milestones this year is going to be extremely difficult with a depleted receiving corps. Someone aside from Torrey Smith (the only proven, healthy option they have who is poised to have a huge season) is going have to step up and become a viable option if Flacco wants to finally breakthrough into the elite tier of quarterbacks and prove himself of worthy of his giant contract. Jacoby Jones has shown flashes of dominance in the slot, but he's never been a full-time starter in his career. Young guns Tandon Doss and Deonte Thompson haven't really done too much in their careers thus fur and just added vets Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark are competent, but far past their primes and are unlikely to be huge factors in the offense. The well-being of the Ravens this year is going come down on one of these guys (or currently injured tight end Ed Dickson, who is set to return at an unknown point in the season) to step up and have a breakout year. It's not all uncertainty and negativity for the Ravens though. Despite their huge losses, the team made a number of nice pickups in free agency and the draft. The biggest addition is outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil is a premier outside linebacker who knows how to get to the quarterback. The tandem of Dumervil and Terrell Suggs at outside linebacker is going to be absolute hell for opposing offenses. They also picked up veterans Chris Canty and Marcus Spears to solidify their defensive line, inside linbacker Daryl Smith to fill the leadership void of Ray Lewis and safety Michael Huff to be the new enforcer of the secondary. Their rookie class is looking great as well with potential steals in safety Matt Elam and versatile linebacker Arthur Brown. Elam and Brown are both projected starters at the moment and have been very impressive in camp so far. Thrown in the return of cornerback Ladarius Webb who missed most of last season with a torn ACL and the Ravens defense actually looks a bit better than last year. Offensively despite this disarray in the receiving corps,the Ravens still have a deadly 1-2 running back tandem in Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce. I fully expect Rice's rushing and receiving numbers to jump up substantially after a slightly disappointing 2012 season. Baltimore still has a great O-line who should give them room to run and Rice's elite pass-catching ability make him the only guy besides Smith that Flacco can fully trust this season. Pierce is a also a bruiser that can help out big time in third-down situations and if Rice goes down, is reliable enough to handle the workload of a starter. The Ravens have some questions marks, but I don't believe they are in nearly as bad of a place as a lot of people say they are.
Cincinnati Bengals: With the Ravens and Steelers looking a bit more vulnerable this season, 2013 could be the year where the Bengals finally start running the AFC North. They are coming up off two straight playoff berths and didn't suffer any major losses this offseason. That level of continuity is a good sign for their potential success this year. Andy Dalton should continue to improve as a quarterback and his chemistry with star wideout A.J. Green is already electric and if Dalton improves, Green could become even more deadly. I also like the young options around Green, most notably Mohammed Sanu, who was playing great before a late-season foot injury sidelined for the last few weeks of the year and rookie Tyler Eifert, who is super athletic and could be very effective in two tight-end sets lined up with veteran Jermaine Gresham. Defensively, they were sack machines last year and I fully expect that to hold true again this year with a behemoth like Geno Atkins in the middle of the line, Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap running off the edge and new addition James Harrison, who should be good for some sacks despite how little gas he has left in the tank. The pass-rush could be even more deadly this year if raw but freakishly athletic rookie defensive end Margus Hunt successfully adapts to the professional game. As long as Mike Zimmer is the coordinator and they retain the same players, the Bengals will have one of the scariest front sevens in the league. Really the only question marks for the Bengals are safety and who is going to start at running back. Reggie Nelson and Taylor Mays got beat over the middle big time last year and unless rookie Shawn Williams is a stud, I expect more of the same this year. The running back race is definitely interesting and probably the most heated one outside of St. Louis or maybe Denver. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was reasonably effective last season, but the hype is all around rookie Giovanni Bernard, who is far more explosive than Green-Ellis. I'm sure it will be a committee until one of them breaks out (my money is on Bernard over Green-Eills.) The Bengals are a pretty talented team with only a few flaws that are set to take the next step as a team this year. If the pieces fall into place, we could be looking at a outside title contender this season.
Cleveland Browns: A miracle might be happening: There's actually some hope for the future in Cleveland. The Browns picked up guru Norv Turner to be their offensive coordinator and new head coach Rod Chudzinski turned around the Panthers offense in only a couple of years. These offensive minds coming to Cleveland is probably the best news running back Trent Richardson could've got at this point in his career. Richardson is now (presumably) healthy and coming off a year where he played hurt and almost got 1,000 yards rushing and proved to also be a pretty solid receiving option as well. Turner is known for his virtuoso work with running backs and Richardson certainly has the talent to thrive in his offense. These arrivals should also have a positive impact on second-year quarterback Brandon Weeden. Weeden was mostly just average last year, but he showed flashes of potential and the change of offense could very well benefit his game. Helping Weeden's cause is the development of Josh Gordon as a top wideout and the pickups of veteran wideouts Davone Bess and David Nelson. Bess is relatively consistent and definitely upgrade over Greg Little at the number 2 wideout spot while David Nelson had a pretty solid year in 2011 with the Bills before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Browns also made some positive changes on the defensive side of the ball. They made two huge pickups in free agency bringing in outside linebacker Paul Kruger from the Ravens and defensive tackle/end Desmond Bryant from the Raiders. Kruger is a talented pass-rusher that should help the Browns previously horrendous pass-rush immediately while Bryant will contribute right away as their primary run-stuffer. On top of Kruger and Bryant, The Browns also invested a lot in first-round pick Barkevious Mingo to try and fix their defensive woes. Mingo has upside as a pass-rusher and the versatility to play both outside linebacker and defensive end, but he's definitely not a sure thing because of his size and sometimes inconsistent play at the college level. The Browns may be looking up, but their up is still quite a ways behind the rest of the league. They just don't have the weapons on either side of the ball to be competitive right now. This is a team that is slowly rising and does have a growing number of talented players, but 2013 will probably not be the year the Browns start to turn things fully around.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Last season was the first time in a long time that the Pittsburgh Steelers showed signs of vulnerability. Their defense was 1st overall in the league and Ben Roethlisberger had another great season, but team still went 8-8 and missed the playoffs because they couldn't score consistently. I except the same problems to creep up this season except become even worse due to losses in free agency and pesky father time. Rethlisberger's two favorite targets from last year are gone: Mike Wallace left for the Dolphins in free agency and the always reliable tight end Heath Miller is going to miss most of the season recovering from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered late last season. With Wallace gone and Miller out for now, the Steelers are going to need Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to step up big time. Both Brown and Sanders are coming off very disappointing seasons with mediocre numbers and inconsistent all-around play. Brown and Sanders both have the talent and have shined in this league before, they just need to show up and have major bounce-back seasons to help out Big Ben and show that the receiving corps isn't completely depleted of top-level talent. Their defense although consistently great in recent memory, isn't getting any younger. A majority of their top contributors are well into their 30's and this could be the year this talented D start to show its age. Although the Steelers have started to show signs of decline, they are too well-coached and have too many solid players to completely count out. Dick LaBeau is a defensive mastermind who is arguably the best coordinator in the league and head coach Mike Tomlin is no slouch either. It doesn't matter who they throw out on the field, they're going to produce because of the quality of the coaching and that is comforting considering the age and injury history of this team recently. Aside from the coaching, the presence of rookie running back Le'von Bell is exciting and could help out this questionable offense. This is a team that could flat-out not run the football this year, so the addition of Bell is nothing short of a godsend for them. Bell has been wowing in training camp and could be the workhorse runner Pittsburgh has lacked the past few years. The Steelers may not be as strong as they once were, but the coaching, defensive talent and Ben Roethlisberger are too much to count them out of a potential playoff spot.
Projected standings for the AFC North:
1.Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
2.Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
3.Pittsburgh Steelers (7-9)
4.Cleveland Browns (6-10)
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