While the Steelers work hard in Latrobe at the training camp that opened Friday at St. Vincent College, all three AFC North rivals are, of course, together as well. In what should be a very competitive division in 2014, the defending division champion Cincinnati Bengals began work on Wednesday, July 23 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Baltimore trains in Owings Mills, MD and also began last Wednesday. In Cleveland, there is an extra buzz around the Browns camp despite continued on-field woes from year to year, much due to the arrival of former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. He and the Browns are in Berea, OH and started practicing Friday.
For Cleveland, another year brings (again) renewed hope and (again) a new head coach. Mike Pettine gets his first shot running an NFL squad and had a great opportunity to use high draft picks to craft the roster the way he wants it to look. The Browns added Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the number eight pick and later got Manziel at number 22 after a series of draft day trades. Via free agency, Cleveland added receivers Nate Burleson, Miles Austin and Andrew Hawkins, who they will need to try to replace the suspended Josh Gordon. At running back they added Ben Tate, who will now no longer be in the shadow of Arian Foster in Houston.
Defensively, Cleveland welcomes linebacker Carlos Dansby and, on the coaching staff, Norv Turner exits as offensive coordinator and is replaced by Kyle Shanahan. Brian Hoyer is expected to be the starting quarterback to open the year, though there is certainly a lot of noise around Manziel and what he may bring. If Hoyer struggles at all, especially against a tough opening month on the schedule (Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Baltimore), “Johnny Football” may be under center before long. There will, for the first time in awhile, be legitimate excitement surrounding Browns camp this year and they may be a force to reckon with this season. Only time will tell.
For John Harbaugh and the Ravens, improvement is expected after a disappointing 8-8 season followed up a Super Bowl victory. New faces in Baltimore will include former Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley and Florida State defensive lineman Timmy Jernigan, as the Ravens – so much like the Steelers over the years – continue to focus on defense, defense, defense. Offensively, the Ravens added mostly through free agency, with receiver Steve Smith heading there after years with Carolina. Tight end Owen Daniels and running back Justin Forsett also are now Ravens. Forsett may be asked to step in a bit for Ray Rice during his two-game suspension, alongside Bernard Pierce.
In camp, the new faces replacing old ones on offense will have to mesh well for the Ravens to see improvement during the season. The Baltimore defense will still likely be very strong, but mega-millionaire QB Joe Flacco undoubtedly has to be better than he was last year. The team’s Super Bowl hangover can largely be blamed on the inabilities of Flacco and Rice, in particular, to consistently produce. Baltimore lost safety James Ihedigbo, linebacker Jameel McClain and tackle Michael Oher, among others. There is also a new key member of the coaching staff there, as Gary Kubiak enters as offensive coordinator following his dismissal as head coach in Houston.
The Cincinnati Bengals got by as division champions last season, mostly because Baltimore and Pittsburgh disappointed with 8-8 seasons. Marvin Lewis’ team failed miserably (again) in the playoffs with a flattening 27-10 loss to San Diego in the Wild Card round. On paper, they added very little talent but did not lose much either. Jason Campbell will now back up Andy Dalton at quarterback, Daneial Manning is now part of the secondary at safety, and in the draft they added Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard and LSU running back Jeremy Hill, as well as former Alabama star QB A.J. McCarron.
Cincinnati will have a few position battles, but nothing major. They have questions on the offensive line with center Kyle Cook departing and, though James Harrison did not produce much at linebacker in a Bengals uniform, there is a lot of youth at that position which is a concern on this roster. Cincinnati will have a very difficult schedule and, with three strong divisional opponents, may very well be unseated as champions of the North.
