AFC NORTH: Key questions heading into camp

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[b]AFC NORTH: Key questions heading into camp [/b]
Adrian Hasenmayer / FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 hours ago



NFL minicamp season is finishing up, or completely done in most parts of the league. That means until training camps begin at the end of July, the rest of the league's front office folks get to pull a Ricky Williams and forget about football for a while.

Yeah, right.

While general managers and coaches are throwing down drinks with umbrellas or giving their kids piggy-back rides, their minds will invariably return to training camp's most nagging questions.



BALTIMORE RAVENS


2004 season record: 9-7 (2nd place in AFC North)



Will Brian Billick's Ravens ever be able to throw the ball?
When Baltimore originally hired former Minnesota offensive coordinator Brian Billick as head coach in 1999, words like "genius" were mentioned when discussing his offensive prowess. After coordinating the Vikings to an-NFL record 556 points during a 15-1 season that ended an overtime field goal shy of the Super Bowl, such praise seemed relatively plausible — and even moreso after Billick's defense-dominated squad won a Super Bowl in his second year running the show. The feeling was, as soon as Brian The Great acquired enough offensive talent, this could be a dynasty in the making.

Derrick Mason gives the Ravens a dependable outlet for QB Kyle Boller. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
That was five years ago, and now in 2005 the Baltimore Billicks face a crucial season in their evolution on offense. Billick and Baltimore personnel head Ozzie Newsome have had time to construct a passing game. But after saying "Sayonara" to Trent Dilfer the season after leading the Ravens to the Lombardi Trophy, faulty foundation caused the offense to crumble in the train wreck known as the Elvis Grbac experiment (2001) and a patchwork season of Jeff Blake and Chris Redman in 2002.

Deciding that Blake and Redman did not constitute QBs of the future, Billick found his top gun and traded up in the 2003 draft to snag Cal's Kyle Boller at No. 21 of the first round. Finally, Billick had pocketed a star pupil to mold into a superstar, franchise-carrying quarterback.

The waiting is the hardest part, especially in the modern-day NFL. Sure, the young QB would be given time to develop, but not to the point of hindering a playoff-contending team. Boller began his rookie year as starter, but was eventually replaced by Anthony Wright in Baltimore's playoff push. 2004 was Boller's first full season behind center, and the Ravens missed the postseason by a chinstrap at 9-7.

In the tug-of-war between patience and performance, the Ravens would love to be rational and blindedly give Boller another full year. But young passer or not, these facts are disturbing: In 2003, the Ravens' passing offense ranked dead last in the NFL, then next-to-last in 2004. To quote one of the great philosopher minds, Shaggy, "Zoinks!"

Now, Boller should not be to blame for all of the pitiful passing numbers. But the fact that he was mostly asked to hand the ball to Jamal Lewis and not screw things up the past two years speaks rather candidly to his NFL progress to that point. Boller's importance has been underscored by the Ravens, whose primary off-season goal has been to speed up Boller's learning curve.

The most obvious way to do that? Give the guy some more targets.

Baltimore moved swiftly this March to sign former Titan Derrick Mason, who led all wide receivers with 96 receptions in 2004. Then blessed with a consistent, middle-of-the-field possession pass-catcher, Baltimore looked to the draft and snagged super speedster mark Clayton from Oklahoma. Ouila! Add the two speedsters to an All-Pro talent at tight end in Todd Heap plus some decent back-end options at WR, including Randy Hymes — who enjoyed some excellent minicamps in June — and Boller's crutches are erased.

Billick's additional adjustment in polishing Boller's game was a decision to limit the plethora of voices giving him instruction and advice. Billick promoted good friend and former Giants head coach Jim Fassel from a senior offensive consultant to full-blown offensive coordinator. And while quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel, and certainly Billick himself, can drop tons of knowledge at Boller, this season Fassel alone will play traffic controller in communicating to the young passer.

So this begs the question, what if Boller struggles again this season? Baltimore has a healthy Anthony Wright as a fall-back option, but the Ravens would really rather avoid having to go there since it would represent a major step backward for Boller, and possibly could crush his confidence.

But if Baltimore's passing game is non-existent by midseason, pressure from the fans or maybe even a frustrated defense could mount to the point that Billick and Fassel have to pull the plug on their pet passer. That would mean Billick and the Ravens would be 0-for-2 in choosing a championship quarterback.

And somewhere in Cleveland, Trent Dilfer would chuckle while cleaning his Super Bowl XXXV ring.



[b]CINCINNATI BENGALS[/b]

2004 season record: 8-8 (3rd place in AFC North)



Where's the D?
There are several ways to look at the following statement: Excitement for Cincinnati Bengals football is peaking near an all-time high.
Now considering the team hasn't sported a winning record since President George Bush 1.0 was in office in 1990, you might ask: All-time high for what, a sorry franchise? It seems like Medieval Times that the Bengals were not an automatic loss for every opponent.


Cincy's rookie LB duo of Pollack and Thurman could form the foundation of another great Marvin Lewis defense. ( / Getty Images)
But two transactions have given long-suffering Cincy fans reason for hope. The first was the hiring of defensive guru Marvin Lewis as head coach following a 2-14 embarrassment in 2002, lending the organization much-needed street cred among players around the NFL. The head man's initial franchise-shifting move was choosing Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft. Immediately, desperate Bengals fans could feel actual its first real forward progress in over a decade.

After a year as apprentice then a full season as starter in 2004, Palmer appears poised to spearhead an offensive show in Cincy with running back Rudi Johnson, plus Pro Bowl wideout Chad Johnson heading a slew of fast receivers. How rabid is the excitement in Cincinnati? Last season in Palmer's first as full-time starter, the Bengals sold out their home games for the first time since 1992. This summer the team's ticket office can hardly keep up with orders.

All of which is great news for the organization. But there's this saying in sports you may have heard: "Defense wins championships." The question is, do the Bengals have any?

Similar to how his former boss in Baltimore, Brian Billick, has struggled in stamping his Ravens with his offensive touch, Lewis has not yet guided the Bengals to a strong defense. Granted, he has only had two seasons and began with a 2-14 squad, so his grade is still incomplete. Plus, Cincy's overall defensive ranking did improve from 28th in 2003 to 19th in 2004. Lewis has seen signs of progress then in constructing his young defense.

But what he hasn't had in Cincy that he lived on as defensive coordinator with the Ravens and Redskins were big-time, play-making linebackers. So guess what he focused on his draft this April? Yup, linebackers ... you're paying attention, very good.

With his first two picks, Lewis was thrilled to bag a couple of teammates sporting UGA boots from Georgia, David Pollack (first round, No. 17 overall) and Odell Thurman (second round, No. 48 overall). Pollack is the headliner — 3-time All-American, 2-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year — and moves from smallish college defensive end to mayhem-creating middle linebacker. Pollack (6-3, 261) is somewhat of an athletic freak and a sack machine, and Lewis the coach could see the disruptive type of linebacker he once coached in Baltimore with Lewis the player (as in Ray Lewis). Thurman (6-1, 235) is a bit smaller, but every bit as talented — problems with violating team rules kept him off the field at times at Georgia.

So Marvin Lewis hopes he has not just one franchise linebacker, but two to build his defensive machine around. And with his offense on the upswing, steady improvement on defense could mean a playoff berth that has been 15 years in the making in Cincinnati.



CLEVELAND BROWNS


2004 season record: 4-12 (4th place in AFC North)



Can Romeo save the Browns?
A decade ago, owner Art Modell became the most hated man in Cleveland by moving the Browns to Baltimore. Four years later, the NFL announced that football had returned to a shaken city who had never stopped loving its former team and wondered how it could have happened to them — football diehards — in the first place.
According to NFL records, the Cleveland Browns returned in 1999. Local fans are curious if that's really the case. In six seasons since their so-called return, the Browns are 30-66 (.313 winning percentage) with just one winning season (9-7 in 2002), no playoff wins and a horrid string of first-round draft busts and off-the-field embarrassments. Dawg Pound residents have to be wondering if they are still being punished for eating (and throwing away) all those dog biscuits.


Head coach Romeo Crennel and rookie WR Braylon Edwards both have jinxes to overcome in Cleveland. ( / Getty Images)
With no hope in sight, the Browns followed the turnaround move by the state's other perennial NFL losers, the Bengals. Like Cincy and Marvin Lewis, Cleveland hired the NFL's hottest defensive coordinator — one with a winning Super Bowl pedigree — to change the losing atmosphere on and off the field.

The man with the plan is Romeo Crennel, fresh off yet another Super Bowl victory as New England defensive coordinator in February. Looking for a certified winner, the Browns could not have done much better than Crennel, who has coached in six Super Bowls (with five wins) during his 24 NFL seasons sporting clipboards and headsets.

Crennel brings instant respect to a franchise in dire need of a dose or three. Whereas NFL teams used to hunt for former Bill Walsh assistants to coach their teams in the 1980s and 1990s, nowadays the "in" thing is to go for Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick disciples — with Belichick the NFL's resident genius. Crennel has both covered, having coached under Parcells in 15 seasons and under or beside Belichick in 18 of Crennel's 24 seasons as an NFL assistant coach.

But doomsday Browns fans could mention that Bill Belichick's first NFL job was in Cleveland from 1991-95, where the modern NFL genius recorded just one winning season. The proper response may be to fight fire with fire, as Belichick also notched the last playoff win in Browns' history back in 1994. If they're not concerned about Belichick, The Sequel, Cleveland fans are undeniably traumatized by "First-Round Bust Syndrome: The state of perpetual doubt that any Browns' first-round pick can succeed, due to a stunning run of recent first-round flops." Since Cleveland's NFL return in 1999, only one of the Browns' previous six first-round picks is currently a starter on the team — center Jeff Faine. They've had two No. 1 overall picks in that time, and neither plays in Cleveland. And if it's not one jinx the battered Browns fans must be worried about, this year's first-rounder Braylon Edwards has the Michigan WR stigma to overcome as well (thanks to Desmond Howard, David Terrell and others).

But despite no doubt preparing emotionally for a rebuilding season (Romeo knows that Rome wasn't built in a day), Crennel won't buy into these losing thoughts. He knows he owns an extremely talented receiver in Edwards and will not be afraid to throw him a bunch of pigskin.

But maybe there won't be too many balls traveling by air in Cleveland this season, with game manager and leader Trent Dilfer at quarterback and three talented runners Lee Suggs, Reuben Droughns and William Green (another first-round bust trying to salvage his career) in the backfield.

In other words, Romeo is looking to steady the downward spiral before making a monster move upstream in the AFC North. At this point, Browns fans will take any improvement they can get.



PITTSBURGH STEELERS

2004 season record: 15-1 (1st place in AFC North)



Will Big Ben suffer a sophomore slump?
The NFL has seen nothing like Ben Roethlisberger's uncanny rookie season at quarterback for the Steelers in 2004, when Big Ben took over for injured starter Tommy Maddox during the season's second week. The Steelers didn't lose another game until the AFC Championship, winning 14 in a row with a rookie playing quarterback.

Can Steelers coach Bill Cowher further groom his young quarterback? (Rick Stewart / Getty Images)
So it's seems like utter nonsense at first to type, but the Steelers will need Roethlisberger to improve his game to have a chance at winning the Super Bowl this season. "What else can he do?!?!" you ask. To quote the Steelers' team web site, Roethlisberger has "the size of a linebacker and the mobility of a tailback." So what more can you expect from this guy?

It's a fair question, and certainly Roethlisberger deserved every single accolade from a record-breaking rookie year. But he also suffered through his first NFL slump at the worst possible time, the end of the regular season and especially in the playoffs — when the game's blinding speed flies even faster.

The numbers, including the playoffs:


First 11 games: 67.7% completion pct., 14 TD, 6 INT, 103.2 rating

Last 5 games: 60.0% completion pct., 6 TD, 10 INT, 71.8 rating
In Roethlisberger's first 11 games, he only had one game in which he threw more interceptions than TD passes. It happened in four of his final five games, including both playoff games.

Why? Was it all rookie nerves? Probably not, as Roethlisberger has possibly been the coolest rookie of all-time. Ask the Patriots and Eagles, the two undefeated teams he beat in mid-season. Ask the Jaguars and Giants, both victims of coldbloodedly efficient fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives.

Did defenses start to figure him out? Partly. Normally the first NFL strategy for a rookie quarterback is to blitz until he crumbles. Problem was if you sent the house at Roethlisberger, he had the uncanny ability to burn the defense with a 25-yard scramble. So opposing defenses were then on their heels, trying not to be too over-agressive and run themselves out of containment.

But one late regular season matchup with the Jets provided teams a new blueprint. New York's defense played with a controlled pass rush, added more pass defenders and forced Big Ben into a few big mistakes. This pattern played out until the Steelers lost to the Patriots in the AFC title game, when the young rookie suffered his first defeat as starter with three interceptions.

For another factor, the Steelers team he joined were a pretty good football team. For most first-year QBs, if they're playing as rookies then it's usually for a rebuilding team. In other words, the team's got several holes meaning the quarterback is exposed since he rarely can handle the added responsibility. Even Donovan McNabb got blitzed out of his mind as a rookie at times. But while the Eagles QB was surrounded by teammates who weren't much help at the time, Roethlisberger walked into an excellent football team with the league's No. 2 running game and No. 1 overall defense. If teams focused too much on Big Ben, the run defense would suffer.

And on this Steelers team, Roethlisberger didn't have to play from behind throughout the game. He had a couple game-winning drives, but rarely were the Steelers trailing big (or at all) by the second or third quarters. Basically, the kid didn't have to be a savior in Year No. 1.

But to take the next step and reach or win the Super Bowl however, Bill Cowher's crew will need some development from their young passer. Roethlisberger himself has declared this off-season that he'd like the playbook expanded to depend on his arm a bit more than just handing off to Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis.

Can the super soph hack it, or will he regress under the added responsibility?

Adrian Hasenmayer is the NFL producer at FOXSports.com and can be reached at ahasenmayer@foxsports.com.

[Jason]

[quote]Pollack is the headliner — 3-time All-American, 2-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year — and moves from smallish college defensive end to mayhem-creating [b]middle[/b] linebacker.[/quote]

Huh?

Guess he wasn't paying attention.

[Rick]

[quote name='Jason' date='Jul 13 2005, 08:15 PM']Huh? 

Guess he wasn't paying attention.
[right][post="114071"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

I had to read that twice, too. Someone needs to do their homework. [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/26.gif[/img]