With the draft over and the offseason moving into a lull, we’ll continue to assess the state of NFL rosters league-wide and look at every team’s most glaring need. We continue the series today with the AFC North, starting with the Baltimore Ravens.
Baltimore Ravens: Cornerback
The Ravens’ pursuit, and eventual signing, of Rock Ya-Sin should come as no surprise to anyone that has taken a gander at their roster this summer. Blessed with one of the league’s best cornerbacks in Marlon Humphrey, as well as the opportunistic Marcus Peters, the Ravens haven’t needed to pay much attention to tending the garden of defensive backs in recent seasons. Just wind them up and watch them play.
But Peters’ play declined after his injury in 2021 and the Ravens let him walk following the 2022 season. There’s still a chance he could return, but the circumstances need to be right. So, after Humphrey and Ya-Sin, the Ravens don’t have a lot going on at cornerback. Brandon Stephens is the current slot corner, and the depth isn’t up to snuff. Simply put, the Ravens are short at corner even after signing Ya-Sin. Having two quality starters is nice, but the more the merrier is certainly the name of the game.
Cincinnati Bengals: Tight End
The Cincinnati Bengals are currently the case study in building an all-around stacked roster. The offensive line was the problem for a while, but the front office has been shrewd in investing money into the front five – thereby making life easier for Joe Burrow. We know how talented the wide receivers are for the Bengals, they’ve invested well in the defensive line, and the secondary is solid enough with Chidobe Awuzie returning from injury.
Picking anywhere for the Bengals to upgrade is hard, so we’ll go with tight end. It’s not the most important position on the roster, given how the Bengals play and tend to scheme looks for Chase, Higgins, and Boyd, but they still trotted out a decent tight end last season in Hayden Hurst.
His solid 2022 season with Burrow got him paid by the Panthers this offseason, and the Bengals replaced him with Irv Smith. Truthfully, Smith is a below-average tight end as it stands. He might end up having a strong season with Burrow, but breakout potential was in the cards with the Vikings in 2022 and it never came to be – with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah electing to trade for T.J. Hockenson instead. It’s only a one-year deal, but Smith Jr. is currently the weak link on offense.
Cleveland Browns: Off-ball Linebacker
Much like the Bengals, the Browns are going out of their way to make this exercise a little bit harder. It’s hard not to be bullish on what they’ve done this offseason. They added additional receivers, improved the defensive line, and added another top pass rusher in Za’Darius Smith. This isn’t a team with as many holes as their 2022 record would suggest.
So, we’re nitpicking again. Because we have to. Let’s go with an off-ball linebacker to improve their defense. The Browns brought back Mike linebacker Anthony Walker on a one-year deal in free agency, and while Walker was excellent for the team in 2021, he only played in three games in 2022 due to injury.
That pushed the Browns to trade for Deion Jones, who struggled in a bad Browns defense. He left in free agency leaving them with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – who had an excellent rookie season but struggled in year two, Sione Takitaki, and Walker. Owusu-Koramoah can still be a playmaker in this defense, but there should be some concerns with Walker and whether or not he can replicate his 2021 performance upon return from injury. If he can’t, the Browns could be looking for linebacking help elsewhere once again.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Right Tackle
The Steelers don’t have a bad roster, but picking an area of improvement for them is a little easier than the Bengals and Browns. The offensive line has been a work in progress over the last few seasons, and ultimately made life difficult for Ben Roethlisberger towards the end of his career, and for Kenny Pickett early on in his. The Steelers invested a first-round pick in Georgia offensive tackle, Broderick Jones, in the 2023 draft with the full intention of him becoming the team’s starting left tackle.
That’s excellent news for the Steelers, but improving the right tackle spot should be next on the list of improvements. Chukwuma Okorafor has been the team’s starting right tackle for the last three years and hasn’t shown much in the way of improvement during that span. He allowed 41 pressures in 2022, tied for the 13th most in the NFL, per PFF. The Steelers’ struggles in the run game have expectedly been linked to the offensive line, and running backs only averaged 2.9 yards per carry when rushing in Okorafor’s direction. Hmph.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: Alexander Jonesi. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.