Ask Andrea: The AFC North Mailbag

It's Friday yet again, which means (yet again) it is time for the Ask Andrea AFC North Mailbag. Though there are just four questions this week, they're all of immediate interest to any and all who care about the very best division in the entire NFL.

Training camps are underway which means questions are really starting to pop up about possible cuts and projected rosters. Let's take a look at what you are all wondering about as the season rapidly approaches.

At first, it was thought that Dre Kirkpatrick had suffered a fibial fracture, close to his knee. The projection at the time was that he'd miss the first six weeks of training camp, making it virtually impossible for the first-round pick to earn himself a starting job prior to Week 1 of the regular season.

While nothing has been formally confirmed by the Cincinnati Bengals just yet, it appears that the injury is instead related to something called Osgood-Schlatter disease, which is an inflammation of the patellar tendon area. At this point, Kirkpatrick should miss two to four weeks of training camp.

That's still not good for his chances to start as the season begins, but that's honestly not a big deal. It's likely the Bengals weren't looking for Kirkpatrick to be a starter right away, considering his struggles in OTAs and minicamp to move from press to off-man coverage and the fact that they have a lot of veteran depth at cornerback.

Last year's starter, Leon Hall, met his goal of being able to participate in practice from day one as he was cleared by the Bengals' medical staff today after tearing his Achilles' tendon in Week 10 of the 2011 season. As long as Hall doesn't suffer any setbacks, he should retain his starting job.

The other starting cornerback will come from the deep pool of talent the Bengals have at the position. Nate Clements is an early favorite to win the job though he's missed all of the offseason program with a groin or abdominal strain that is currently hold him out of camp.

Also contending for the job are Adam Jones, Brandon Ghee, Terence Newman, Jason Allen and Shawn Prater. Ghee is the dark horse in contention and could snag the job from Clements, especially if his injury holds him out for a while.

The Bengals are in good shape as far as their cornerback depth, so Kirkpatrick's injury does little to impact it. It's likely Kirkpatrick would see limited early-season on-field action anyway, and the injury simply confirms this will probably be the case.

Shaun, I am very worried about the Baltimore Ravens' offensive line depth. I have never been all that excited about left tackle Bryant McKinnie, he of the conditioning issues, and if the team were in a different situation, I don't think they would have given him his roster bonus earlier this offseason and kept him on.

But now that he has not reported to camp and head coach John Harbaugh is talking as though McKinnie may not ever come back, there are some serious questions that need answering about the Ravens' offensive line depth this year.

Currently, the Ravens have shifted Michael Oher from right tackle to left, where he's projected to stick indefinitely. Harbaugh commented on Thursday about the need for the team to find a right tackle and they most certainly must do so, and quickly.

Jah Reid could take over the job on the right, but not at the moment, as he's being held out of camp with a calf injury. Reid has also never started in the NFL. Rookie Kelechi Osemele could be in the mix for the right tackle job, but that's a lot to ask out of a first-year player; Osemele missed the first day of camp with back spasms but has been cleared to return today.

On Thursday, the majority of first-team snaps at right tackle were taken by Jack Cornell, an undrafted rookie. As of today, Osemele is with the first team. But again, neither is the ideal situation when the depth chart is so shallow.

At the very least, the Ravens need to find a veteran to bring in for at least training camp; better still is if they could find someone inexpensive and experienced who could serve as depth if not a potential starter for the entirety of the season.

The free agent pool at tackle is thin—the best option out there might be former Cleveland Brown Tony Pashos, who may end up retiring instead—so the Ravens may just have to wait until someone more promising gets cut from another team in training camp.

Reid has the best shot of taking over the starting right tackle job; he can handle the workload simply because he has the most experience. But depth is a huge problem right now for the Ravens offensive line and they need to bring in at least a tackle, if not a tackle and a guard, during camp.

The Cleveland Browns are likely to do a bit of housecleaning this summer in their receiver corps and considering how the entire unit performed last year, anyone they release deserves it.

As of now, Greg Little, Josh Cribbs and Josh Gordon are likely the only locks to make the 53-man roster. The Browns could choose to have anywhere between five and seven receivers on their active roster this year (depending on how much they plan to use Cribbs as anything but a return man), which makes the battle between the rest of the players that much more interesting.

Definitely on the roster bubble is Carlton Mitchell, their sixth-round 2010 draft pick. Mitchell has only caught three regular season passes, worth 31 yards, and never really fulfilled his potential. He's got ideal size and great speed, but he's proved to be quite the project as far as receivers go and now that they've brought on Gordon, Mitchell's time is nearly up.

I also think that Mohamed Massaquoi is on the roster bubble. With Jordan Norwood and Josh Cooper battling it out for the slot receiving job and fourth-round pick Travis Benjamin trying to get a No. 2 spot behind Little or Gordon, Massaquoi needs to step up his game in camp or else find himself out of Cleveland.

It's really a numbers game when it comes to the futures of Cooper, Norwood and Benjamin. Benjamin, thanks to his draft position, has the best shot to stick on the roster, but nothing is a given and the Browns, if impressed by someone else, might take their chances by passing him through waivers and onto their practice squad.

The same can be said for Cooper, though he does have the added benefit of having been Brandon Weeden's second-most targeted receiver when they played together at Oklahoma State. If Cooper does win the slot job, the Browns may be forced to cut Norwood out of necessity.

Finally, there's undrafted rookie Bert Reed. Reed has looked fairly good in OTAs and minicamp and as such, could remain with the team as a member of their practice squad.

I think it is quite interesting, Simon, that the Bengals have yet to extend head coach Marvin Lewis' contract, especially as they just locked down defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer through the 2014 season.

This is the second time in three years that Lewis has entered a season on the final year of his contract and as of this point, there is no comment from either side as to what the future may hold for the Bengals or for Lewis.

Looking at recent history and it seems as though a contract could be coming for Lewis. The last time this happened was at the end of the 2010 season, when the Bengals went 4-12 after reaching the playoffs in 2009.

Lewis didn't lose his job then, and in the two years since, the Bengals have had solid drafts, another playoff appearance and a team that appears, at least on paper, to be consistent enough to have repeat above-.500 seasons.

It really all depends on whether Mike Brown thinks that the Bengals have gotten all they can out of Lewis. Both Zimmer and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden are talented in their own rights and it's not out of the question that instead of extending Lewis yet again, the Bengals could promote one of those two to be the head coach.

I'd say the odds are 75 percent in Lewis' favor to get another extension when this season ends. It drops to 50 percent if the Bengals take a step back. But lame-duck years are apparently not uncommon during Lewis' tenure in Cincinnati so I'd say there's nothing worth worrying about just yet.

That's all for this week's Mailbag. Make sure you're following along on Twitter (there's a convenient button below for you to do so if you're not already) if you want to submit a question next week!

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