Key Questions: AFC North
The 2009 NFL Draft is in the books, and despite the holes many teams were able to fill with their selections, there are still questions surrounding all 32 squads. The Bruno Boys though are here for you, attempting to shed light on the key issues surrounding all 32 NFL teams.
This time we take a look at the AFC West.
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Baltimore Ravens
Rather than being the Willis McGahee show, as expected, the Ravens' ground game was a three-man committee in 2008. Will the same hold true for 2009?
While the Ravens struggled through 2007, compiling a 5-11 record, the blame could not be placed on running back, Willis McGahee, who the team acquired through a trade with the Buffalo Bills prior to the season. In his first year with the Ravens, McGahee was a workhorse, carrying the rock 294 times for 1,207 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs.
Those numbers left many fantasy owners expecting a big 2008 from the Ravens' featured back, who many saw as a breath of fresh air in this day and age of the running back by committee. But, a funny thing happened during the season.
McGahee not only became a part of the dreaded running back by committee, but he was a part of a three-man time share, splitting touches with former full back, Le'Ron McClain, and rookie runner, Ray Rice.
The time share left McGahee with just 170 carries for 671 yards, though the back did match the 7 rushing TDs he had in 2007. Still, McGahee's numbers were definitely not the RB1 numbers owners had anticipated getting when they drafted the back.
In fact, they weren't even good enough to place him as the number one fantasy RB on the Ravens, a distinction that went to McClain, who amassed 902 rushing yards to go along with 10 rushing TDs in 2008.
So, will 2009 bring more of the same when it comes to the Ravens' ground game? Chances are it will.
The saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and with the Ravens' ground game finishing fourth in the NFL last season, along with the Ravens making a march deep into the playoffs, it's reasonable to assume that head coach John Harbaugh will continue to employ the three back strategy, even if that means giving the ball to McClain at the full back position, a spot the team is looking to move him back to.
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Cincinnati Bengals
With Chad Ochocinco playing like a shell of his former self last season and TJ Houshmandzadeh jumping ship for Seattle, how will the Cincinnati Bengals' passing game, once the strength of the team, fare this season?
From 2005 to 2007, the Cincinnati Bengals sported one of the premier passing offenses in all of the NFL, never finishing out of the top 10 during the three year span.
The wheels, though, fell off in 2008, a year that ended with the Bengals sitting at 30th in pass offense. The good news is that 2009 should see a bit of a rejuvenation, the only question is how much improvement there will be?
On the positive side of things, the Bengals will have fantasy stud, Carson Palmer, under center once again. Palmer, who had thrown for over 3,800 yards and for 25+ TDs in all three seasons following his rookie campaign prior to 2008, appeared in just four games for the Bengals in 2008 as elbow issues cut his season short.
While Palmer will undoubtedly play better than Ryan Fitzpatrick, who amassed just 1,905 passing yards and threw just 8 TDs to 9 INTs once taking over the Bengals starting gig following Palmer's injury, how effective he'll be coming off of elbow surgery is a concern.
Palmer has reported that the elbow is 100 percent, but the Bruno Boys always like to see a player returning from injury in action before giving them the all clear.
Not only is Palmer's elbow a concern when it comes to the Bengals passing game, but so, too, is the receiving corps.
Chad Ochocincomay have been successful in getting the NFL to print jerseys with "Ochocinco" on the back of them for 2009, but few people will want to pony up the cash for one of those bad boys, if Ochocinco plays as bad as he did last year. 2008 was just ugly for Chad as he finished with just 540 receiving yards and four receiving TDs.
Things won't be getting any easier either for the colorful wide out as he'll be without battery mate, TJ Houshmandzadeh, who left Cincy via free agency for Seattle.
While the Bengals did some to shore up the hole Housh's departure left by bring in Laveranues Coles, Coles, who hasn't topped the 1,000 yard mark in either of the last two seasons, just isn't the receiver TJ is.
All in all, while the Bengals' passing game will rise from that 30th position they resided in last season, largely thanks to Palmer's return, they won't be headed back to the top 10. Rather, 2009 will see the Bengals finish somewhere towards the middle of the pack when it comes to throwing the ball.
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Cleveland Browns
Is Brady Quinn ready to be the Browns' starting quarterback?
As predicted by the Bruno Boys, 2008 saw Cleveland Browns' quarterback, Derek Anderson, take a dramatic step back from his break out 2007 campaign. Following a year in which he went for 3,787 passing yards and 29 passing TDs to 19 INTs, Anderson fell back to Earth in 2008, throwing for just 1,615 yards, 9 TDs, and 8 INTs in 10 games.
Anderson's play got so bad that the Browns decided it was time to pass the torch to Brady Quinn about midway into the season, giving Quinn the nod to start in week 10 against the Denver Broncos.
Quinn played well that first week, completing 23 of 35 passes for 239 yards and 2 scores; however, the next two games were not so kind to the young QB as Quinn mustered just 279 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 INTs as he completed just 22 of 54 pass attempts prior to his season being cut short by a finger injury.
The good news for Quinn is that Anderson did little with the second chance he got due to Quinn's injury, totaling just 161 pass yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT before his season was, also, cut short due to an injury.
Anderson's continued struggles prior to his injury, leave Quinn as the front runner to take over the starting job for Eric Mangini's Browns in 2009, especially when you consider the fact that the Browns turned down deals for the young QB that supposedly included first round draft picks.
The going, though, will not be easy for the young signal caller. Despite ranking 31st in pass offense last season, the Browns did nothing this offseason to upgrade the passing game.
In fact, the team parted ways with one of it's bigger weapons in the passing game, sending tight end, Kellen Winslow, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers via a trade. The departure of Winslow will mean wide out, Braylon Edwards, who's stats took a huge hit in 2008, will see even more coverage in 2009, assuming the team holds onto the wide receiver.
Quinn will start in Cleveland but Browns fans and fantasy owners need to be prepared for a lot of growing pains.
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Pittsburgh Steelers
Will Santonio Holmes be able to ride the momentum of his heroic Super Bowl catch to a breakout 2009 season?
A theory has been prescribed to in the world of fantasy football that a wide receiver's third year is typically the break out year. With that in mind, fantasy owners were drooling at the possibilities for Santonio Holmes for 2008.
After all, the wideout, in just 13 games in 2007, had tallied 942 receiving yards and 8 TDs, while becoming Big Ben's favorite deep threat.
However, while Holmes played in more games and racked up three more receptions in 2008 than he had in 2007, his numbers declined sharply as he gathered just 821 receiving yards and five receiving scores last season.
The wideout, though, did come up huge on the biggest stage of them all, racking up 131 yards and a game winning score in the Super Bowl, leading him to MVP status and many fantasy owners to wonder if year four will be the magic year for Holmes.
Chances are that it very well will be. While the Pittsburgh Steelers will continue to go with a run dominated offense, Holmes should see his opportunities in the passing game increase.
Not only is Hines Ward getting older with each and every passing day, meaning Holmes will need to shoulder more and more of the receiving load, but Holmes has, also, earned Big Ben's trust and confidence thanks to his 4 catches for 73 yards and a TD in the Steelers' game-winning Super Bowl drive.
That trust will lead Big Ben to look Holmes' way more often. Heading into 2009, consider Holmes a high-end WR2 with the potential to be a solid WR1 come season's end.
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