AFC North’s coolest additions in 2020: top pick to Cincy, elite defenseman in Baltimore, and more

Each offseason, NFL teams undergo a self-assessment. They identify areas in which they are strong and weak and, for the most part, plan their free agents and write strategies accordingly.

Filling in needs, consolidating weaknesses and accentuating strengths are all on the agenda, for everyone. But the coaches and players appointed to fill those needs, consolidate those weaknesses and / or accentuate those strengths have varying degrees of intrigue.

This is why we are here. Over the next few weeks, we’ll identify the most intriguing newcomer to each NFL team. For some teams this can be a coach. For others, it could be a rookie or a free agent or whatever.

We started last week with NFC East and AFC East. We evolved earlier this week with the NFC North and continue below with the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens

Last season, the Ravens’ offense drew all the attention. It was well deserved, with Lamar Jackson destroying everyone in sight. But his MVP season eclipsed what ended up being a fantastic Baltimore defense. The Ravens finished fourth in defensive efficiency, according to the Football Outsiders DVOA. They had one of the best cover units in the league, led by Earl Thomas, Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, and they used blitz aggressively (their rate of 54.9% was the league’s highest of over 10 percentage points, by Pro-Football-Reference) to generate a rush of passes.

Now they’re adding one of the best and most versatile defensive linemen in the NFL: Calais Campbell. Criminally underrated during his time in Arizona, Campbell eventually began to gain recognition during his stint with the Jaguars, making three consecutive Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams. His incredible size and strength make him a spectacular running defender, but he’s capable of rushing the passer from both the edge and the inside, scoring at least five sacks in each of his 11 seasons as a starter and 39. , 5 in the past four years. His addition, along with the ability to use staff in different ways, is why I picked Baltimore as the team most likely to have the best defense in the NFL this season.

Cincinnati Bengals

Well yes. It’s Joe Burrow. When you have arguably the best, passing season in college football history, you are the most intriguing newcomer to your team. This is just how it goes.

The numbers defy belief: 402 of 527 (76.3 percent) for 5,761 yards (10.8 per attempt), 60 touchdowns (six zeros) and six interceptions. Burrow is fortunate enough to join an attack that actually has playmakers, with AJ Green returning from injury, Tyler Boyd working in the slot, Joe Mixon coming out of backfield, and more. If Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan can organize these guys in an open space, Burrow will deliver the ball on time and on target.

Cleveland Browns

The 2019 Browns were kind of a disaster. Coming into the year with a ton of hype, Cleveland was a disappointment in the jump, with horrific offensive line play and even worse training combining to undermine the entire offense. Baker Mayfield was forced to throw his first read or run for his life, and it got to the point where he would start running before he even got to that read. It was bad. So Freddie Kitchens got out, along with General Manager John Dorsey. Andrew Berry took over as Managing Director, while Kevin stefanski is the new head coach.

This offseason, Berry built the Browns like Stefanski’s former team, the Vikings. He’s out and signed tight winger Austin Hooper, who will pay with David Njoku in tight sets. Mayfield had his biggest 12-member success in his formidable rookie season, and Stefanski coached a 12-heavyweight offense in Minnesota last year. To make sure Mayfield is better protected this time around, the new braintrust brought in Jack Conklin from the Titans to occupy the right tackle, then enlisted Jedrick Wills to protect their quarterback’s blind side. We have yet to see what this all looks like on the pitch, but the post-hype version of the Browns is better on paper than the one that was making all the noise last offseason.

Pittsburgh Steelers

I’ll just go out there and admit we’re cheating on this one a bit. The Steelers traded their first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick during the 2019 season and added no no-impact agents, so the biggest newcomer to the squad this year will be. Healthy Ben Roethlisberger. As we wrote last week:

Pittsburgh nearly made the playoffs last season despite one of the league’s worst offenses. The Steelers scored on just 28.6% of their assets in 2019, the third-worst rate in the NFL. Of course, that happened with Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines. In four of the previous five seasons, the Steelers have been in the top 10 in scoring property percentage, and they’ve been in the top five in three of those campaigns. Their offense is extremely likely to be among the most improved units in the league in 2020 – assuming Roethlisberger can play more than a game and a half.

Ben is expected to have JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, James Washington and Eric Ebron to throw on the outside, with James Conner coming out of the backfield. He still has one of the best offensive lines in the league to protect him. If his elbow has really healed, just putting him back into the roster should help prevent any drop in defense experiences resulting from their unbearable turnaround regression to come.