AFC Notes: Bengals, Chiefs, Colts, Dolphins, & Raiders

Bengals

• According to Coley Harvey of ESPN, QB A.J. McCarron has “distanced” himself from Terrelle Pryor and Josh Johnson to fill Cincinnati’s backup quarterback role.
• The Bengals are expected to keep just two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, making Pryor and Johnson most likely to be practice squad members.
• Third-year RB Rex Burkhead has been taking snaps at slot receiver during OTAs.

Chiefs

• Adam Teicher of ESPN does not expect any rookies to start at the beginning of the season, though he could see first-round pick CB Marcus Peters playing in Week 1 if CB Sean Smith is suspended due to his drunk driving case from June of 2014.
• Teicher could see the Chiefs trading for a safety due to their excess of cornerbacks on the roster.
• Teicher believes Peters and third-round rookie CB Steven Nelson have the intangibles to become a safety, if needed to do so.
• Teicher writes that the Chiefs’ personnel like WR Albert Wilson “more than people think,” and is expected to be contribute more to the offense this season.

Colts

• Mike Wells of ESPN believes it is “possible” the Colts run five wide receiver sets given the amount of depth they have at the position.
• According to Wells, there is no chance of the Colts pursuing free agent RB Ray Rice.
• Donte Moncrief, Duron Carter, and first-round rookie Phillip Dorsett are competing for No. 3 wide receiver duties.

Dolphins

• According to James Walker of ESPN, OT Branden Albert appears “far from ready” to return from an ACL injury in time for Week 1.
• Walker does not anticipate the Dolphins to have any receiver reach 1,000 yards, due to QB Ryan Tannehill‘s tendency to spread the ball to different receivers, and inability to consistently throw deep passes.

Jets

• Rich Cimini of ESPN mentions that there is “not much reason for optimism” in regards to a contract extension for DE Muhammad Wilkerson.
• Cimini believes Wilkerson is looking for a higher paying contract than the recent five-year, $55 million, with $23 million guaranteed deal that the Saints gave DE Cameron Jordan.
• The presence of first-round rookie DL Leonard Williams gives the Jets leverage in negotiations with Wilkerson, according to Cimini.
• Cimini writes that NT Damon Harrison could hit the free agent market after this season, due to the demand for quality nose tackles.
• Geno Smith is listed as the first-team quarterback, but has yet to be named a starter.
• Cimini could see Chris Ivory remaining as the team’s first-string running back with Zac Stacy and Stevan Ridley backing him up and Bilal Powell handling third-down duties.
• Cimini expects third-round rookie Lorenzo Mauldin to line up as the Jets “Sam” linebacker.
• Cimini could see the Jets moving from Geno Smith to Ryan Fitzpatrick if the team has a 1-3 record by their Week 4 bye.

Raiders

• Bill Williamson of ESPN expects D.J. Hayden, T.J. Carrie, and Keith McGill to be the team’s top three cornerbacks for 2015.
• Williamson mentions that Austin Howard and Menelik Watson are competing for right tackle duties.