AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

• The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. thinks Bengals first-round QB Joe Burrow could mesh well with WR Tyler Boyd, as Burrow had a lot of production throwing to the slot in college. Boyd also thrives at getting open when the quarterback extends the play and Burrow is fairly mobile. 
• Dehner has a hard time seeing Bengals WR John Ross returning after 2020. He thinks Cincinnati will take a similar approach as they did with TE Tyler Eifert and let him test the market while having an incentive-laden deal on the table. 
• Dehner foresees Bengals second-round WR Tee Higgins starting on the outside in three-receiver sets and finishing third on the team with around 35 catches for 500 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie. 
• The Athletic’s Mike Sando lists the Bengals as a team that should pursue free-agent QB Colin Kaepernick. When Sando polled NFL evaluators in 2016 before Kaepernick’s protest, he was generally seen as a high-level backup. 
• The Athletic’s Matt Barrows points out that before the extension, Bengals HC Zac Taylor was scheduled to make more than 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan in 2020. 
• The Bengals announced three coaches will intern with the team through the NFL’s minority fellowship program: Kenny-Ray Augustus, Mike Brown and Mike Daniels. (Ben Baby)

Browns

For the final eight games of last year, the Browns debuted a two-back package featuring both RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt with a good amount of success. With a full offseason together, new Browns OC Alex Van Pelt made it clear the staff is working on ways to continue to get both on the field together as much as possible. 

“I think you’d be crazy not to have your most talented guys on the field,” Van Pelt said via Keith Britton of 92.3 The Fan. “Whatever package that is. We would be crazy not to put those guys on the field at the same time. Both dynamic as runners, pass catchers, protectors”

• To that end, Browns WR coach Chad O’Shea says Hunt has impressed him with his receiving ability and also done some cross-training with receivers in meetings. (Scott Petrak)
• O’Shea mentioned Browns sixth-round WR Donovan Peoples-Jones jumped out at the team as someone with potential to grow a lot more: “Everything off the field was so solid. And the physical skill set pretty obvious.” (Petrak)
• As for keeping the multitude of Browns skill position players happy with just one ball, O’Shea said: “It’s a good problem to have. We have a lot of players that can help us win. The goal is winning.” (Petrak)

Ravens

Jeff Zrebeic of The Athletic writes that the are unlikely to be able to afford to sign all of their notable players who are in line for extensions in the next year or so including franchise OLB Matt Judon, LT Ronnie Stanley, CB Marlon Humphrey, QB Lamar Jackson, RT Orlando Brown and TE Mark Andrews. 

“They’ve kind of got a ‘bad-good’ problem to have,” Judon said of the Ravens situaiton. “We have a lot of young talent, and unfortunately, we can’t all stay on the rookie deal our whole careers. So, they have stuff that they have to address, and obviously, I have needs as well. If we can meet and work on that, I’m ‘A-OK’ with it.”