AFC Notes: Bengals, Ravens, Lamar Jackson, Steelers

Bengals

Safety wasn’t necessarily the biggest need on the Bengals’ roster when the third round of the draft came around. But it was enough for them to justify the selection of S Jordan Battle, who they were blown away by during their Combine interview. 

“We had to cut the tape portion of the interview off after about three plays,” Bengals director of college scouting Mike Potts said via the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. “It was unbelievable the way he was talking through every minor detail of all 22 people that were on the field. It was like he had a cheat sheet or answer key to the plays that were going to be shown to him. We ended up just having casual conversation with him. I didn’t think it was possible to elevate him in our eyes in terms of the person we were getting, but he did that in that interview.”

“I don’t want to sell him as just a great person,” Potts added. “We wouldn’t take a guy just because he has great character. We had high grades on the guy as a player. He’s a starting-caliber safety in this league.”

Ravens

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta spoke about how Deshaun Watson and Jalen Hurts‘ contracts impacted negotiations with Lamar Jackson, describing that their offer to Jackson in September likely had the “biggest impact” and thinks they were close to getting a deal done at the time. 

“Oh, man. That’s a good question,” DeCosta said, via ProFootballTalk. “I mean, I think they were both kind of hovering overhead different ways. I mean, obviously, the Watson deal was really something that the media focused on quite a bit and was fascinated by any impact that would have on the negotiation with Lamar. And then I think that the Hurts deal, you know, it hit before we got the Lamar deal done. I would say that, you know the contract that we did with Lamar is not that dissimilar from the contract that we offered Lamar in September. And I think that contract actually had the biggest impact of the whole thing, because we felt that the time that that was a strong contract offer. We had a small window to get that done. Lamar had put a self-imposed end of negotiation date before the season started. We felt like we were getting close to a deal at that point, but we ran out of time and so we decided to kind of revisit that contract. We augmented and added some money in different ways to that contract and fortunately we were able to get the deal done. But when we compare the two deals, the deal from September and the deal that we offered Lamar that Lamar accepted, you know the framework was there with that deal back in September and allowed us to get to this point.”

DeCosta is unsure of what changed for Jackson to make him accept their offer. 

“You’d have to ask Lamar that question,” DeCosta said. “You should try to get him on your show. I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to speak for Lamar. That’s a good question. I think just from our perspective problem solving we’re going to just kind of keep trying to solve these problems, keep offering deals, trying to keep the relationship alive. And we felt like it was our time last week to try to do it again and fortunately we got the deal done.”

Steelers

Steelers OC Matt Canada said drafting third-round TE Darnell Washington is a clear sign that they want to be more productive with their running game. 

“I think coach Tomlin said it really clear,” Canada said, via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “There’s no secret to what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to play football.”

Canada points out Washington “takes price in blocking” and is also productive as a receiver. 

“He’s a giant human being who takes pride in blocking,” Canada said. “He enjoys being a blocker. I think he’s been quoted saying he’s a sixth offensive lineman. He understands what his body can do, and I do think he can catch balls. They had so many weapons at Georgia and I’m not sure his totals are maybe what you might think they could be. But he’s definitely a blocker. He likes football, likes being physical. We are really excited about him.”

Canada feels Washington on TE Pat Freiermuth enables their offense to match up well with defenses. 

“I would say those are different types of players, but we think we can match them up pretty well,” Canada said. “He’s a different type of a tight end, but we’re certainly looking forward to playing him this year and the opportunities he creates and matchups he creates.”