Bengals
Bengals HC Zac Taylor defended the offensive line’s performance this season, yet he still says there need to be improvements made across the roster if the team plans on remaining competitive next year.
“I think that we’ll just look to improve the team any way that we can and not specific to one necessary group,” Taylor said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “The offensive line helped us get to the Super Bowl. They gave us opportunities to go win the Super Bowl.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow wouldn’t criticize his offensive line following the Super Bowl, but TE C.J. Uzomah knows that Burrow needs better protection going forward.
“They played really well up front today,” Burrow said. “They fought. I was proud of the way they fought all season. We all have to get better individually, myself included.”
“You don’t want your quarterback to get hit one time, let alone however many times it was, not even counting the things that weren’t sacks, just him getting hit in general,” Uzomah said. “I mean, that’s [Joey] Franchise, right? You don’t want to see your franchise quarterback as many times as he did. That’s probably going to be a point of emphasis coming up.”
Ravens
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta had high praise of director of player personnel Joe Hortiz and is confident that he will soon be a general manager in the NFL.
“Joe is smart, he’s a great evaluator, he’s got a strong voice. He’s always been, kind of, my sidekick. For probably the last, I don’t know, maybe, 11 years, Joe has sat next to me in the Draft Room and has kind of watched what we do and how we do it. I was blessed that at an early age in my career here, I had the chance to run the Draft, and really, that’s been a huge help for me. So, I think Joe has a great career [ahead of him]. He’ll be a G.M. some day. A smart team is going to hire him. He’s got a great skill set, he’s a great collaborator, he’s got a great eye for talent,” said DeCosta, via RavensWire.
Steelers
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said the team has to “stay ahead of the game” with QB Ben Roethlisberger retiring. Colbert added the team has confidence in QB Mason Rudolph but will continue to explore every avenue as they do every other position.
“With Ben’s retirement,” said Colbert via the team’s official website, “it’s a different agenda as we enter into this offseason, and we’ll continue to look at every possible option. We know we’ve got two veteran players here, both of whom have started NFL games. We have confidence that Mason Rudolph, if we were to start the season today – and that ultimately would be Coach Tomlin’s decision – Mason would be our starter and we’re excited to see where that can go. We’re excited to see what’s next for Mason. And if we add to that position, we’re going to look at every possible avenue as we really do for every other position.”
Colbert added the team still has plans for QB Dwayne Haskins, the other veteran quarterback on the roster, and said that they’re excited to see what he develops into. Outside of Rudolph and Haskins, Colbert said that they see a lot of quality in the draft at the quarterback position, and that avenue will likely be explored as well.
“Dwayne Haskins came in to get some nice things done throughout the season as a scout team quarterback, he played some in the preseason, and we’re excited to see what Dwayne can provide either from a competition (standpoint) or maybe he evolves into a starter,” said Colbert. “None of us know at this point. I think it’ll be a great training camp for those two and for whichever player we’re able to add to the mix. As far as this draft class of quarterbacks, there’s good quality available, probably not as many as there have been in recent years. But it is what it is, and we had a great look at a lot of the top quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl. That was a great experience to see them back to back on a given day. We saw them all, and it was it was very good work, so we’re excited about that whole part of this process. Right now we know we have two (candidates) in the building. Dwayne will be a restricted free agent, and I’m sure we’ll decide to tender him at some point. So we have Dwayne and we have Mason. Can we add to that group from the outside? Sure. We’ll always look at trades, we’ll always look at unrestricted groups, at potential cuts down the road and make those comparisons and compare what it’s going to cost us, either from a draft compensation standpoint or from a free agency, salary cap availability decision and what that will do to the rest of your team.”
Comments by Steelers HC Mike Tomlin regarding quarterback mobility in the modern NFL, as well as how limited Pittsburgh’s offense was by Roethlisberger’s lack of mobility in 2021, have led to some speculation that will be a key part of the team’s evaluation of a successor. Colbert downplayed that specific attribute, however.
“I mean we talk about mobility, and mobility is a key part of any quarterback,” said Colbert. “If he is mobile, we’re also just going to look at who’s the best at that position because each and every one of them has a different skill set. And to prioritize one over another, I think you’ll be blind in truly evaluating what a given player can do. If he’s a great thrower, he’s a great thrower. If he’s a great runner and thrower, maybe that’s a bonus, but we’re always going to just truly evaluate that player and not go into it with specific ideas about who’s the best.”
Accuracy, however, is a non-negotiable characteristic that Colbert looks for when scouting quarterbacks.
“If you study quarterbacks over history, accuracy at the collegiate level is usually a great indicator of accuracy at the professional level, albeit in a different game,” said Colbert. “A lot of the college game is leaking into our game so there are more similarities than there have been in recent years. They’re all going to be different sizes, they’re all going to have different arm talent, they’re all going to have different athletic abilities, but if you ask me the one thing that I think can identify a potentially (quality) quarterback, it would be accuracy.”
- Colbert attended the Liberty/Ole Miss game last season, presumably to scout Liberty QB Malik Willis and Ole Miss QB Matt Corral in person. (Mark Kaboly)
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