AFC North notes

[fordfixer]

Baltimore Ravens: At this point, I'd be surprised if Kyle Boller is Baltimore's Week 1 starter. Troy Smith has enjoyed a better offseason and will be part of the organization longer. Whoever wins the job is just keeping the seat warm for Joe Flacco, and the Baltimore offense threatens to be brutal. The offensive line has a lot of talent, but Jonathan Ogden is expected to retire and the rest of the linemen are switching positions. It will be hard to recommend anyone but Todd Heap and Willis McGahee on this team. … McGahee's conditioning level was reportedly suspect last year, and he often couldn't finish games. But he still racked up 337 touches before a Week 16 injury and figures to get a lot of carries. I knocked him slightly upon hearing the Ogden news (which isn't yet official), but he's still a strong RB2 because he'll get the touches.

Cincinnati Bengals: Besides the moody wide receivers, Chris Perry has been the story of OTA season. Healthy for the first time since 2005, the Bengals now see Perry as a committee partner for Rudi Johnson. One gets the sense that Kenny Watson is just an insurance policy despite his great performance last year. Watson has missed a lot of offseason work because of minor injuries, a theme to his career before last year. There is also a lot of Rudi Johnson revival love being thrown around, with the requisite muscle weight gain column in the mix. I don't believe that Johnson and Perry can be an effective duo in 2008, but I do believe the coaches badly want them to be. If they fail, Watson and DeDe Dorsey will get in the mix.

Rotoworld is ranking Chad Johnson as if this contract dispute isn't happening. He'll play. … With rookies Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson failing to step up thus far in the battle for a third receiver, tight end Ben Utecht's status as a Rotoworld sleeper continues to rise. He'll work the middle of the field.

Cleveland Browns: Kellen Winslow is the bionic man. He returns stronger after each surgery, and that's why fantasy owners don't need to be overly concerned about his lack of practice time this summer. Joe Jurevicius is a bigger problem for the Browns, but Donte' Stallworth's arrival made him undraftable in fantasy leagues already. … Derek Anderson is reportedly enjoying a strong offseason, but his relative lack of job security should be a concern for those willing to draft him early. One not-so-crazy idea in deep leagues (18+ rosters) would be to draft Brady Quinn as your last pick for insurance.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Pittsburgh hasn't practiced in a while, so there has been minimal news surrounding the team. The main thing we'll be watching when they return is the health of Hines Ward and Willie Parker coming off injuries. Parker should be ready to fully practice. … As long as Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, and Mewelde Moore stay healthy, it's hard to see where Najeh Davenport fits on this team. Dynasty leaguers should be ready to give up.

[url="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=NFL&columnid=59&articleid=30524& pg=2"]http://www.rotoworld.com/content/featur ... 30524&pg=2[/url]

[AngryAsian]

Ravens: I'm eager to see all the hype around this Flacco to come to fruition. Everyone has been talking like he's the second coming of Marino.... I really don't care if you arm is that strong, the Ratbirds have never shown a consistency in this division so thus they merit no respect from this poster. They had one shining season and won the lowest rated/viewed SB ever. They're coming into the season with a rookie head coach, a jurassic MLB who has more mouth than talent, no real starting qb and I could go on and on.....

Bengals: Do I really need to elaborate. Discord in excess with their cancer of a WR Chadboy, they have no defense and no ground game and to top it all off, they have Marvin Lewis as their head coach. This team will be at the bottom of the division and they'll be searching for a new HC by season's end.

Browns: This team we'll be battling with all season. On paper they have all the necessary pieces to really compete in our conference, but in my assessment, Romeo sucks as a HC. I think their secondary will be their achilles heal this season and teams will be lighting them up. Jamaal Lewis has turned in mediocre numbers at best before and after his monster 2K season in 2003 and avg. under 74 yds per game over the last 4 seasons.

Just some of my two yen....
As a homer, of course I'm picking the good guys in Black to win the division, but this is the AFC North and on any given Sunday.....

Go Steelers!!!

[RuthlessBurgher]

Baltimore Ravens: At this point, I'd be surprised if Kyle Boller is Baltimore's Week 1 starter. Troy Smith has enjoyed a better offseason and will be part of the organization longer. Whoever wins the job is just keeping the seat warm for Joe Flacco, and the Baltimore offense threatens to be brutal. The offensive line has a lot of talent, but Jonathan Ogden is expected to retire and the rest of the linemen are switching positions. It will be hard to recommend anyone but Todd Heap and Willis McGahee on this team. … McGahee's conditioning level was reportedly suspect last year, and he often couldn't finish games. But he still racked up 337 touches before a Week 16 injury and figures to get a lot of carries. I knocked him slightly upon hearing the Ogden news (which isn't yet official), but he's still a strong RB2 because he'll get the touches.

Cincinnati Bengals: Besides the moody wide receivers, Chris Perry has been the story of OTA season. Healthy for the first time since 2005, the Bengals now see Perry as a committee partner for Rudi Johnson. One gets the sense that Kenny Watson is just an insurance policy despite his great performance last year. Watson has missed a lot of offseason work because of minor injuries, a theme to his career before last year. There is also a lot of Rudi Johnson revival love being thrown around, with the requisite muscle weight gain column in the mix. I don't believe that Johnson and Perry can be an effective duo in 2008, but I do believe the coaches badly want them to be. If they fail, Watson and DeDe Dorsey will get in the mix.

Rotoworld is ranking Chad Johnson as if this contract dispute isn't happening. He'll play. … With rookies Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson failing to step up thus far in the battle for a third receiver, tight end Ben Utecht's status as a Rotoworld sleeper continues to rise. He'll work the middle of the field.

Cleveland Browns: Kellen Winslow is the bionic man. He returns stronger after each surgery, and that's why fantasy owners don't need to be overly concerned about his lack of practice time this summer. Joe Jurevicius is a bigger problem for the Browns, but Donte' Stallworth's arrival made him undraftable in fantasy leagues already. … Derek Anderson is reportedly enjoying a strong offseason, but his relative lack of job security should be a concern for those willing to draft him early. One not-so-crazy idea in deep leagues (18+ rosters) would be to draft Brady Quinn as your last pick for insurance.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Pittsburgh hasn't practiced in a while, so there has been minimal news surrounding the team. The main thing we'll be watching when they return is the health of Hines Ward and Willie Parker coming off injuries. Parker should be ready to fully practice. … As long as Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, and Mewelde Moore stay healthy, it's hard to see where Najeh Davenport fits on this team. Dynasty leaguers should be ready to give up.

[url="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=NFL&columnid=59&articleid=30524& pg=2"]http://www.rotoworld.com/content/featur ... 30524&pg=2[/url]

Just a suggestion:

When posting something like this from Rotoworld, put something like AFC North fantasy notes in the title, since their site obviously has a fantasy spin to it. I'm a fantasy football player myself, so like reading this stuff, but others may not care whether or not Willis McGahee is a quality RB2 candidate.