Cowher to the Browns?

Living in Cleveland, if I am going to listen to sports radio, I am going to hear a lot about the Cleveland Browns.

While at work today, I happened to hear discussion about the next Browns head coach being Bill Cowher. Yes, the former Super Bowl winning head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Matter-of-fact, I had some coworkers even discussing it this morning.

Here are the ways Browns fans are trying to link Cowher to the Browns job:

1. Cowher bought a house in Strongsville, OH. There were reports back in 2008 that the former Steelers head coach had bought a house just outside of Cleveland. I have researched this and cannot find one iota of proof that Bill Cowher ever purchased a house in the Cleveland area in 2008 or since then. At the time, Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage were still employed by the Browns and while it was evident that both would be fired at the end of the season, Randy Lerner had not contacted anybody on the prospects of replacing either of those two men. It was nothing more than a rumor started by someone hoping that it would get back to Cowher that the Cleveland fans wanted him to coach their team. If he bought the house in 2008, then why did he turn down the job when he was asked if he was interested in it by Randy Lerner? Some fans are saying that he didn't want to deal with that mess....but why would he want to take the job five years later and clean up a different mess and change the defense back to a 3-4? If he didn't want it then, he more than likely doesn't want it now.
2. Cowher is good friends with the soon-to-be Browns owner Jimmy Haslam III. This is using the "six degrees of seperation" theory at best, in my opinion. Bill Cowher is the former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jimmy Haslam III is about to be, if he isn't already, a former minority owner of the Pittsurgh Steelers. Makes perfect sense, right? Not quite. Bill Cowher resigned as the Steelers head coach following the 2006 season. Jimmy Haslam III became a minority owner of the Steelers in 2008. At minimum, that's one year between their time with the Steelers. Once Cowher stepped down, he moved to North Carolina to spend time with his wife and children. As far as I know, he didn't spend much time afterwards in Pittsburgh, especially at Steelers headquarters where he would likely be stepping on toes with Mike Tomlin entrenched as the new Steelers head coach. Do they know each other? It's possible, but not all that likely. 
3. Cowher played and coached in Cleveland. Yes, Cowher was signed as afree agent by the Browns  (he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles) and then later coached there under Marty Schottenheimer. He followed Schottenheimer to Kansas City before being hired as Chuck Noll's replacement in Pittsburgh. He was a finalist for the Browns job in 1991 where Bill Bellichick was hired instead. Just because he at one point played and coached in Cleveland doesn't automatically mean that he wants to become the head coach in Cleveland. It's a part of his history, but that doesn't mean it's a part of his future. 

Here are the common sense reasons that he won't be coaching the Cleveland Browns anytime soon:

1. He has no desire to get back into coaching. Bill Cowher has stated that he currently has no desire to return to the sidelines, and I don't blame him if that's true. NFL head coaches put in extreme hours, during the season they often sleep in their office and see their families very little. It's a grind, and I believe that after winning the Super Bowl following the 2005 season he lost that fire and the grind of being a head coach since 1992 and an assistant coach since 1985. He played from 1979 until 1984. That's a lot of time spending your life focused on football. Right now he works basically one day a week, being payed handsomely for it. He gets to spend time with his family. He gets to live life. If he lost the fire to coach, I doubt he's ever going to get it back.
2. If he wants to coach again, he wants it to be the right situation. If he does come back, he doesn't want to work to rebuild a team. I think he'd rather step into a pretty nice situation. I can see him going to San Diego if Norv Turner gets canned. They already run his preferred 3-4 defense, have a talented young QB in Phillip Rivers, and have a good running back in Ryan Matthews. Cleveland is currently the only team without a win in the NFL. While they have an excellent running back in Trent Richardson, there are questions everywhere else. Brandon Weeden could be a good NFL QB or another Browns first round bust. The offensive line has weaknesses. The defense just gave up 200 yards rushing last Sunday. Cowher would have to change the defense back to a 3-4 if that's the defense that he's married to (and I think he is). Another team I can see him taking over is the New York Giants if Tom Coughlin decides to retire. That's the right situation, not Cleveland.
3. He has too much respect for the Rooney Family and the Pittsburgh Steelers to coach within the AFC North. Cowher grew up just outside of Pittsburgh, PA as a Steelers fan. Yeah, he played for Cleveland and was an assistant coach there. As a player, you go where you're wanted. If you want to get into coaching, you go where you're offered a job. If the Browns offered me a job as a coach or scout tomorrow, I would take it. It was former Browns and Ravens owner that chose not to higher Cowher back in 1991. It was Dan Rooney that chose to hire Cowher as the head coach in 1992. It was Dan Rooney that stuck by Cowher through some losing seasons and questionable personnel decisions. Cowher then rewarded himself and Dan Rooney for that faith by winning his first and the team's fifth Super Bowl Championship after the 2005 season. I don't think he would want to ruin his Steelers legacy by coaching another team in the AFC North, facing Pittsburgh twice a season and possibly keeping the Steelers out of the playoffs by doing so. He wouldn't do that to the organization  the Rooney family, or Steeler Nation. He will always be a Steeler in his heart, as long as he doesn't coach the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, or Baltimore Ravens.
4. He has already accomplished a Hall of Fame coaching career. From 1992 through the 2006 seasons, Bill Cowher built up a head coaching resume very worthy of the National Football League Hall of Fame. He won one Super Bowl (XL), two AFC Championships (six AFC Championship Game appearances), Eight AFC Central/North Division Championships, Ten Playoff Appearances, 1992 AP NFL Coach of the Year, Two Time Sporting News Coach of the Year (1992, 2004), 149-90-1 regular season record (.623 winning percentage), 12-9 Playoff Record, 161-99-1 overall record. Would he still end up in the Hall of Fame if he took the reigns in Cleveland and failed? I think so. But why take the chance when right now you'll be wearing that yellow jacked in the very near future? Not to mention if he does coach again, he would have to wait another five years after retirement to become eligible for the Hall of Fame.

The Browns fans want Bill Cowher. They want a head coach with a winning resume who they believe can bring a Super Bowl Championship to Cleveland. I don't blame them, no Cleveland team has won a World Championship since 1964. 

They are sick of head coaches who have failed elsewhere or guys that have never been a head coach before. They also want stability, something this team has not had since before the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. 

However, I don't see Bill Cowher taking the Browns job, or any job for that matter. He's got plenty of money, he doesn't need to coach for the money. I think he's happy doing television work and has no desire to coach again. When he says this, I believe him. Will he talk to NFL owners when they call? Of course he will, he doesn't want to create enemies in case he does one day decide he wants to coach again. But if he hasn't gotten that fire back, if his batteries haven't recharged yet, then I doubt they ever will. 

Where Is The Defense?

Normally after a game I would do a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. However this week, I am not doing one. Instead, I am wondering just one thing....where is the defense?

This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defense is what this team has been built on since way back in 1933. Even when the team was one of the absolute worst in the league, you didn't want to face Pittsburgh because you came out of the game bloody and bruised, worse for wear.

The Steelers defense has been made the poster child for "illegal hits" by Roger Goodell. How did they respond? They didn't change a damn thing. They would still hit you with all they had and then some. They would force turnovers. They would sack quarterbacks.

I remember back when running backs never ran for 100 or more yards on the Steelers defense. Yesterday we let our first 100 yard rusher in Darren McFadden. Last year we let a lot more backs run for triple digits on us than I would have liked.

I know yesterday we were without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. But if this defense collapses due to missing one or two players, that says a lot about how substandard the rest of the defense is. I mean...we are relying on a 34 year old linebacker who's having chronic knee and back issues...and a 31 year old safety who has suffered multiple knee and ankle injuries the past few years.

These two players aren't going to be playing for much longer. Both are former Defensive Player of the Year winners, both have been big time contributors on Super Bowl Championship teams. Polamalu is a future Hall of Famer. James Harrison is one of the better players in Steelers history.

If this is how our defense looks without them for a short amount of time, I am afraid to see what our defense will look like once these two retire. I know there is never going to be another Troy Polamalu, but we need a better backup. We have yet to find someone that can spell Harrison much less replace him.

I blame our loss to the Raiders on two things: Antonio Brown's fumble and bad defensive play. If our defense holds the Raiders to one field goal instead of a touchdown...they walk away with a win.

If this is how the defense is going to play for the majority of this season, it will be a long season. The Steelers better make some adjustments, because nobody is exactly sure when Harrison or Polamalu will be coming back, or just how effective either will be when they do return to the field.

Steelers @ Broncos - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers opened their season last night in Denver against Peyton Manning and the Broncos with a loss. I absolutely hate playing in Denver, because that means the team has to hold FS Ryan Clark out of the game because he has sickle cell trait. The last time he played a game in Denver, he had to have his spleen and gall bladder removed, therefore he doesn't play there as a precaution.

Also missing from the game was Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison due to a knee injury.

So here we go with it...The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good

1. The offense wasn't horrible. This was a fear that many fans had going into this game, that the offense would be completely inept. The Steelers changed offensive coordinators during the offseason with Bruce Arians either retiring or being fired (whichever you believe) and Todd Haley being brought in to make the offense more efficient. Well, the efficiency wasn't where they would want it to be, but I saw an offense that once they get in sync should be nearly unstoppable.
2. The no huddle is going to be used in Pittsburgh. With Arians, there was a lot of talk of using the no huddle offense more often, but normally it was just used when the Steelers were trailing or when it was the end of the half. The offense seems to be better in the no huddle, so I like the fact that it's being used in situations that do not absolutely call for it. 
3. I am optimistic about the Steelers receivers after this week. It looks like Heath Miller is finally going to be used as a red zone weapon instead of an extra blocker. It's going to take Mike Wallace a week or so to get into "game shape," but he caught a touchdown last night and I think once he gets into sync with Big Ben, he'll have a typical Wallace season. Antonio Brown is going to have a really big season and might possibly become Ben's favorite target. He's going to be making big plays all season long. 

The Bad

1. The offensive line suffered another injury last night when RT Marcus Gilbert went down with a knee injury. It has not been announced what the injury is or might be, and according to ESPN  he is currently listed as questionable. In the preseason we lost our first round pick, OG David Decastro, to a devastating knee injury. Last season and the season before we lost Pro Bowl Center Maurkice Pouncey to ankle injuries. If the Steelers are going to go anywhere this season, the line has to stay relatively healthy. Luckily, second round pick Mike Adams stepped in for Gilbert and played well. 
2. Ben Roethlisberger made a bad decision on the pick-six that he threw towards the end of the game that sealed it for the Broncos. This has been a problem for Big Ben his entire career, sometimes he just gets a brain fart and makes a dumb throw. Hopefully there are less of them this season because Todd Haley will be holding Ben responsible for his mistakes, something people feel Bruce Arians did not do.

The Ugly

1. The defense just simply looked bad last night. They had trouble stopping the run, and they damn sure couldn't stop Peyton Manning once he knocked the rust off. I know the defense was without Ryan Clark and James Harrison, but I still expected a better showing from our defense. I mean, Demaryius Thomas scored a long touchdown on a screen pass! Manning ended up just toying with us, he even ran for a first down. 
2. The offensive line as a whole couldn't open holes for our running backs and gave up five sacks last night. This has been a problem for years that we hoped would be fixed with the drafting of David Decastro who is out for the season, and Mike Adams who lost the starting left tackle job and might be playing right tackle if Marcus Gilbert's injury causes him to miss some time. If any other quarterback played behind this line, he would be on IR or retired before being killed during a football game. It looks like this season the offensive line will be as ugly as it's ever been...and will find itself in this section of my blog on a weekly basis.

Next week, the Steelers open their home schedule at Heinz Field against the New York Jets. Let's hope that they end next week at an even 1-1.

The Mike Wallace Holdout - Who's Hurt More?

Today the Steelers begin their preseason football schedule against the Philadelphia Eagles, and Pro Bowl Wide Receiver Mike Wallace is still not in camp. He has yet to sign his Restricted Free Agent tender, and the Steelers do not do contract negotiations with players who do not report to camp.

Mike Wallace is one of the better receivers in the NFL, and he is a really big part of the Steelers offense. The team also recently signed Antonio Brown, the Steelers other Pro Bowler at the position, to a contract extension. I would think that this bothered Wallace, seeing his teammate being taken care of and himself still not receiving a new contract.

Mike Wallace doesn't have a whole lot of leverage here. He has no other team that he can possibly play for, nobody showed any interest in him during free agency. The only way that he can play for another team is if the Steelers were to trade him, and they are not going to be doing that. All he can do is hold out for the first ten weeks of the season and then come in and be on the roster for six weeks to gain an accrued season and reach unrestricted free agency after this season. However, even if he does that, the Steelers can still hit him with the Franchise Tag and keep his rights for at least one more season if they choose to.

So the question must be asked, who is being hurt more by this holdout, Mike Wallace or the Pittsburgh Steelers?

The Steelers still have what should be an upgraded offensive line...Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback...Antonio Brown, Emmannuel Sanders, and Jerricho Cotchery at wide receiver...Heath Miller at tight end...and Issac Redman at running back.

Is Wallace one hell of a deep threat, able to blow the top off of almost any defense? Yeah. But Brown and Sanders are both pretty fast, and Cotchery can be that underneath guy like Hines Ward once was. Miller should be able to go out to receive passes more than last season if the offensive line is impoved too.

The team is learning a new offense with Todd Haley coming in as the offensive coordinator. Brown, Sanders, and Cotchery are learning the intracacies of the offense while all Wallace can do is study the playbook. He cannot ask questions, be shown coaches film of the plays from other teams Haley has coached, or get the timing down with Roethlisberger due to practicing with the team.

The Steelers offense will work without Mike Wallace, that's a fact. The chains will move, touchdowns will be scored.

However, Mike Wallace needs the Steelers. He needs to showcase his skills so his market price will be as high as possible when free agency arrives at the end of this season. It's not a good idea for him to hold out for the majority of a season because he is unhappy with his restricted free agent tender. The Steelers could have cut that offer to just over $500k this season, but they chose not to. That's them showing faith that they believed he would sign the tender and come to camp.

So I end this blog post with a message to Mike Wallace, though I doubt he will ever see it:

Mike Wallace, you know how the Steelers do business. You know that they take care of their own as long as their own players aren't being unreasonable. You know they won't negotiate with a player who is not practicing. Sign your tender, get into camp. The Steelers will then reopen negotiations and maybe you'll get the long term deal you desire. If you don't, you showcase your skills for an entire season to get that deal as a free agent be it with Pittsburgh or without. But in the end, and you know it, you need the Pittsburgh Steelers more than they need you.

Looking at Steelers Training Camp

Today, the Pittsburgh Steelers started their 2012 Training Camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.

In the past week, the Steelers resigned left tackle Max Starks (which I will touch more on later in this article) and first round draft pick David DeCastro.

And there was also one big omission today, Mike Wallace failed to report, and until he reports to camp the Steelers will not negotiate on the long-term deal that he covets.

This week, Mike Tomlin signed a three year extension to remain the Head Coach in the Steel City.

Things are looking good going into training camp for the Steelers, so lets look at some of the battles that are going to be happening in camp this year.

Mike Adams vs Max Starks, Left Tackle: Mike Adams, the rookie second round draft pick, is currently penciled in as the starter at left tackle. However, in a slightly surprising move this past week, the team resigned Max Starks who started at that position last season but was injured in the playoff loss to the Denver Broncos.

So why did the Steelers resign Starks? Well it could be for one or more reasons -- a backup who can play both tackle positions so if there is an injury to either starting tackle the entire line doesn't have to be reshuffled, they aren't sure if Adams can start at left tackle this season so if they don't like what they see in camp Starks can step in, or they have already changed their mind on Adams starting and will place Starks in that spot quickly in camp.

Whatever the reason is, Mike Adams now has some competition at left tackle in camp. Mike Tomlin will put his best five linemen out there, be it Starks or Adams.

Keenan Lewis vs Cortez Allen vs Curtis Brown, Cornerback: William Gay, last season's starter across from Ike Taylor, left in free agency for Pittsburgh Wes......err, the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers didn't trade for a starter or pick anyone up in free agency, therefore they must believe that one of these three can start at that position.

I think that it's going to be Keenan Lewis that come out of this as the starter, and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. That will leave Allen and Brown competing for the nickel corner spot.

However, while I feel Lewis will be starting this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see one of the other two possibly snagging the spot in preseason games if they do look better.

Jonathon Dwyer vs Barron Batch vs John Clay, Backup RB: It's basically known that Issac Redman is going to be the starter at the beginning of this season while Rashard Mendenhall recovers from a torn ACL. Depending on how Redman plays, Mendenhall may not get the starting job back.

So in camp, it's the battle to back up Redman. All three of these backs bring something different to the table. I think in the end, it will be Dwyer who is the backup to Redman, at least until Mendenhall returns from his injury.

Larry Foote vs Stevenson Sylvester vs Sean Spence, ILB: During the offseason, the Steelers released veteran inside linebacker James Farrior who had started in Pittsburgh since the 2002 season. Last year, it looked like he had lost a step. He just wasn't the same. So the Steelers released him because of that and to get under this season's salary cap.

His replacement will either be Larry Foote, who won a Super Bowl starting next to Farrior in 2005, or Stevenson Sylvester.

Foote has the experience, but he is considered a liability in pass coverage. He is also 32 years old, an age when many feel players outside of kickers, punters, and quarterbacks begin to decline on the field.

Sylvester is young and could turn out to be a good linebacker. He's shown a lot playing special teams and playing in limited rotation on defense.

Then you have the rookie, Sean Spence, who there have been reports during mini camps that he was wowing the coaches. He, in my opinion, was drafted as the eventual starter in the middle of the Steelers 3-4 defense next to Lawrence Timmons.

I think that Foote will be the starter at the beginning of the season, but that either youngster can end up unseating him if he doesn't play as well as the coaches are expecting him to this season.

Emmanuel Sanders vs Jerricho Cotchery, Wide Receiver: Yes, Mike Wallace did not report to training camp because he doesn't want to play under his restricted free agent tender. However, he's going to eventually show up and he will be starting. Across from him will be Antonio Brown.

So what's with this Sanders vs Cotchery thing you may be asking yourself? Well, the third receiver is very important in today's pass happy NFL. And while I expect new offensive coordinator to help fix the problems with the running game that the Steelers had last season, the nickel will still be used quite a bit.

Sanders has speed and a ton of talent. People were saying he'd be the starter across from Wallace. However, injuries have derailed him and he hasn't played an entire 16 game season yet in his career. If he can stay healthy, the sky is really the limit for this kid.

Cotchery is a veteran of eight seasons and has had only one 1000 yard season in his career. However, he reminds me a lot of Hines Ward where he isn't afraid to go across the middle and make the tough catches. He's going to do what's asked of him. Of his 16 receptions last season, 13 of them went for first downs. He's reliable when you need to move the chains.

In the end, I think Sanders wins the third receiver job as long as he stays healthy. He's got the talent, and the kid is fast. Trying to cover Wallace, Brown, and Sanders? Yeah, I don't think many teams have three corners that can do that.

It is now time to focus on climbing that stairway to our seventh Lombardi Trophy. Preparation for the 2012 NFL Season has now commenced. All I have to say now, is one phrase:

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Who's the most indispensable Steeler?

Earlier this week, NFL.com had an article asking who was the most indispensable player in the NFL. Most of the people who contributed to the article went with either the Saints' signal caller Drew Brees; or the new quarterback in Denver, Peyton Manning.

This got me to thinking, what player in the Steelers is the most indispensable?

The players that came to mind for me were:

QB Ben Roethlisberger - The Steelers won zero Super Bowls between the Bradshaw and Roethlisberger eras. Since Roethlisberger has become the Steelers' starting quarterback, the team has won two Super Bowls and been to a third.

C Maurkice Pouncey - Most people wouldn't consider an interior offensive lineman indispensable. However, Pouncey is one of the top two centers in the AFC, if not the entire NFL. He makes a lot of the line calls and is the anchor of the offensive line.

OLB James Harrison - The attitude of the defense comes from Harrison. He plays mean, angry. He doesn't want to injure anyone, but he's not opposed to hurting somebody (his words, not mine). When he missed those games with a broken orbital bone (that's his eye socket), the Steelers defense had trouble getting to the quarterback.

OLB LaMarr Woodley - Woodley is another sackmeister, and it was obvious that the pass rush was hurt by him missing games and then being limited by a hamstring injury. When Woodley and Harrison are both on the field together, they are one of the best pass rushing duos in the league and big plays often happen. He has also won a Defensive Player of the Year award.

FS Ryan Clark - Ryan Clark is a hard hitting safety. He plays within the scheme and allows Troy Polamalu to be Troy Polamalu. He missed the playoff game against the Denver Broncos last season and Tim freaking Tebow (TEBOW OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!!) had his best game as a QB. If Clark is there, I think the Steelers probably win that game.

That's a pretty good list of candidates. They are all excellent players. They have all been to a Pro Bowl, they all have Super Bowl rings. However, none of them are the most indispensable player on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That indication goes to Troy Polamalu.

He is the only player on the defense that's allowed to play outside of the scheme. He's allowed to play completely on instinct. He causes big plays. He's the one player on the defense in which the other team's quarterback has to know exactly where he is when the QB snaps the ball, not that it matters much because that spot is likely not where he will be when the ball is thrown.

Troy Polamalu is the ONLY player that I have ever seen dive over the offensive line and sack the quarterback. And he's done it twice.

If he's lined up at the line of scrimmage like a pass rusher, he's likely going to end up somewhere in the defensive backfield breaking up as pass or coming up with an absolutely stunning interception. If he's way back at his spot at safety, next thing you know he's in the offensive backfield chasing down the quarterback or stuffing the running back for a loss.

This is the guy that makes the Steelers defense so good. He allows Dick LeBeau to call a lot of those exotic schemes and blitzes. When Polamalu isn't players, it's a watered down version of the defense.

AFC North Camp Battles

This weekend the NFL has 20 rookie mini-camps going. The Pittsburgh Steelers held theirs a couple of weeks ago.

Rookie mini-camps are held for multiple reasons. They are for drafted players, undrafted free agents, and first year players with that team that are trying to gain  a training camp invite. There are no team veterans there, so this allows the rookies and first year players to actually get practice reps and coaching focused on them.

In the coming two months there are going to be full team mini-camps and organized team activities. A lot of these are going to be "voluntary," but it will be nearly full team participation. These are why the rookie camps are so important, once the team vets come in a lot of the rookies fall to the wayside. First and second round picks, the ones expected to start or make major contributions will get individual coaching. However the guys that have to make the team by showing that can be special teams monsters, they won't get that type of tutoring.

So with most teams' rookie camps coming to a close today, here is a list of what I feel the most compelling camp battles involving rookies will be in the AFC North.

Pittsburgh Steelers


Offensive Line Battles: David DeCastro, the Steelers first round pick, is projected to start the season at one of the two offensive guard spots. However, which one the Steelers are going to plug him in at, nobody is sure of yet. At Stanford, he played right guard but the Steelers could easily plug him in at left guard. The two incumbents at the guard spots are Ramon Foster and Doug Legursky. One of them would be losing their starting jobs, so I am sure both are going to do their best to not let that happen. However it will, that's a fact.

The other, and to me more interesting battle on the offensive line, will play out at the tackle positions. Right now, it looks like it's going to be Marcus Gilbert on the left side and Willie Colon on the right side. The monkey wrench thrown into this plan is that in the second round, the Steelers took Ohio State's Mike Adams who most teams gave a first round grade. It will be these three players competing for two positions.

Throw in there that last year Gilbert started at right tackle due to Colon going down for the season with an injury and was told over the offseason that he would be the left tackle, and then the team drafted Adams who exclusively played left tackle in college. Many believe that Adams is the left tackle of the future which would put Gilbert back on the right side in the near future.

As long as Colon can stay healthy, which hasn't happened in the past two seasons, I expect him to start t right tackle with Gilbert starting at left. However I think Adams will be starting on the line by the end of the season either due to a Colon injury or just by being the better player overall eventually.

Baltimore Ravens


Outside Linebacker/Offensive Guard: The Baltimore Ravens, for the most part, have their roster set.

However, there will be a battle at outside linebacker. With last year's Defensive Player of the Year  Terrell Suggs currently out with a "small" tear in his ACL, it's almost guaranteed that second round pick Courtney Upshaw out of Alabama is going to start at outside linebacker this season. However, if Suggs comes back, will he still be starting? And if Suggs can start the season, will Upshaw be able to lock down the outside linebacker spot on the other side? His competition is going to be Paul Kruger, who has been a backup for most of his career.

The Ravens lost Ben Grubbs to the Saints and failed to find a suitable replacement in free agent. With their other second round pick, they selected Kelechi Osemele and he's going to challenge Jah Reid for that starting left guard spot. I truly think that Osemele can win that battle, but it should be a fun one to watch.

Cincinnati Bengals


Starting Cornerback: The Bengals drafted Dre Kirkpatrick in the first round of last month's NFL Draft, and part of that is because of the issue at corner.

Assuming that Kirkpatrick isn't penciled in as a starter, the two starters would be Nate Clements and Adam "Pacman" Jones. Leon Hall is currently recovering from an injury which might keep him from being ready to start the season.

So at the moment, Kirkpatrick needs to only unseat one of the two aforementioned players to start at the beginning of the season, and that's a real possibility. The problem will be when Hall will be ready to come back, does Kirkpatrick start across from Leon Hall or does he move to the nickel role because either Clements or Jones will be one of the starting two.

This is going to be a pretty interesting battle because Clements has tons of experience but is getting up there in age for a starting corner, and Jones has regressed over the past couple of seasons. Last season, Jones only played in eight games and didn't record an interception.

The wild card in this battle is Terrance Newman, signed as a free agent this past offseason after being cut by the Dallas Cowboys. Often thought of as old and lost a step, he could wrestle away a starting job from Kirkpatrick.

Cleveland Browns


Quarterback Competition: In last month's draft, the Browns drafted 28 year old quarterback Brandon Weeden out of Oklahoma State late in the first round. He wasn't drafted in the first round at his age to sit for a season or two, he was drafted to play soon.

However, the Browns refuse to just flat-out say that Weeden is the guy they want to start the season like the Colts and Redskins have already said about their first round quarterbacks. But from the sounds of it, the starting quarterback job is Weeden's to lose.

His competition is former third round pick and last season's starter Colt McCoy, and career backup Seneca Wallace.

While I expect Weeden to end up with the job, I think McCoy does however have a chance to keep his grasp on the starting spot because he already has experience in the West Coast Offense and has seen a lot of NFL defenses in his two seasons.

But you know what they say about thinking you have two quarterbacks, if you think that, you really have none. In the end, a QB competition throughout camp could hurt the Browns more than helping them by not allowing a QB to get into a rhythm with his receivers and get as many first team practice snaps as possible. But Weeden's cannon of an arm should hopefully wrap this competition up quickly, allowing the Browns to settle on a QB sooner rather than later.