Last season, the AFC North was the only division to have three teams make the playoffs as well as the only one to have three teams win at least 10 games.
That of course included the Ravens, who finished an NFL-best 13-4 during the regular season and reached the AFC championship game for the first time in more than a decade. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was also named NFL Most Valuable Player, becoming, at age 27, the youngest to win the award twice in the modern era.
So what’s new for Baltimore and the rest of the AFC North in 2024? In a word, plenty.
Former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, with former inside linebackers coach Zach Orr promoted to fill his vacancy, among a slew of other assistant coaching and front office changes. There was a mass exodus of free agents from Baltimore, including inside linebacker Patrick Queen, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and safety Geno Stone. But the Ravens also added four-time Pro Bowl running back and two-time NFL rushing champ Derrick Henry and signed star defensive tackle Justin Madubuike to a long-term extension.
And the rest of the division perhaps got even better with the Pittsburgh Steelers adding quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, quarterback Joe Burrow healthy again for the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Nick Chubb also returning from season-ending injuries.
Around the league, Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s younger brother Jim returned, taking over as coach of the Los Angeles Chargers after leading Michigan to a national championship; the Kansas City Chiefs, who beat the Ravens in the AFC title game en route to winning a second straight Super Bowl, are favored to become the first time to three-peat; and future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers is healthy after tearing his Achilles tendon four snaps into his first New York Jets season.
Put another way, for the Ravens to once again contend for the Super Bowl, they’ll need to navigate not just a loaded division and stacked conference, but one of the league’s most difficult and quirkiest schedules.
With training camp upon us, here are the five biggest things to keep an eye on in the AFC North this season, plus five more things to know about the rest of the NFL.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is ‘going to give people something to talk about’
First it was a strained right calf on the second day of training camp that continued to linger, then torn ligaments in the quarterback’s throwing wrist in a Week 11 loss to the Ravens that ended his season.
Over the first four years of Burrow’s career, Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl and played in two AFC championship games. But injuries to the 2020 No. 1 overall pick — knee, calf and wrist — have also become part of his narrative.
That prompted the Bengals to improve the protection around their $275 million investment, and the quarterback to figure out how to remain on the field.
On the first point, they signed 2019 Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Brown to replace Jonah Williams and selected highly touted tackle Amarius Mims out of Georgia with the 18th overall pick of the NFL draft. Mims, who has injury questions himself, adds depth to a line that includes ex-Raven and former Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
Cincinnati also replaced running back Joe Mixon with Zack Moss, who had 794 yards and five touchdowns on 183 carries for the Indianapolis Colts while filling in for the injured Jonathan Taylor last season. Mixon topped 1,000 yards four of his seven seasons in Cincinnati, including last year, but Moss, 26, is younger and a better pass blocker.
On defense, the Bengals signed 30-year-old tackle Sheldon Rankins, who replaces D.J. Reader, to pair with star pass rusher Tre Hendrickson (career-best 17 1/2 sacks in 2023) and dependable end Sam Hubbard (six sacks). In the secondary, they snatched up former Ravens safety Geno Stone, whose seven interceptions last year topped the AFC, brought back safety Vonn Bell and are expected to move 2022 first-round pick Dax Hill from safety to cornerback.
As for Burrow, he seems particularly motivated, telling the “Pardon My Take” podcast recently, “I’m going to give people something to talk about this year.”
Will Deshaun Watson be healthy enough to finally deliver on the Browns’ investment?
Watson is entering his third year in Cleveland and hasn’t come close to fulfilling his end of the massive five-year, $230 million guaranteed contract the Browns inexplicably signed him to after trading for the maligned quarterback. He’s also coming off surgery to repair a fractured glenoid — the socket of the shoulder joint’s ball-and-socket structure — in this throwing arm, an injury he suffered (or at least worsened) in Cleveland’s dramatic 33-31 comeback win over the Ravens in Baltimore last November.
With Joe Flacco now with the Colts following his fairytale stint in leading the Browns to the playoffs and being named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year, Cleveland added veteran Jameis Winston and former Ravens backup Tyler Huntley, but neither of them makes the Browns a serious threat.
Meanwhile, Chubb is also coming off surgery after tearing his ACL and MCL last September. Jerome Ford filled in adequately, averaging 4 yards per carry and rushing for 813 yards, but the offense will be better with Chubb, wide receivers Amari Cooper and newly acquired Jerry Jeudy and tight end David Njoku, who broke out last season with 81 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns. All six starters return on the offensive line, while the offense also gets a new coordinator in Ken Dorsey, who comes over after being fired from the Buffalo Bills following a 5-5 start last season.
Cleveland’s defense will be its strong suit, however, with reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, fellow edge rusher and three-time Pro Bowl selection Za’Darius Smith and the addition of veteran linebacker Jordan Hicks. Cornerbacks Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson Jr. and Greg Newsome might be the best trio in the league.
Who will start at quarterback in Pittsburgh?
Out is 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett after just two unremarkable seasons in Pittsburgh and in are Wilson and Fields, a pair of cast-offs each hoping to have a renaissance in the Steel City.
Who starts remains to be seen, but Pittsburgh gets a quarterback in Wilson with plenty of experience and past success who has won a Super Bowl and been selected to the Pro Bowl nine times. While he was a bust after getting traded from the Seahawks to the Denver Broncos in 2022, it’s possible that Denver and coach Sean Payton was simply a bad fit.
Then there’s Fields, the former 2021 No. 11 overall pick whose career with the Chicago Bears lasted just three seasons before he was traded to the Steelers in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Like the Browns, the Steelers have a new offensive coordinator in former Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith, who hopes to add some sizzle to a Pittsburgh offense that ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in total yards in 2023.
The continued growth of wide receiver George Pickens, who had 63 catches for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns last season, along with talented young tight end Pat Freiermuth should help. Third-round pick Roman Wilson out of Michigan could also be an immediate contributor in the slot.
But the biggest difference could come on defense with the signing of former Ravens inside linebacker and 2023 Pro Bowl selection Patrick Queen.
Queen joins a defense that already includes star edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, who improved in pass coverage last season, and safety DeShon Elliott, who spent the past five years with the Miami Dolphins. Pairing Elliott with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and second-year cornerback Joey Porter Jr. should give the Steelers an improved secondary.
Some things remain the same in Pittsburgh, however — notably a good offensive line that should be bolstered with the drafting of left tackle Troy Fautanu in the first round and center Zach Frazier in the second.
Where will the Ravens’ pass rush come from?
Going into last season, there were questions about where Baltimore would get production from when it came to pressuring quarterbacks. Then the Ravens went out and tallied an NFL-best 60 sacks, led by Madubuike’s 13, Clowney’s 9 1/2 and Kyle Van Noy’s nine.
With Clowney gone, those questions percolate again.
Odafe Oweh has never had more than five sacks in any of his three seasons in Baltimore. David Ojabo is still working his way back from a torn ACL and has effectively missed each of his first two seasons. Van Noy is 33.
It’s possible the Ravens could sign a veteran edge rusher before the season starts, but having the same kind of success they did last year in adding Clowney and Van Noy is difficult to count on.
What will Derrick Henry’s impact be?
In adding Henry, the Ravens not only provided Jackson with the best running back he’s had in what is now his seventh year in Baltimore, but they got another prolific, durable player who defenses will have to focus on in a big way.
Jackson is coming off a season in which he threw for a career-high 3,678 yards, while Henry, a two-time NFL rushing champ, has led the NFL in carries four of the past five seasons. Even at age 30, Henry has shown little in the way of decline, with the 6-foot-3, 247-pound veteran ranking eighth among 49 qualifying backs last season in yards after contact per carry (3.32), per TruMedia, and his 3,928 rushing yards after contact over the past five seasons 1,000 more than the next closest player.
Still, there will be things to keep an eye on.
With the Titans, Henry ran from an offense that operated with its quarterback mostly under center. Jackson typically lines up in the shotgun or pistol.
Jackson was Baltimore’s leading rusher last season, with 821 yards and five touchdowns on 148 carries. Henry has had at lest 280 carries a season in four of the past five years (and was on pace to eclipse that mark in 2021 before suffering a foot injury that kept him out of the final eight games of the regular season).
Henry is also coming off a year in which he tied a career-low 4.2 yards per carry, though the Titans had one of the league’s worst offensive lines and he was the main focus of their offense.
The latter is an important point. Jackson is still the focus of the Ravens’ offense, something that’s just fine with Henry at this point of his career as he, like the quarterback, seeks what has been an elusive trip to the Super Bowl. In other words, Henry’s addition makes the Ravens’ offense significantly more dangerous.
Around the rest of the NFL
1. The Chargers will have a distinctly Ravens feel this year. In addition to Jim Harbaugh, they hired ex-Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, signed former Baltimore running backs Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins, poached assistant offensive line coach Mike Devlin and plucked former director of player personnel Joe Hortiz to be their general manager. It’s no wonder the teams will meet on “Monday Night Football” at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 25.
2. Last year, the Chiefs, Ravens, Texans, Bills, Browns, Dolphins and Steelers all made the playoffs. All those teams should be in the mix again, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jets, who get Rodgers back. At age 40 (he’ll turn 41 in December), there are rightful questions as to whether he can last a full season and perform at his previously high level. But if Rodgers can stay healthy, it’s hard imagining the Jets not being a threat, particularly given their stout defense. Expectations are high for an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010.
3. In addition to the NFL’s drastic new kickoff rules, the league’s banning of the swivel hip-drop tackle will also go into effect. While the former will be an interesting watch in terms of strategy and execution, the latter is a judgement call that undoubtedly will cause all sorts of consternation among coaches and fans, especially early in the season. Yet plenty of coaches were happy to see it outlawed, including the Ravens after tight end Mark Andrews suffered an ankle injury on such a tackle that knocked him out of the final six games of the regular season and the divisional round of the playoffs.
4. Are the Texans the NFL’s next elite team? Quarterback C.J. Stroud was last year’s NFL Rookie of the Year, while DeMeco Ryans finished second for Coach of the Year. They added All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Mixon, four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter and veteran end Denico Autry and talented young linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. That makes them the first team to acquire players who respectively had 10-plus sacks, 1,000-plus rushing yards and 100-plus receptions, according to NFL Research. The Ravens-Texans game could be a preview of this year’s AFC championship game and would be a rematch of last season’s divisional round matchup in which Houston gave Baltimore fits for the first 30 minutes.
5. But can anyone dethrone the Chiefs? No team has ever won three straight Super Bowls, but Kansas City should be even better this year with more speed on offense thanks to the additions of one-time Ravens receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy, whose time of 4.21 seconds in the 40-yard dash set the NFL scouting combine record. They also of course still have quarterback Patrick Mahomes, coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, as if anyone needed a reminder of what is the NFL’s current dynasty.
