The AFC North has a few different storylines brewing, and they all circle back to one thing: quarterbacks, playbooks, and the people trying to keep both moving in the right direction.
In Cincinnati, the conversation is already turning toward the future of two young cornerbacks. Daxton Hill is entering his fifth-year option, while DJ Turner is heading into the final season of his four-year deal. Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn didn’t sugarcoat the challenge when asked about extensions for both players.
“It’s something that we’ll have to work through,” Blackburn said, via Paul Dehner of The Athletic. “Love those guys.
Love DJ, love Dax, and we obviously have our work cut out for us as to how to try to figure out how to retain them while we have the other commitments that we have. That’s just something we’re going to have to work through, but obviously we love those guys, and we’ll explore what we can to see where we end up.”
Baltimore, meanwhile, is already getting a feel for what Declan Doyle brings as offensive coordinator in his first season on the job. Lamar Jackson made it clear Doyle isn’t just standing back and observing. He’s coaching hard, and he’s coaching loud.
“He cursed me out yesterday,” Jackson said, via Clifton Brown of the team’s site. “I was supposed to run a naked play, like a boot-action, and I tossed the ball instead.
He (Doyle) was like, ‘Lamar, what the F are you doing?’ I was like, ‘Damn, that’s on me.’
I laughed. I wasn’t used to that.”
Jackson said Doyle’s system is a fresh start from what Todd Monken ran last season, though the Ravens did carry over some concepts from Greg Roman’s 2022 offense that Jackson and other players already knew.
“Nothing really transitioned over from the last system,” Jackson said. “We brought some things over from (Roman’s) system that I was comfortable with, things a lot of guys were comfortable with.
In this system, it’s different. It’s all Dec and I feel like everybody is hands on.
We’re dialed in.”
He also expects the offense to open up more this year, and he’s clearly impressed with the way Doyle is building it.
“I feel like there’s going to be a lot of explosiveness this year,” Jackson said. “The way Declan calls plays and his creativity with his mind - how detailed he is - it’s mind-blowing. I’m excited.”
In Pittsburgh, rookie quarterback Drew Allar is already talking like a player who’s spent real time studying the language of the offense. He said he’s long been familiar with West Coast concepts, especially the modern versions tied to Sean McVay and Mike Shanahan.
“ The West Coast offense in general was something I studied a lot in the offseasons at Penn State, ” Allar said, via Fox Sports. “ Kind of the newer versions like the [Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean] McVay and [San Francisco 49ers head coach] Mike Shanahan.
I was on that trend for the last four years. But it’s now kind of a full circle moment for me, going back and seeing how everything really started.
Why the drops are a certain way and how they match up with the progressions. And where the concepts originated from.
It’s really cool to be a part of that. It’s a lot of information, but it’s starting to slow down for me.”
Allar also said he’s looking forward to learning behind Aaron Rodgers, and he sees that setup as a real boost for his development.
“ I’m really excited to learn from him, ” Allar added. “ With him being in Coach McCarthy’s system in Green Bay, it’s beneficial because he knows the system inside and out, even though he hasn’t played in it in five or six years at this point.
And just everything he’s going through in his career, playing in tens of thousands of snaps, how much experience and knowledge he has - the nuances of playing the position of quarterback, reading coverages, the defensive tendencies - any little thing I can pick up to help me process faster and be more accurate, I’m all in for it. ”
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