Teams are listed in expected order of finish and team names are preceded by Rank within Conference / Rank within NFL.

AFC North

7/14. Ravens:

They made no significant additions or subtractions during free agency, unless you think that CB Dale Carter can stay clean for a whole season and might still have some physical ability.

Elite RB Jamal Lewis may very well be in prison for the next several years. If that happens the Ravens will not win the Division in ‘04.

The only real improvement going into the ‘04 season is a matured Kyle Boller. The draft was nothing special, at least not if you’re looking for players to make an immediate impact. The Ravens benefit more from other teams declining than from anything they’ve done on their own.

The team has two things going for it. Ray Lewis and the defense that doesn’t know how to give up, and Brian Billick. Billick’s real genius comes from his ability to match his offensive and defensive systems to his personnel, rather than expecting whatever talent he has to fit itself into a preordained scheme.

As long as Jamal Lewis doesn’t go to jail, that’ll be enough to win one of the weakest Divisions in the NFL.

10/19. Bengals:

Their house cleaning has been extensive and their FA period has been almost as productive as Tampa’s. They haven’t brought in any big name talent, but they have increased their depth in several positions. This seems to be a bottom up approach similar to the system that built the Patriots into two time world champions.

Just don’t expect a SB this year. A WC spot in the playoffs? Maybe.

The loss of cancerous RB Corey Dillon was a huge boon to the team. RB Rudi Johnson will likely find that rookie RB Chris Perry is pushing him hard. With a little luck and a healthy season, this team may even be in a fight with Baltimore for the Division title.

What Bengals fans need to worry about, is a defense that not only finished 28th overall and against pts scored, but that hasn’t had any significant talent added via either free agency or the draft. You may see some of their defensive rookies taking the field this season, but only because there is so little veteran talent in place, not because they are prepared to perform at a high level against NFL caliber offenses.

13/26. Browns:

They’ve made some nice off season moves, especially picking up QB Jeff Garcia.

They did nothing to improve at the RB position and their WRs are not especially gifted. They did make some minor improvements to the O line, but not enough to lift them into contention for a playoff berth.

The defense finished ‘03 ranked 15th overall and 12th vs pts scored. They could survive on that in the NFC. Unfortunately, they don’t play in the NFC. Will the handful of FA signings they’ve made on that side of the ball, be enough to make them a top ten unit? Maybe.

The real problem is that this is a team with a train wreck for an organizational and coaching staff. They had a nice draft. They picked up a couple of rookie players (TE Winslow and S Jones) who could make immediate and significant impacts. But until there are changes at the coaching and management levels, don’t expect this team to know any meaningful or lasting degree of achievement.

16/31. Steelers:

Didn’t do much of anything worth noticing during free agency, besides replacing RB Amos Zereoue with Duce Staley. Staley may be an upgrade, but he isn’t anything to strike fear in the hearts of opposing defenses. They still have a washed up Bettis behind Staley, so there is no depth at this position.

Head coach Bill Cowhers’ team and system is still falling apart around him. There’s no reason to believe that the Steeler’s 22nd ranked offense is going to be any better than last year. The O line gave up 42 sacks last year and should be just as bad this year. You can expect Tommy Maddox to spend a lot of time either on his back or running for his life. Can he survive the season like that? Probably not.

The Steelers’ defense was ranked 9th overall, but only 15th vs scoring. That isn’t close to good enough to make up for a failing offense or even to stay competitive. Yeah, there is reason to be worried, because they didn’t do anything to improve the defense this year, though their draft may help them out next year or the year after that.

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