Unlike the usual list of expected breakout players this is a look at players, or coaches, that their teams need to break out this season. I've dealt with the NFC teams. It's on to the AFC teams starting with the AFC North.
Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson, QB
This one's so obvious that I wanted to go with another player. Perhaps new secondary leader Earl Thomas. In the end, I had to go with the obvious choice. He's the quarterback. When the Ravens selected Lamar Jackson in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Joe Flacco's days in Baltimore were numbered. The quarterback that led the Ravens to a Super Bowl title is now in Denver. It's Jackson's team. Last year, the coaches had to craft an offense with both Flacco and Jackson in mind. Those are two very different quarterbacks. This year, it's all Jackson. The Ravens need Lamar Jackson to be a very special football player.
Cincinnati Bengals
Zac Taylor, head coach
This was the sort of head coach hire that must kill life-time grinders like Mike Zimmer, Vic Fangio, and Bruce Arians. There are so many talented coaches that worked decades as assistant coaches at the college and NFL levels dying for an opportunity to lead their own team. Then there are coaches like Zac Taylor that work for about a blink and are offered a head coach job. Thanks to the rapid flashy success of Sean McVay, hiring young, offensive whiz kids that have the slightest contact with McVay is the trend. This offseason, the Packers did it with hiring Matt LaFleur and the Bengals did it with hiring Zac Taylor. The new head coach in Cincinnati worked under McVay in Los Angeles the last two seasons. In 2017, he assisted with the receivers. Not many NFL head coaches have made the jump from assistant receivers coach to the top job in two seasons. In 2018, he coached the quarterbacks. Taylor's longest stay with one team were the four years he spent at Texas A&M (2008-11) as a graduate assistant. The Bengals absolutely need Zac Taylor to have the sort of head coaching trajectory that made McVay the new model for the job.
Cleveland Browns
Baker Mayfield, QB
As with Lamar Jackson, this one's too obvious. I tried to go with another player (Odell Beckham, Myles Garrett, Greg Robinson) but I kept coming back to the quarterback, Baker Mayfield. He played like a future star as a rookie last season. If he can keep his game only about the game his future success in the league feels certain. His season-long feud with Hue Jackson was pathetic. Mayfield won in Cleveland. Jackson lost. Move on. His comments on Duke Johnson's personal business was equally pathetic. Probably more pathetic. Part of Mayfield's strength as a player is his passion and grit. There just comes a time when a team's leader needs to be a leader, an example for his team. The Browns need their franchise quarterback to act like one as well as play like one.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Devin Bush, Jr., LB
James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster were considerations but I figured they were really good last year and that they'd be at least that this year. The Steelers offense might even be better without the drama that was often present with the flamboyant players that are no longer there. The Pittsburgh Steelers desperately need a breakout season from a rookie defensive player. They need Devin Bush, Jr. to be the sort of run-and-chase linebacker that they had in Ryan Shazier. The defense hasn't been the same since that horrible injury.
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