NFL Network Analyst Brian Baldinger Talks Raiders, Burrow, Browns, More wRich Eisen

Brian Baldinger had already watched the film by the time he checked in with Rich, and what stuck from Thursday night was a smile.

"I haven't seen Marvin Harrison Jr. smile like that in the three years he's been in the league," Baldinger said of Harrison's touchdown catch from Jacoby Brissett. Maybe it's Mike LaFleur's new system. Baldinger also sees a better line in Arizona, a tight end coming off 111 catches, and the makings of an aerial circus. "Maybe that's the equalizer in a very difficult division."

Rich wondered whether Jeremiyah Love was something close to a unicorn. Baldinger did not argue much. "He makes you watch, Rich," he said, citing the spin to dodge contact and the hurdle over the free safety on a run up the middle. "He sticks the landing." The projection is enormous: roughly 60 catches, north of 250 carries, over 300 combined touches. Baldinger also expects Love in the slot with James Conner on the field, a flexibility he traced back to the combine.

Fernando Mendoza's four drives passed inspection. Under center, play-action, hiding the ball, none of which he did at Indiana or Cal. Baldinger called the touchdown to Jack Bech a stick throw, low and away from the coverage. The camp phrase this month is throw with your feet, and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan has him doing it.

Pittsburgh's quarterback room got the longest look, because the post-Aaron Rodgers answer may already be in the building. Mike McCarthy's history at the position runs from Joe Montana to Alex Smith to Dak Prescott. "You can already see the mechanics of Drew Allar far better now than whenever we saw him at Penn State," Baldinger said, expecting Allar and Will Howard both to improve in a four-deep room that includes Mason Rudolph. His real tell is who takes scout-team reps, because "those guys that throw scout team tend to really improve."

The offense around them should look different too, with a rebuilt line and a rookie receiver from Iowa who took a quick slant 74 yards to the two. Rodgers, Baldinger noted, is past holding the ball and waiting for routes to develop.

Cincinnati's problem is more stubborn. Joe Burrow hit Ja'Marr Chase for 16 yards over the middle, then got dropped on back-to-back drives. "I think they still have holes in the offensive line," Baldinger said. They have addressed it, but guys up front still struggle against speed. "The Cincinnati Bengals need Joe to line up for 17 games this year."

Cleveland is running an actual competition. Todd Monken is splitting the ones hour by hour, Deshaun Watson starts at Soldier Field, Shedeur Sanders gets next week. "What Todd Monken wants is for somebody to win the job where he doesn't have to make a decision," Baldinger said. From Watson he wants a clean operation and the layups made. His lean: "I would never go against Shedeur, but at the same time we haven't seen Deshaun Watson healthy in forever." Experience makes Watson the favorite.

Philadelphia at Baltimore is the preseason game he circled, and he backed Maurice Jones-Drew's read that the Eagles are enormous. That front is, in Baldinger's words, a human eclipse, and Riq Woolen, whom he called a Pacific manta at left corner, upgrades a weakness. Jalen Hurts is starting every practice under center, leaner and faster and committed, and Baldinger wants Hurts playing this preseason, though he isn't sure Lamar Jackson needs to. Jesse Minter now runs the Baltimore defense, and Derrick Henry, he said, is "just as fast today as he was when he was in high school in Jacksonville."