As my brother stated earlier today I am on record uttering the rather tepid statement “the Browns will be a team to watch this year.” I’m not really going out on a limb with that prediction – it could mean I think the team will win 13 games and win the Super Bowl just as easily as it could mean I think they are going to be a complete trainwreck.

In truth I think the Browns will be something around the 10 win team they were last year – maybe a game better, maybe a game worse – but I think they will be a helluva fun team to watch. The schedule is tougher this year, which is the only reason I hedge, but I think it’s a team with the potential to reach the playoffs and make some noise when it gets there.

My next statement will be a bit more concrete: The Baltimore Ravens will suck in 2008. Steve McNair, who was a shell of his former self the last couple years, hung it up, leaving the failed Kyle Boller and the unproven Troy Smith and Joe Flacco to battle for the starting QB position.

They face something like a dozen 2007 playoff teams during a daunting upcoming schedule. And they now are going to have to do so without left tackle Jonathan Ogden, who will announce his retirement on Thursday.

I had the Browns pegged for anywhere between four and six wins this season – I’d shoot for the lower end of that now with Ogden retiring. He also had slipped with physical issues at the end of his career, but he still on experience alone was among the top left tackles in the league.

The line is of lesser quality, the quarterbacks have potential but little experience and the defense largely is aging. That’s not a good combo – if I were in Vegas I’d have the Ravens in my top two or three guesses to have the top pick in the 2009 NFL draft.