Our team-by-team look at every division in the NFL continues with the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers ran off an impressive start last year but fizzled late. The Cleveland Browns clinched a 11-win season and have a roster with few holes. And the Baltimore Ravens remain dangerous with an MVP at quarterback and a reloaded offensive line. There’s also the emerging Cincinnati Bengals. IN arguably the toughest division in football, which roster is best? We grade them all.
Hey Matt, I wanted to throw something by you that I got a lot of run on twitter about with Browns fans. A lot of the optimism with their defense is warranted with the young guys and the secondary, however I'm not thrilled about the losses on the DL. You noted Larry Ogunjobi, but also Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon were all starters alongside Myles Garrett and combined for 16 sacks last year alone. Regardless of the commentary on Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley, on the field they've worn more different jerseys than they have produced sacks in the last couple of years. I am all for optimism, I think JOK and Marvin Wilson are steals and again the secondary looks nice, but that's still a lot of production for me to have comfort in giving up up front. This is especially notable when we look at the Ravens who reinvested in the middle of the OL and will work to exploit that more in the run than to challenge that secondary.
Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Bengals. I’m all in on the brownies. Jok in the second round is robbery but the slip made sense. Secondary all the sudden becomes one of the deepest units of the team with a good offseason.
Hey Matt, I wanted to throw something by you that I got a lot of run on twitter about with Browns fans. A lot of the optimism with their defense is warranted with the young guys and the secondary, however I'm not thrilled about the losses on the DL. You noted Larry Ogunjobi, but also Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon were all starters alongside Myles Garrett and combined for 16 sacks last year alone. Regardless of the commentary on Jadeveon Clowney and Takk McKinley, on the field they've worn more different jerseys than they have produced sacks in the last couple of years. I am all for optimism, I think JOK and Marvin Wilson are steals and again the secondary looks nice, but that's still a lot of production for me to have comfort in giving up up front. This is especially notable when we look at the Ravens who reinvested in the middle of the OL and will work to exploit that more in the run than to challenge that secondary.
I do worry about the Ravens OL a tad. Losing Orlando Brown no matter how you slice it, is rough. The Browns look legit this year.
Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Bengals. I’m all in on the brownies. Jok in the second round is robbery but the slip made sense. Secondary all the sudden becomes one of the deepest units of the team with a good offseason.
The AFC North was highly flattered by weak opponents in 2020. Apart from Baltimore, this is not a strong division.