While the seemingly endless period between the NFL Draft and the beginning of the preseason can be a boring time for many NFL fans, it is never too early to analyze the best players in the league. This week, the Last Word on Sports NFL department will be compiling a list of the ten best players in each division heading into the 2016 season. The focus of this article is the AFC North.
Top Players of the AFC North Heading into 2016
You could make the case for Antonio Brown being the most valuable, but if you ask Antonio, I bet his answer for this question is Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is the gun slinger that makes the offense click and gets Brown the ball at ridiculous rates. In 2015, Roethlisberger missed four games in which Brown averaged 4.5 catches for 58 yards per game. With Roethlisberger in, he was hauling in about 10 catches for 133 yards per game over a 12-game sample. Roethlisberger has the Super Bowl rings, he has completed 68% and 67% of his passes during the past two seasons, and he averaged 332 yards per game last year. He is the most dangerous, and most valuable player in the division.
2. Antonio Brown
As mentioned, Brown had to play four games without his star quarterback, but still had the second-most receptions in a season all-time. He is the undisputed best wide receiver in the NFL right now and he is still returning punts for touchdowns (one per year in the last three years). The only way for him to ascend this year is to put up over 140 catches and 2,000 receiving yards, but knowing Brown that will be where he is heading into the final two weeks of the season.
3. Geno Atkins
The biggest emergence that made the Bengals such a credible team last year was Geno Atkins. In the 2011-2012 seasons, Atkins put up a combined 19.5 sacks while starring in run defense. A 2013 ACL injury sidelined him with six sacks after nine games. In 2014, he played all 16 games, but only had three sacks and looked like a timid player. Then last year he ramped it back up, put up six sacks while being the most effective run defender for a team that ranked as the eighth-most efficient run defense in the NFL. He seems to be back to his old ways and should be in for another huge year in 2016.
4. A.J. Green
Green has been so consistent for such a long time that it is crazy to think that he is still only 27 years old. For his career, he has averaged 83 catches, 1,234 receiving yards and nine touchdowns per season. He is a long ball threat and seems to always come up with a game-changing touchdown. He may even be underrated with this ranking in the four spot.
5. Le’Veon Bell
The problem with Le’Veon Bell is that he has been hurt in all three of his NFL seasons. When he is on the field, he is the most elusive running back in the game, and is one of the biggest game changers. However, coming off of ACL surgery this year, he has a lot more questions than any of the four above him, and the AFC North does feature some elite talent, so it not the biggest knock to him.
6. Marshall Yanda
When no one else has been steady for the Ravens, they can still say that they can rely on Marshall Yanda. Yanda is a four-time All-Pro player and in the past two years he has been a first-team All-Pro member. He has started all sixteen games for the past three years, and arguably has been the best guard in the NFL for all of the past three years. If the Ravens want to get back in the division race, they will want to run the ball and they will be relying on the talent and the size and strength of Yanda to lead the way.
Last year Dunlap was a terror, and now at only age 27, he should still be on the rise. He exploded his sack total from eight to 13.5 and his run defense also improved in 2015. The Bengals have been working with him for five years and he showed what he can do in his prime. With the same talent around him as last year, he could make the leap to one of the top edge rushers in the NFL.
8. Joe Thomas
In terms of career, legacy and greatness, Thomas is right with Roethlisberger and the boys at the top. In terms of 2016, he may even be one of the top two or three best left tackles in the NFL, but it still will not mean anything. He is on a team that is clear in their intentions to rebuild over a period of time, and while he is one of the best players of the past 10 years, he will not have as big of an impact as any of the players above him.
Cameron Heyward is credited here for helping turn the Steelers from one of the worst defenses in the league in almost any statistical category in 2014 to a top ten defense by most standards last year. He teamed up with Stephon Tuitt to give the Steelers the fifth-most efficient run defense last season, and he led the Steelers in sacks with seven. He has the versatility to play in any defensive front, and led the league in percent of snaps played by a defensive player. Given how the Steelers groom players, he should only be on the rise in 2016.
10. C.J. Mosley
Mosley exploded onto the scene as a rookie and was the runner up for Defensive Rookie of the Year, behind Aaron Donald. Mosley went from 99 tackles to 76 last season, but with the departure of Haloti Ngata and the injury to Terrell Suggs and many others, the focus began to be on him. The focus will continue to be on him this season, as he is now the Ravens best player on that side of the ball. If they want to have a defense capable of the playoffs, he will have to be the guy leading the way.
Honorable Mention: David DeCastro, Tyler Eifert
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